📖 Overview
Find out how much your meetings cost the organisation to run more focused and productive sessions.
🧪 Example Scenarios
Use these default and higher-pressure example inputs to explore how sensitive this calculator is before using your real numbers.
| Input | Base Case | Higher Pressure Case |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Attendees | 0 | 0 |
| Average Hourly Rate ($/hr) | 8 | 9.6 |
| Duration (minutes) | 50 | 60 |
⚙️ How It Works
Estimates the labour cost of a meeting by multiplying attendees by their average hourly rate and the meeting duration in hours.
The Formula
Meeting Cost = Attendees × Hourly Rate × (Duration minutes ÷ 60)
| Attendees | Total number of people in the meeting |
| Hourly Rate | Average all-in cost per person per hour (salary + benefits) |
| Duration (min) | Meeting length in minutes |
💡Fully-loaded employee cost (salary + benefits + overhead) is typically 1.25–1.5× base salary. A $60k/year employee costs roughly $36–$50/hour all-in.
Quick Reference
| Attendees | 30 min @ $50/hr | 60 min @ $50/hr | 60 min @ $80/hr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 people | $100 | $200 | $320 |
| 8 people | $200 | $400 | $640 |
| 12 people | $300 | $600 | $960 |
| 20 people | $500 | $1,000 | $1,600 |
When To Use This
- Use this tool when you need a fast decision during active planning or execution.
- Use this before committing money, time, or tradeoffs that are hard to reverse.
- Use this to compare options using the same assumptions across scenarios.
Edge Cases To Watch
- Results can be misleading if key inputs are missing, stale, or unrealistic.
- Very small or very large values may amplify rounding effects and interpretation risk.
- If assumptions change mid-decision, recalculate before acting.
Practical Tips
💡 Ask: could this meeting be an email? A 1-hour all-hands with 20 people at $50/hr costs $1,000.
💡 Keep standing meetings short — a 15-minute daily standup with 8 people at $50/hr = $100/day = $26,000/year.
💡 Include only essential attendees. Cutting 2 people from an 8-person meeting reduces cost by 25%.
Frequently Asked Questions
❓ Should I use salary or total cost per hour?
Total cost (salary + benefits + overhead) gives a more accurate picture. Add 25–50% to base salary as a rough adjustment.
❓ Is this calculator useful for freelancers?
Yes — use your billing rate to see the opportunity cost of time spent in meetings vs billable work.