IE / ENG / 0001 · Specimen · illustrative
An engagement, shown with its working.
Most engagements report progress as a colour. This one keeps a tracker and a register: twelve activities, who holds each one, what is blocked and by what, and every day lost, logged in the week it happened or forfeited.
An illustrative engagement, not a client. Names, dates and causes are generic. Every figure on this page is computed from the tables below.
Plate I · By workstream
Where the work stands.
Register II · Tracker
Every activity, and who holds it.
"Held by" names a role, not a person. A blocked activity says what it is waiting on and since when.
| # | Activity | Workstream | Owner · held by | Target | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Scope confirmed | Scope and start gate | Consultant | Wk 1 | Done |
| 02 | Start gate signed | Scope and start gate | ClientSponsor | Wk 1 | Done |
| 03 | Environment access | Access and schema | Joint · client-gatedPlatform owner | Wk 2 | Done |
| 04 | Schema profiled | Access and schema | Consultant | Wk 2 | Done |
| 05 | Transform layer | Build | Consultant | Wk 3 | Done |
| 06 | Data product v1 | Build | Consultant | Wk 4 | Done |
| 07 | Test cases written | Testing | Consultant | Wk 4 | Done |
| 08 | Security review | Governance | ClientPlatform owner | Wk 4 | BlockedSecurity sign-off, since wk 4 |
| 09 | Access policy | Governance | Joint · client-gatedPlatform owner | Wk 5 | BlockedSecurity review, since wk 5 |
| 10 | SME validation | Testing | ClientPlatform owner | Wk 5 | Not started |
| 11 | UAT sign-off | Testing | ClientPlatform owner | Wk 6 | Not started |
| 12 | Next-scope decision | Close-out | ClientSponsor | Wk 6 | Not started |
Register III · Impairments
Every day lost, on whose side.
A day is credited only if it was logged in the week it was lost. A day logged later, or not at all, is forfeited, whoever lost it. The rule is the same for both sides.
| Dates | Nature | Side | Affects | Days | Mitigation | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 Mon – Wk 2 Wed | Environment access not provisioned | Client | Access and schema | 8 | Re-sequenced build ahead of plan | Credited |
| Wk 4 – Wk 5 | Waiting on security sign-off | Client | Governance | 5 | Escalated to sponsor, wk 4 | Credited |
| Wk 3 Thu–Fri | Consultant illness | Consultant | Build | 2 | Recovered within target week | Credited |
| Wk 2 | Public holiday, not logged at the time | Neither | All | 1 | none recorded | Forfeited |
How to read this
- It names conditions, not verdicts. Nothing here ranks the consultant or the client. It shows what each activity is waiting on.
- It reproduces. Counts and day totals are computed from the two registers when this page is built; change a row and every figure moves.
- It outlives the engagement. Both registers close into the document of record, so the question "why did this take 12 activities and a change of scope?" has an answer years later.
Part II · The deliverable
What the engagement handed over.
This is the Total Cost of Employment Audit the specimen engagement produced: one offer, costed end to end, with the rules that were checked, where the answer moves, what was assumed, and the fingerprints that let anyone re-derive it. The client is synthetic.
Plate IV · The cost ladder
From gross pay to what is actually left.
Each subtotal reconciles to the cent with the lines above it. The time cost prices the commute and the unpaid overtime that the contract does not.
- Cash gross pay R 780 000
- PAYE − R 183 791
- UIF, employee − R 2 125
- Retirement contribution, employee − R 58 500
- Net after tax = R 535 584
- Mandatory costs of holding the job − R 259 076
- Lifestyle costs − R 108 000
- Cash net surplus = R 168 508
- Time cost (commute and unpaid overtime) − R 80 338
- True net surplus = R 88 170
Mandatory costs of holding the job, line by line
| Cost | Basis | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Commute | 20 km × 2 × 13.2 days × 12 × R3.50/km | R 22 176 |
| Vehicle depreciation | R200,000 × 15% depreciation | R 30 000 |
| Vehicle running | R1,200/month × 12 | R 14 400 |
| Professional clothing | dress code: business_casual | R 12 000 |
| Technology | smartphone R15,000/2y; home_office R20,000/5y | R 11 500 |
| Housing | R9,000/month × 12 | R 108 000 |
| School fees | 1 × R25,000 | R 25 000 |
| Debt repayments | R3,000/month × 12 | R 36 000 |
Register V · Rules checked
Why it reads CAUTION.
