Assignment Cost Estimator (ACE)

A fast and accurate estimate of costs is critical when the business is planning for or approving an assignment or transfer. The Assignment Cost Estimator (ACE) is an online cost estimating tool which allows you to run estimates instantly.

ACE brings together carefully researched income tax rates, taxability logic, relocation allowances, support costs, and a rapid policy configuration module into one tool. A complete solution for creating cost estimates and allowing you to align benefit items with your company policy, ACE empowers you to support the business on demand.

For 565+ cities across 165 countries, ACE can produce cost estimates for a variety of assignment and transfer types, including:

• Home-Based Long-Term Assignments
• One-Way Transfers (Domestic & International)
• Host Plus Arrangements
• Short-Term Assignments
• Commuter Assignments

ACE is pre-populated with AIRINC researched and benchmarked allowances and policy elements for over 65 pre-, ongoing, and post-assignment/transfer values.  Alternatively, ACE can be pre-configured and pre-populated to reflect your policy or actual costs if preferred.

ACE leverages AIRINC’s income tax logic for determining the taxability of allowances and tax models for hypothetical home income tax and host gross-up values.  You have the option of using AIRINC’s standard tax models or configuring them to your tax positions as required.

Align ACE to your company policy. Once configured, ACE runs your cost estimates your way, every time. Policy configuration options include:

• Renaming benefit items, descriptions, and ACE policy name
• Reordering the display order of benefit items
• Excluding items by default
• Defaulting how an item is paid
• Detailed benefit logic adjustments

ACE is a flexible tool that allows you to run individual cost estimates and over-ride values on the fly. ACE is available through AIRINC’s online portal AIRLINC. It can also be accessed via API or SSO for clients preferring an integration to an internal system.

ACE leverages both cost data and tax information to generate accurate cost estimates. AIRINC collects data on relocation expenses, assignment allowances, and family support regularly throughout the year.

AIRINC also researches income tax rates, taxability of allowances and tax logic such as residency thresholds, social security agreements, tax treaties in force, rules for calculating double tax relief, and expat tax concessions across 165 countries and over 200 tax jurisdictions. Tax research is conducted in-house and is sourced from several tax law sources including Wolters Kluwer (CCH), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD), the Big 4, and direct tax authorities.