Meeting Cost Calculator: What Meetings Really Cost

What a meeting costs

A meeting costs the people in it. The formula is short: cost per meeting = attendees × hourly rate × (minutes / 60). On the defaults — 8 attendees at a loaded rate of $65.00 an hour for 60 minutes — that is 8 × $65.00 × (60 / 60) = $520.00 a meeting. The cost per person per meeting is the hourly rate times the length in hours: $65.00 × 1 = $65.00. The cost per minute is the per-meeting cost divided by the minutes: $520.00 / 60 = $8.67 a minute — every minute of the meeting burns $8.67. The weekly cost is the per-meeting cost times the meetings a week: $520.00 × 3 = $1,560.00. The monthly cost is the weekly cost times 52 / 12, because there are 52 weeks in a year and 12 months: $1,560.00 × 52 / 12 = $6,760.00. The annual cost is the weekly cost times 52: $1,560.00 × 52 = $81,120.00. The identity to remember is annual = per-meeting cost × meetings/week × 52. And the hourly rate should be the LOADED cost — salary plus benefits plus overhead, typically 1.25 to 1.4 times base pay. The rule of thumb is 1.3 times: someone paid $50.00 an hour costs the company about $65.00 an hour. Use the salary alone and the meeting looks a third cheaper than it is.

At the defaults — 8 attendees, $65.00 an hour, 60 minutes, 3 meetings a week — the cost per meeting is $520.00, the cost per person is $65.00, the cost per minute is $8.67, the weekly cost is $1,560.00, the monthly cost is $6,760.00, and the annual cost is $81,120.00. Check the identities: per meeting × meetings/week = weekly ($520.00 × 3 = $1,560.00); weekly × 52/12 = monthly ($1,560.00 × 52/12 = $6,760.00); weekly × 52 = annual ($1,560.00 × 52 = $81,120.00). Monthly figures are rounded to the cent, so monthly × 12 can differ from the annualised total by a few cents; totals are computed from unrounded values, so rounded parts may differ by a cent from their rounded sum.

The worked example, line by line

Setup: 8 attendees, hourly rate $65.00, length 60 minutes, 3 meetings a week.

Line 1 — the cost per meeting. 8 × $65.00 × (60 / 60) = $520.00.

Line 2 — the cost per person. $65.00 × (60 / 60) = $65.00.

Line 3 — the cost per minute. $520.00 / 60 = $8.67.

Line 4 — the weekly cost. $520.00 × 3 = $1,560.00.

Line 5 — the monthly cost. $1,560.00 × 52 / 12 = $6,760.00.

Line 6 — the annual cost. $1,560.00 × 52 = $81,120.00.

Reverse: the attendees for a $500.00/meeting budget are 8 (exact 7.6923); at 8 the cost is $520.00 ($20.00 over), at 7 it is $455.00 ($45.00 under) — 8 is the nearest. The minutes for a $500.00/meeting budget are 58 (exact 57.6923 min); at 58 min the cost is $502.67 ($2.67 over), at 57 min it is $494.00 ($6.00 under) — 58 is the nearest. The hourly rate for a $500.00/meeting budget is $62.50 (exact). The meetings a week for a $100,000.00 annual budget are 3.70/wk (exact 3.6982/wk); at 3.70/wk the annual cost is $100,048.00 ($48.00 over), at 3.69/wk it is $99,777.60 ($222.40 under) — 3.70 is the nearest. The attendees for a $100,000.00 annual budget are 10 (exact 9.8619); at 10 the annual cost is $101,400.00 ($1,400.00 over), at 9 it is $91,260.00 ($8,740.00 under) — 10 is the nearest.

Every branch, checked

4 attendees: per meeting $260.00, weekly $780.00, monthly $3,380.00, annual $40,560.00. Halving the room halves the bill.

20 attendees: per meeting $1,300.00, weekly $3,900.00, monthly $16,900.00, annual $202,800.00. Twenty people in a room for an hour costs more than most people earn in a week.

Hourly rate $40: per meeting $320.00, weekly $960.00, monthly $4,160.00, annual $49,920.00. Cheaper people, cheaper meeting — the rate is the biggest lever after the headcount.

Hourly rate $120: per meeting $960.00, weekly $2,880.00, monthly $12,480.00, annual $149,760.00. Senior people in the room nearly double the meeting.

