How to Calculate Squash Allowance: A Step-by-Step Guide

Squash allowance in one line

A squash allowance is simple: a monthly base amount, plus the number of paid squash sessions multiplied by the price of one squash session, all multiplied by twelve for the year. Base plus squash sessions times price, then times twelve. The worked example throughout is a $70.00 monthly base, 2 squash sessions a month, and $50.00 per squash session, which totals $170.00 a month and $2,040.00 a year. Every step below maps to one line of it, and the calculator on the companion page runs the same arithmetic for any figures you enter.

Step 1: Price the monthly base allowance

The base allowance is the flat amount set each month for squash extras, before any paid squash sessions. Racket strings, balls, grips and small recurring extras belong here. New rackets, a club membership and travel do not: a membership paid yearly is a lump sum, new rackets are a one-off purchase, and travel varies by session and by venue. If your club or employer sets the base, use their figure exactly. If you set it yourself, look at last season: add up a typical month of strings, balls, grips and small extras, and use that monthly average. A base that is really an annual figure divided wrongly is the most common error in this step — check that your base is monthly before you multiply anything by twelve.

Step 2: Count only the paid squash sessions

Count the squash sessions you pay for individually each month, and nothing else. Sessions covered by a club membership cost $0.00 extra and are not counted. Sessions covered by the base allowance are not counted either, even though you played them. If you play 24 sessions a year, your average month is 24 divided by 12, exactly 2 sessions — enter the average when you want the year total, and the busiest month only when you are pricing that month. A session that runs short but is charged at the full session price still counts as one paid session, because the price, not the minutes, is what the formula multiplies. When in doubt, count the sessions on your receipts, not the sessions you remember, since memory rounds up the busy weeks and forgets the quiet ones.

Step 3: Add the lines and multiply by 12

Multiply squash sessions by the price per squash session: 2 sessions times $50.00 is $100.00, the sessions line. Add the base: $70.00 plus $100.00 is $170.00, the monthly total. Multiply by twelve for the year: $170.00 times 12 is $2,040.00. Split the year total the same way to check it: the base over twelve months is $70.00 times 12, which is $840.00, and the squash sessions over twelve months are $100.00 times 12, which is $1,200.00. Added together, $840.00 plus $1,200.00 is $2,040.00, the same year total reached the other way. If the two routes disagree, one of the lines was added wrong — redo the sessions line first, because it carries the multiplication, and then re-add the base.

Step 4: Check the result backwards

A result you cannot reverse is a result you cannot trust, so run the formula backwards from the monthly total. The base behind $170.00 a month is $170.00 minus the sessions line: $170.00 minus $100.00 is $70.00. The per-session price behind $170.00 a month is the monthly total minus the base, divided by squash sessions: ($170.00 minus $70.00) divided by 2 is $50.00. The squash sessions behind $170.00 a month are the monthly total minus the base, divided by the per-session price: ($170.00 minus $70.00) divided by $50.00 is 2. Then check the neighbors: a $10.00 higher base gives $180.00 a month, a $10.00 higher per-session price gives $190.00 a month, and two extra squash sessions give $270.00 a month. If a neighbor moves the total by an amount you cannot explain, an input is wrong, and the sessions line is again the first suspect.

Common mistakes

Counting membership sessions as paid sessions is the first mistake: it adds $50.00 per covered session that was never paid, and the year total inflates by $600.00 per phantom session. Spreading a one-off racket purchase across the base is the second: $840.00 of rackets spread as $70.00 a month of base overstates every month by $70.00. Using the busiest month as the average month is the third: 4 sessions in a league month is not 4 sessions every month, and the year total doubles the league month. Leaving session-only coaching fees out of the per-session price is the fourth: the court hire alone understates the session by the coaching charge. Forgetting that the base is monthly, and multiplying an annual base by twelve, is the fifth — and the largest, because it multiplies the error by twelve too. Each mistake is easy to make and easy to catch, provided you run the backwards check before you trust the total.

Worked example, start to finish

Base $70.00, 2 squash sessions, $50.00 per squash session. Sessions line: 2 times $50.00 equals $100.00. Monthly total: $70.00 plus $100.00 equals $170.00. Year total: $170.00 times 12 equals $2,040.00, split as $840.00 base and $1,200.00 sessions. Backwards: base $170.00 minus $100.00 equals $70.00; per-session price ($170.00 minus $70.00) divided by 2 equals $50.00; squash sessions ($170.00 minus $70.00) divided by $50.00 equals 2. A second case for practice: base $75.00, 3 squash sessions, $45.00 per squash session. Sessions line: 3 times $45.00 equals $135.00. Monthly total: $75.00 plus $135.00 equals $210.00. Year total: $210.00 times 12 equals $2,520.00. If you can run both cases without a calculator, you can run any squash allowance, and the calculator page will confirm your arithmetic in seconds.

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