Desk cost calculator: what your admin really costs
Put in your stock and enquiries. The calculator works out the admin hours your yard needs each week, then compares a local hire with a trained Desk assistant.
What the numbers leave out
The costs of a local hire you don’t see on the payslip
Recruiting, the weeks it takes to train someone on your DMS and paperwork, covering annual and sick leave, and starting again when they leave. Desk covers leave the same day and replaces an assistant within 5 business days.
What a local hire can do that Desk can’t
Move cars, meet customers, run to the bank or the registry. Many yards keep someone on the yard and give the inbox, listings and paperwork to Desk. Desk vs hiring locally.
Sources: Glassdoor: Administrative Assistant salaries in Australia (June 2026), Fair Work Ombudsman: Clerks Private Sector Award pay guide, ATO: Super guarantee percentage.
Questions dealers ask
How much does offshore admin staff cost in Australia?
Through an agency, a full-time offshore virtual assistant typically costs a few thousand dollars a month. Desk, trained specifically for car dealerships, is $1,500 a month plus GST shared (about $346 a week) or $3,000 a month dedicated (about $692 a week), covering Mon to Sat, 8am to 6pm Brisbane time.
What does a local admin assistant cost a car yard?
The average Australian administrative assistant salary is about $66,500 a year (Glassdoor, June 2026). With 12% super and workers comp that’s roughly $1,451 a week for a 38-hour week, before leave cover, recruiting and training. The award minimum for a Level 2 clerk is $1119.10 a week from 1 July 2026.
Is Desk cheaper than hiring locally?
On cost per week, yes: a dedicated Desk assistant is about $692 a week for Monday to Saturday coverage, against roughly $1,451 for an average local admin working Monday to Friday. A local hire can do things a remote assistant can’t, like moving cars or meeting customers, so many yards use both.
How did you work out the admin hours?
From the minutes per task in the form, which are our estimates from running a yard. Change them to match your yard; every figure updates as you type.
Stop doing this in a spreadsheet.
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