30 minutes: per meeting $260.00, weekly $780.00, monthly $3,380.00, annual $40,560.00. Halving the time halves the bill, exactly like halving the people.

120 minutes: per meeting $1,040.00, weekly $3,120.00, monthly $13,520.00, annual $162,240.00. A two-hour meeting costs twice the one-hour meeting, every week of the year.

1 meeting a week: per meeting $520.00, weekly $520.00, monthly $2,253.33, annual $27,040.00. The per-meeting cost does not change — only the frequency does.

5 meetings a week: per meeting $520.00, weekly $2,600.00, monthly $11,266.67, annual $135,200.00. Five of these meetings a week cost more than a full-time salary.

Reverse — the other way round: the attendees for a $500.00/meeting budget are 8 (exact 7.6923); the minutes for a $500.00/meeting budget are 58 (exact 57.6923 min); the hourly rate for a $500.00/meeting budget is $62.50; the meetings a week for a $100,000.00 annual budget are 3.70/wk (exact 3.6982/wk); the attendees for a $100,000.00 annual budget are 10 (exact 9.8619).

What the defaults assume

The model assumes every attendee costs the same loaded hourly rate for the full length of the meeting, and that the meeting happens the same number of times every week of the year. It assumes the hourly rate is the loaded cost — salary plus benefits plus overhead, 1.25 to 1.4 times base pay, 1.3 times as a rule of thumb — and it leaves out the room, the travel, and the time spent preparing for the meeting. With 0 attendees, the cost is $0.00 everywhere. With 1 attendee, the per-meeting cost is $65.00, weekly $195.00, monthly $845.00, annual $10,140.00. With a 0-minute meeting, the cost is $0.00 everywhere, and the cost per minute shows $0.00, not an error. With an hourly rate of $0, the cost is $0.00 everywhere. With 0 meetings a week, the per-meeting cost is still $520.00 — the meeting itself has not changed — but the weekly, monthly, and annual costs are $0.00. Rounding convention: totals are computed from unrounded values, so rounded parts may differ by a cent from their rounded sum; the reverses are nearest-value solutions, and the exact unrounded figures (7.6923, 57.6923 min, 3.6982/wk, 9.8619) are stated wherever the rounded figures appear.

Output · formula · meaning

Who uses this

• The manager running a weekly status meeting with 8 people: they learn the meeting costs $520.00 a time and $81,120.00 a year — so they know the standing meeting is a full-time salary, and they check the 4-attendee branch ($260.00 a meeting) before inviting the whole team.
• The team lead capping a meeting at $500.00: they learn the budget fits 8 attendees (exact 7.6923) or 58 minutes (exact 57.6923 min) — so they know one more person or two more minutes breaks the budget, and they check the $62.50 rate reverse before inviting the senior staff.
• The founder with a $100,000.00 meeting budget for the year: they learn the budget allows 3.70 meetings a week (exact 3.6982/wk) or 10 attendees (exact 9.8619) — so they know the fourth weekly meeting breaks the year, and they check the 5-meetings branch ($135,200.00 a year) before adding a fifth.
• The organiser cutting a two-hour meeting to thirty minutes: they learn the two-hour meeting costs $1,040.00 and the thirty-minute one costs $260.00 — so they know the cut saves $780.00 a meeting and $40,560.00 a year, and they check the cost-per-minute figure ($8.67) before letting the meeting run over.

Accuracy & limitations

The math is exact for the numbers you enter: cost per meeting = attendees × hourly rate × (minutes / 60); cost per person = hourly rate × (minutes / 60); cost per minute = per meeting / minutes (0 when minutes is 0); weekly = per meeting × meetings/week; monthly = weekly × 52/12; annual = weekly × 52. What the model cannot do is know your real loaded rate: check the benefits and overhead, because the loaded cost is typically 1.25 to 1.4 times base pay — use 1.3 times as a rule of thumb — and check the headcount, because every extra person costs their full rate for the full length. It assumes every attendee costs the same loaded hourly rate, the meeting happens the same number of times every week of the year, and the rate does not change with the length. It leaves out the room, the travel, the preparation, and the opportunity cost of the work not done. It is a cost calculator, not a meeting policy: for what the attendees earn, see the take-home pay calculator; for the overtime the meeting creates, see the overtime pay calculator.