Every rule, what it measured, the line it was held against, and whether it fired. The reading comes from these rows and nothing else. It is a signal about conditions, not an instruction to anyone.
| Rule | Condition | Measured | Line | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | cash net surplus < accept min cash surplus | 168 508 | < 0 | Not fired |
| R2 | true net surplus < 0 | 88 170 | < 0 | Not fired |
| R3 | emergency fund months < caution emergency fund months | 0 | < 3 | Fired |
| R4 | effective margin pct < caution effective margin pct | 9.9 | < 15 | Fired |
| R5 | commute km one way > caution commute km | 20 | > 50 | Not fired |
| R6 | working hours weekly > caution weekly hours | 45 | > 50 | Not fired |
| R7 | resilience score < caution resilience score | 84 | < 40 | Not fired |
| R8 | performance pay pct > caution performance pay pct | 10 | > 15 | Not fired |
| R9 | otherwise (no higher-priority rule fired) | 0 | == 1 | Not fired |
Plate VI · Where the answer moves
What it would take to change the reading.
Each input was moved by ±20% to see how far the cash surplus swings, and whether the reading changed. The recommendation is not the product; the conditions under which it changes are.
- Gross annual salary R 163 609 Signal unchanged
- Lifestyle monthly R 43 200 Signal unchanged
- Current rent monthly R 43 200 Signal unchanged
- Debt monthly R 14 400 Signal unchanged
- Retirement employee % R 14 274 Signal unchanged
- Commute km one way R 8 870 Signal unchanged
- Vehicle running cost monthly R 5 760 Signal unchanged
- Working hours weekly R 0 Signal unchanged
Assumed, and said so (12 fields)
These were not supplied. They came from the profile above and are marked as assumed in the record.
- Commute km one way
- Commute hours daily
- Vehicle value
- Vehicle running cost monthly
- Children count
- School fees annual per child
- Dependants count
- Current rent monthly
- Lifestyle monthly
- Debt monthly
- Emergency fund amount
- Work life balance importance
Left out by design
No protected attribute is used anywhere in the calculation. It is structural, not a setting.
- Health status and indebtedness-as-'mental pressure' scoring
- Marital or family structure (e.g. number of spouses) as a risk input
- Live credit-bureau, criminal-record, or industry-blacklist checks
- Litigation, mediation, arbitration, or union-history risk prediction for the applicant
Register VII · Pedigree
Re-derive it, years later.
This result carries a fingerprint (its output_hash field) computed from every other field on this record except the calculation ID and timestamp -- recomputing it from the record's own content and comparing should always match unless the record has been altered since it was produced. Produced by engine 1.9.0, parameters 1.0.0, tax table 2024/25.
- Audit
- EETE-SPECIMEN_EMPLOYER-202609-001
- Engine
- 1.9.0
- Parameters
- 1.0.0
- Tax table
- 2024/25
- Method
- 1.0
- Input fingerprint
- ced04672b98b…b0a0b6eb
- Output fingerprint
- d5acc40a7754…3272f16a
- Turnaround
- 0.00 h · SLA met
This tool provides mathematical calculations based on the inputs you supplied. It does not constitute financial, tax, legal or employment advice. You remain solely responsible for decisions made using this information. Consult a registered professional for personalised advice. Tax figures are based on published SARS tables (version 2024/25) and may not reflect your full tax position.