How to read the Veercal calculator results
The full Veercal calculator compares five ways of paying for the same car — cash, personal loan, dealer finance, finance lease, and novated lease — and ranks them by what each truly costs you. The output is dense by design, because a fair comparison has to be. This walkthrough explains what to enter, how to read the insight cards and the comparison table column by column, and what the numbers do and don't tell you.
1. What the full calculator compares
The full calculator models five finance structures simultaneously for the same vehicle and hold period:
- Cash — paying outright, with opportunity cost applied to the money you tie up.
- Personal loan — a secured car loan at the rate and term you set.
- Dealer finance — typically with a balloon payment.
- Finance lease — leasing the vehicle over a term with a residual.
- Novated lease — salary-packaged, using your marginal tax rate and the ATO FBT rules.
It then ranks them by true total cost so you can see, for your specific situation, which is cheapest and by how much. You can switch individual options on or off to focus the comparison.
2. Getting the inputs right
The results are only as good as the inputs. The sidebar groups them into tabs; these are the ones that move the answer most:
- Vehicle: enter the drive-away price (what you pay the dealer before government charges) and select your state — the calculator adds stamp duty for you, and it differs by state. Set the vehicle type (EV, plug-in hybrid, or conventional) because it affects FBT eligibility for the novated option.
- Usage: your annual kilometres and how many years you will keep the car. The hold period is pivotal — it sets the window over which every cost and the exit value are calculated.
- Finance: the loan and dealer rates and terms, any deposit, and the opportunity cost rate used for the cash comparison.
- Running: fuel or charging, insurance, servicing, tyres, and registration — these apply across all options and shape the true cost.
- Novated: your gross salary (required for the novated calculation), the novated rate, term, and residual percentage.
If novated doesn't appear
The novated lease needs your gross salary to work out your tax saving. Enter it in the Novated tab and make sure the option is switched on — without a salary, the calculator can't rank it.
3. The insight cards at the top
Above the table, a few summary cards surface the headline takeaways. They are a quick read, but each answers a different question — so don't treat them as one verdict:
- Lowest monthly payment — the option with the smallest finance repayment. Useful for cash flow, but remember this excludes running costs and can be flattered by a balloon or a long term.
- Lowest true total cost — the option that costs least overall across your hold period, and by how much it beats the next-cheapest. This is the card that answers "what's actually cheapest".
- Novated tax saving — if a salary is entered, the annual and monthly income tax saving from packaging the car pre-tax, and whether the EV FBT exemption applies.
The cards can flip to show the reasoning behind each figure — worth reading, because "lowest monthly" and "lowest total cost" are often two different options, and knowing why is the whole point.
4. The comparison table, column by column
The table lists every active option ranked cheapest to dearest by true total cost. Each column header has a tooltip; here is what each one means and how to weigh it.
| Column | What it means |
|---|---|
| Total Cost | The single most honest comparison number — everything you pay over your hold period (repayments, interest, fees, stamp duty, running costs, balloon/residual), less the car's exit value. For cash it includes opportunity cost; for novated it includes the tax saving. Lead with this. |
| Eff. Monthly | True total cost divided by the number of months in your hold period. Normalises options with different term lengths so they're genuinely comparable. |
| Upfront | Cash needed on day one: deposit plus stamp duty. It does not include ongoing payments. Matters when liquidity is tight. |
| Monthly Payment | The finance repayment only — it excludes running costs. Use it to check cash flow, not to judge which option is cheapest. |
| Total Interest | All interest paid over the term. For cash this is $0 (but opportunity cost applies instead). For a novated lease, the income tax saving offsets it. |
| Exit Value | The car's estimated market value at the end of your hold period, based on the depreciation you set. It's deducted from total cost — a higher exit value lowers the true cost of owning. |
Read the table in this order
Start with Total Cost to see the ranking. Check Eff. Monthly to compare across different terms. Then look at Upfront and Monthly Payment to confirm the cheapest option also fits your cash flow. The cheapest total cost is only the right choice if you can comfortably fund the upfront and monthly figures.
5. The cost breakdown per option
Beneath the headline figures, each option can be expanded into a line-by-line breakdown showing how its total cost is built up — for example, deposit, repayments, running costs, opportunity cost, balloon or residual, and the exit value subtracted at the end. For a novated lease, the breakdown shows the pre-tax sacrifice, the income tax saving, any FBT or post-tax contribution, GST treatment, and the residual.
This is where you can see why one option beats another rather than just that it does — and where you can sanity-check that the inputs (rate, term, running costs, residual) reflect a real quote you've been given. For the deepest novated breakdown, including the fortnightly take-home pay impact and the full FBT working, the dedicated novated calculator goes further, and how to read a novated lease quote maps those figures to a real provider quote.
6. Common ways results get misread
- Picking by monthly payment. The lowest monthly is rarely the lowest total cost. Decide on total cost; use the monthly to check affordability.
- Forgetting opportunity cost on cash. Cash looks free because there's no interest, but the calculator prices the return your money could have earned. If you set the opportunity cost rate to zero, cash will look artificially strong.
- Comparing different hold periods. Change the hold years and every total shifts. Compare options on the same hold period, and use the effective monthly figure across different terms.
- Unrealistic running costs. Understating fuel, insurance, or servicing flatters every option equally but distorts the gap between them. Use figures close to your real spend.
- Ignoring the residual or balloon. A low monthly with a large amount owing at the end is not cheap — the breakdown shows the lump sum the headline figure hides.
7. What the result is — and isn't
The calculator is an educational model. It applies current government rates (tax brackets, Medicare, FBT, stamp duty, statutory residuals) and your inputs to estimate and compare costs. The rates it uses are reviewed and dated at the foot of the results.
What it is not is a quote or financial advice. Real loan terms, FBT obligations, stamp duty assessments, and resale values can differ from the estimates, and the model uses simplifying assumptions. Treat the output as a well-grounded starting point for a conversation with a lender, leasing provider, or licensed adviser — not as the final word. Our how to make an informed decision on car finance guide explains how to turn these numbers into a decision.
Common questions
What does true total cost mean in the Veercal calculator?
True total cost is the most complete comparison figure: it adds up everything you pay for a car over your chosen hold period — finance repayments, interest, fees, stamp duty, running costs, and any balloon or residual — then subtracts the car's estimated exit value at the end. For paying cash it also includes opportunity cost, and for a novated lease it includes the income tax saving. Because it normalises every finance structure to a single number, it is the fairest basis for comparison.
Why is my novated lease not showing in the comparison?
The novated lease calculation needs your gross annual salary, because the benefit comes from reducing your pre-tax income. Enter your salary in the Novated tab of the sidebar and make sure the novated option is selected in the finance options. Without a salary, the calculator cannot work out your marginal tax rate or the income tax saving, so it leaves novated out of the ranking.
Should I choose the option with the lowest monthly payment in the results?
Not on its own. The monthly payment column shows the finance repayment only — it excludes running costs and can be made artificially low by a long term or a balloon. The true total cost and effective monthly cost columns are the better basis for deciding, because they capture the full picture over your hold period. Use the monthly payment to check the option fits your cash flow, not to pick the cheapest.
General information only — not financial advice. The Veercal calculator is an educational tool that produces estimates based on simplified assumptions and the information you enter. Government rates change over time; the rates applied are dated within the calculator. Results are not a quote, credit offer, or personal advice. Confirm figures with the relevant provider and consider advice from a licensed professional before deciding. Full disclaimer.