Transparency

Methodology, trust & monetization policy

Gustry publishes calculators, templates and guides for owner-operated service businesses. This page explains how the math works, where the numbers come from, how we edit and review content, and how we make money — so you can judge how much weight to put on anything you read here.

How the calculators work

Every Gustry calculator is deterministic: the same inputs always produce the same output, from a fixed set of formulas we do not change per user or session. Nothing is estimated by a model or generated after the fact — the math runs entirely on the numbers you enter.

• Sourced constants are figures with an external, citable authority — for example the employer share of FICA (7.65%) and guidance from IRS Publication 15. These are not editable because they are not opinions.
• Editable illustrative assumptions are everything else a calculator needs to run before you've entered your own numbers — starting defaults for things like hourly pay, supply cost or overhead. These are clearly inputs, meant to be replaced with your real numbers, not claims about your business.
• Owner labor replacement value is modeled as what it would cost to pay someone else to do the work the owner currently does — it is a decision input, not a market wage guarantee.
• Contribution profit (revenue minus the direct costs of doing the work) and fully loaded profit (contribution profit minus allocated overhead) are shown separately because they answer different questions: whether a job or client is worth doing at all, versus whether the business as a whole is profitable.

Sourcing and review dates

• Formulas are published on the page next to the result, not hidden behind a black box.
• Where a claim depends on an external fact — a tax rate, a regulation, a published price — we cite the source and date it.
• Editable assumptions are labeled as assumptions and are meant to be overwritten with your own figures.
• Pages carry an updated date. Evergreen calculator and guide content is reviewed on roughly an annual cycle; software comparison content is reviewed roughly quarterly; anything tied to volatile pricing is revisited as needed, outside that schedule, when we know it has changed.

Software comparisons

Software comparisons are built from publicly published pricing pages, product documentation and vendor-stated feature lists, each noted with the date we checked it. We do not run these products to operate a real business, and we do not claim firsthand operating or hands-on product-testing experience. Where a product's fit depends on something we cannot verify from public sources, we say so rather than guess.

No fake testing, testimonials or case studies

• We do not publish fabricated customer testimonials or invented case studies.
• We do not claim to have run, staffed or operated the businesses these tools are built for.
• We do not claim hands-on testing of third-party software beyond what is stated above.
• If a free tool or a competitor's product is genuinely the better fit for a given situation, we say that rather than steer you toward a Gustry product or paid link.

How we make money

Calculators, templates and guides are free with no account and no email requirement. Gustry's revenue plan includes one-time-purchase document systems and, in the future, affiliate relationships with software vendors we cover. No affiliate links are live on the site yet. When they go live, any commercial relationship will be disclosed, and it will never determine editorial ranking or which product is recommended — rankings and recommendations are made on the merits described above, independent of what would earn Gustry money.

What this is not

• Not legal, tax, payroll, insurance or compliance advice — Gustry is decision support, not a substitute for a qualified professional in your jurisdiction.
• Not contracts, employment agreements or binding documents.
• Not a guarantee of any financial outcome. Calculators model the numbers you provide; they don't predict demand, staffing or execution.

Disclaimer

These resources are general educational and business starting points. Adapt them to your business and consult qualified professionals for legal, HR, tax, safety, compliance or jurisdiction-specific requirements.