Step 4: Table calculation

Applies the international adjustment to the salary data and produces a table with shown calculations. Before running, Claude asks whether to use the calculator subagent (Opus, max effort) for higher arithmetic precision. If you decline, the step runs with your current model. Precision takes priority over speed.

Flow 

flowchart TD
  Start([Step 4 begins]) --> FC1{sc-step2-salary-data.md\nexists?}
  FC1 -->|no| Err1[Stop, report missing file\nAsk user to rerun Step 2]
  FC1 -->|yes| FC2{sc-step3-adjustment-values.md\nexists?}
  FC2 -->|no| Err2[Stop, report missing file\nAsk user to rerun Step 3]
  FC2 -->|yes| ReadFiles[Read both files]
  ReadFiles --> OpusQ{Use Opus for\nhigher precision?}
  OpusQ -->|yes| CalcAgent[Route to calculator\nOpus / max effort]
  OpusQ -->|no| CurrentModel[Run with your\ncurrent model]
  CalcAgent --> Order
  CurrentModel --> Order{cf-step6-final-ranking.md\nexists?}
  Order -->|yes| OrderCF[Order countries to match\nits Priority Table]
  Order -->|no| OrderAlpha[Order countries\nalphabetically A→Z]
  OrderCF --> Check
  OrderAlpha --> Check{Country has both\nsalary data and\nadjustment data?}
  Check -->|no| Skip[Skip country\nnote reason]
  Check -->|yes| Midpoint[Market Midpoint =\nRealistic value from salary dataset\nDo not average or derive]
  Midpoint --> Calc[Apply adjustment independently\nto Safe and Stretch midpoints\nAdjusted = Midpoint x 1 minus Adj%]
  Calc --> Range[Annual: Lower Range = Fixed x 0.95\nUpper Range = Fixed x 1.10\nMonthly = Annual Fixed divided by 12]
  Range --> Legal{Usable sponsorship\nthreshold reported?}
  Legal -->|no| ShowWork
  Legal -->|yes| LegalCheck[Compare unrounded Safe/Stretch\nvs threshold, flag if either falls short]
  LegalCheck --> ShowWork[Show all calculations\nbefore producing table]
  ShowWork --> More{More\ncountries?}
  More -->|yes| Check
  More -->|no| Table[One row per country\nAnnual: Fixed and Range\nMonthly: single value]
  Table --> Summary[Summary: countries calculated\nand countries skipped with reasons]
  Summary --> Save[Save to sc-step4-salary-table.md]
  Save --> Done([Continue automatically\ninto Step 5])

What it reads

  • sc-step2-salary-data.md: salary data from Step 2, including each country’s sponsorship salary threshold if one was reported
  • sc-step3-adjustment-values.md: adjustment figures from Step 3
  • skills/sponsorship-threshold-rules.md: governs the Legal Requirement column below
  • cf-step6-final-ranking.md: if present, its Priority Table order is used to order this step’s output; if absent, countries are ordered alphabetically instead

Definitions

Term Definition
Market Midpoint The “Realistic” value for the relevant tier from the salary dataset. Never averaged or estimated.
Safe Market Midpoint from the Mid-size / Mainstream Local-Market tier
Stretch Market Midpoint from the Premium / International / Remote-first tier

Calculation rules

Adjusted Midpoint (= Fixed):

Adjusted Midpoint = Market Midpoint × (1 − Adjustment %)

Range (Annual only):

Lower Range = Annual Fixed × 0.95
Upper Range = Annual Fixed × 1.10

Monthly (a single reference value, not a range):

Monthly = Annual Fixed ÷ 12

Monthly values are a reference only and may not represent actual monthly payslips in countries using 13th or 14th salary payments. The adjustment is applied independently to both Safe and Stretch midpoints.

Ordering

Countries are ordered to match cf-step6-final-ranking.md’s Priority Table if that file exists in the workspace; otherwise, alphabetically by country name (A→Z).

For any country with a usable sponsorship salary threshold, the unrounded Safe and Stretch Fixed values are compared against it, before display rounding is applied, since rounding could flip a borderline result. The threshold is converted to match whichever period (Annual or Monthly) the comparison needs. This never changes Safe or Stretch itself; it’s a separate fact shown alongside them, not folded into the calculation. The resulting display states are detailed in Table format below.

Show your work

Before producing the table, the calculator works through the full calculation for every country: Market Midpoint, Adjustment % applied, and resulting Adjusted Midpoint for both Safe and Stretch.

Countries missing either salary data or adjustment data are skipped and listed in the summary with the reason.

Table format

One Markdown table with one row per country:

Country Legal Requirement 🛡️ Safe Annual 🚀 Stretch Annual 🛡️ Safe Monthly 🚀 Stretch Monthly
🇩🇪 Germany (EUR) 45,300 (3,775/mo) 59,500 (56,500–65,500) 74,500 (71,000–82,000) 4,950 6,200
🇳🇱 Netherlands (EUR) 63,972 (5,331/mo) ⚠️ 56,500 (53,500–62,000) 70,000 (66,500–77,000) 4,700 5,850
🇺🇸 United States (USD) — 140,000 (133,000–154,000) 175,000 (166,500–192,500) 11,650 14,600
  • The country’s flag emoji is placed before its name, and the currency code is included, e.g. 🇩🇪 Germany (EUR).
  • Each Annual column shows the Fixed target first, then its Range in parentheses.
  • Each Monthly column shows only the single Monthly value (Annual Fixed ÷ 12), no range. Monthly values are a reference only and may not represent actual monthly payslips in countries using 13th or 14th salary payments.
  • Values in local currency only, no USD conversion.
  • Annual (Fixed and Range) rounded to nearest 500, Monthly to nearest 50.
  • No currency symbols inside salary values.
  • Legal Requirement, Safe Annual, Stretch Annual, Safe Monthly, and Stretch Monthly are right-aligned.
  • No footnotes, revision markers, notes, explanations, or additional columns.

Legal Requirement column:

State Shown as
No usable threshold (none exists, or couldn’t be confirmed as a comparable number) — (em dash)
Threshold exists, both Safe and Stretch clear it Both period equivalents in one cell, Annual figure first, Monthly in parentheses with a “/mo” suffix, e.g. 45,300 (3,775/mo). Neither figure is rounded.
Threshold exists, either Safe or Stretch falls short Same combined format, with a single ⚠️ appended once at the end of the cell

Safe and Stretch are never adjusted because of this column; it’s shown alongside them as a separate fact, not merged into the calculation.

If Step 5 recalibrates, its revised table reuses this exact format and column order; see Step 5: Final Verification.

Output

  • sc-step4-salary-table.md: the raw, pre-audit table and summary, written for Step 5 to read. This step’s own output is file-only, unlike Step 5, which does show its resulting table in chat.

Claude does not reproduce the calculations or the table in chat; instead, it tells you in a few lines how many countries were calculated and skipped, and confirms the file is saved.

Stop condition

There is no interactive checkpoint in this step. Once results are saved, Claude continues automatically into Step 5 (final verification) within the same response, without waiting for a new message; it always runs and is never asked about.

Claude Compass — MIT License