Offer Autopsy Workbook: 1099 vs W-2 Offer Comparison & Contract Clause Checklist

This workbook counts your 1099 offer and your W-2 job the same way, with every step shown, so you can see which one leaves you more.

A higher hourly rate can still be the worse offer. What decides it is everything around the rate. The payroll tax inside a W-2 paycheck. The benefits an employer pays on top of your pay. Your own costs of doing the work. The weeks nobody pays you for. And the clauses buried in the contract.

What you get

- Your W-2 job counted whole: yearly pay, minus the Social Security and Medicare tax taken from your check, plus the health and retirement money your employer pays.

- The offer counted the same way: money earned, minus your work costs, minus self-employment tax. That is what you actually keep.

- The difference between the two, plus the break-even rate, the rate that matches your W-2 job, and the rate to ask for.

- Stress tests: what happens if you lose extra unpaid weeks, the facility cancels more of your hours, or pay takes weeks to arrive.

- Cash timing: how much work you will have done before the first payment arrives, at the pay delay in your contract.

- A 16-question contract clause checklist in plain English. Each question comes with the exact question to ask the recruiter and a flag for the ones to take to an attorney.

- A one-page printable Offer Summary: both totals, the rates, the stress points, and what to bring to your CPA and your attorney.

- The 2026 tax rules behind the math, on their own sheet, with sources, so you can check every number yourself.

Who this is for

Healthcare workers holding a 1099 or locums offer who want the whole picture before signing: the pay, the downside, and the contract wording. Not just the hourly rate.

How it works

Fill in "About You" once: your current W-2 pay, paid time off, and the benefits your employer pays for.

Fill in "The Offer": the rate, the hours and weeks you expect to be paid for, your work costs, and how long pay takes to arrive.

Read the result, check the stress tests, work through the clause checklist with the contract open, and print the one-page summary.

A worked example you can check

Every sheet opens with a worked example already filled in: a $90/hr 1099 offer against a $60/hr W-2 job. Run it once before you type your own numbers. The offer is 40 hours a week for 48 weeks. The W-2 job pays for 52 weeks, with 4 of them as paid time off. Everything is counted before income tax.

In that example the offer finishes $11,979 ahead. The W-2 job is worth $131,253. The offer keeps $143,232. The match rate is $83 and the rate to ask for is $90.

Then the stress test. The offer stays ahead if you lose up to 3 extra unpaid weeks, and falls behind at 4. It stays ahead if up to 5% of your hours get cancelled, and falls behind at 10%.

The guide then walks a second, real example where the higher rate loses.

The Offer Autopsy Workbook is $29.99. You get a one-page access PDF and the guide (12 pages, PDF). Open the access PDF and tap the button to load the 8-sheet Offer Autopsy Workbook as a Google Sheets template, then choose "Make a copy" to save an editable copy. No Excel needed; it works with a free Google account. Run it on the offer in front of you, then re-run it every time an offer changes.

What does the offer in front of you actually leave you?

From Scrubs & Fine Print, the makers of the free True Rate Calculator.

For educational purposes only. Not financial or tax advice. Consult a CPA for your specific situation.

Before you sign a contract or act on any number in this workbook, have your own attorney review the contract and your own CPA check the tax math for your specific situation.