A military pay estimate starts with the LES: identify entitlements, deductions, allotments, and recurring household costs before judging the final monthly balance.
Reviewed July 14, 2026
Basic pay is taxable compensation based on grade and years of service. BAH and BAS are separate allowances with different eligibility rules, so they should not be treated as guaranteed income when they do not appear on the member's LES.
The calculator keeps BAH and BAS as independent switches. Turning off an allowance removes that income without erasing rent, food, or other expenses that may still exist.
Federal withholding, state withholding, Social Security, Medicare, SGLI, AFRH, TSP, other deductions, and allotments affect usable cash in different ways. Enter current LES amounts when they differ from an estimate.
TSP is shown on its own planning tab but is counted once as a payroll deduction. Allotments reduce the amount available for ordinary expenses even when the money is being directed to another account.
Automatic values are planning defaults, not replacements for DFAS, DTMO, myPay, an LES, or a finance office determination. Duty ZIP drives the BAH lookup while legal residence is used only for the simplified state-tax estimate.
A useful review compares the calculator with a recent normal LES, explains every difference, and updates recurring expenses before relying on the reported surplus.
The money overview brings gross pay, payroll deductions, allotments, expenses, BAH position, TSP, and warnings into one view. It is most useful after all required pay fields and real monthly expenses have been entered.
No account or LES upload is required. Calculator values stay in the browser except for the duty-ZIP BAH lookup and anonymous feedback submission. Current inputs automatically update the private URL fragment after the # symbol, so copying the complete page address preserves the calculation without sending those values to the server.