Explanation
What a meeting really costs
A meeting is paid for in everyone's time at once. Eight people in a one-hour meeting spend a full working day between them. Putting a dollar figure on that makes it easier to decide which meetings are worth keeping, which can be shorter, and who really needs to be there.
Choose the question and enter values
Use Cost of a meeting to price a meeting you have or plan. Add one group per pay level: one group of 8 people at an average salary is fine, or split it into the lead, the engineers and the designers. Use Minutes for a budget when you know what a decision is worth and want to know how long the room can spend on it.
R = (Σ n × S) × k ÷ H, cost per meeting C = R × (m + f) ÷ 60, cost per year = C × N, and minutes for a budget = B ÷ R × 60.
| R | Cost of the room per hour (USD) |
|---|---|
| n | People |
| S | Annual salary each (USD) |
| k | Overhead multiplier |
| H | Paid hours per year (hours (h)) |
| m | Length (minutes (min)) |
| f | Refocus time per person (minutes (min)) |
| N | Meetings per year |
| B | Budget for the meeting (USD) |
A weekly team sync
| Who is in the meeting | 6 × $90,000 |
|---|---|
| Length | 60 min |
| How often | Weekly |
| Refocus time per person | 0 min |
| Overhead multiplier | 1.3 |
| Paid hours per year | 2,080 |
| Result | $337.50 |
6 people with combined salaries of $540,000 × 1.3 overhead ÷ 2,080 paid hours a year = $337.50 an hour for the room (the next step uses the unrounded rate).
$337.50 an hour × 60 minutes ÷ 60 = $337.50 for each meeting, rounded to cents.
Weekly is 48 meetings a year: $337.50 × 48 = $16,200 a year.
A daily standup with refocus time
| Who is in the meeting | 1 × $144,000; 4 × $120,000 |
|---|---|
| Length | 30 min |
| How often | Every working day |
| Refocus time per person | 10 min |
| Overhead multiplier | 1.25 |
| Paid hours per year | 2,080 |
| Result | $250 |
5 people with combined salaries of $624,000 × 1.25 overhead ÷ 2,080 paid hours a year = $375 an hour for the room (the next step uses the unrounded rate).
$375 an hour × (30 minutes in the meeting + 10 minutes to refocus) ÷ 60 = $250 for each meeting, rounded to cents.
Every working day is 240 meetings a year: $250 × 240 = $60,000 a year.
A quick one-off chat
| Who is in the meeting | 2 × $52,000 |
|---|---|
| Length | 15 min |
| How often | Just once |
| Refocus time per person | 0 min |
| Overhead multiplier | 1 |
| Paid hours per year | 2,080 |
| Result | $12.50 |
2 people with combined salaries of $104,000 × 1 overhead ÷ 2,080 paid hours a year = $50 an hour for the room (the next step uses the unrounded rate).
$50 an hour × 15 minutes ÷ 60 = $12.50 for each meeting, rounded to cents.
How long a $1,000 decision can take
| Who is in the meeting | 8 × $104,000 |
|---|---|
| Budget for the meeting | $1,000 |
| Overhead multiplier | 1.4 |
| Paid hours per year | 2,080 |
| Result | 107 minutes |
8 people with combined salaries of $832,000 × 1.4 overhead ÷ 2,080 paid hours a year = $560 an hour for the room (the next step uses the unrounded rate).
$1,000 ÷ $560 an hour × 60 ≈ 107.14 minutes, rounded down to 107 whole minutes so the meeting stays within budget.
Diagram of this result
A bar splits the cost of one meeting by attendee group, with time in the room and refocus time, then the monthly and yearly cost and what shorter or smaller meetings would save.
Each group's share of the cost and every yearly figure is listed as an exact dollar amount.
Common mistakes
Using salary alone undercounts the cost: employers also pay taxes, benefits and equipment, which the overhead multiplier adds. Dividing by 52 weeks overcounts how often a weekly meeting happens, because holidays and leave cancel some; this calculator uses 48 working weeks and 240 working days. And the cost is not the whole story: a meeting that prevents a week of wasted work is cheap at any price.
Assumptions and limits
US dollars, annual salaries in whole cents, the same paid hours for everyone, and 48 working weeks or 240 working days a year. Each meeting's cost is rounded half-up to cents once; the yearly cost is that amount times the number of meetings. Preparation, travel, follow-up work and the value the meeting creates are not included. Educational estimates only, not financial, payroll or tax advice.
What overhead multiplier should I use?
If your finance team gives you a fully loaded hourly cost, use one group with that cost × paid hours as the salary and an overhead of 1. Otherwise 1.25 to 1.4 is a common range for US employers; use 1 to count salary only.
Why count refocus time?
Work that needs concentration takes time to resume after an interruption. If a meeting splits an afternoon, part of the time after it is lost too. Refocus time is optional and set per person; leave it at zero to count only the meeting itself.
Method and references
The cost is each person's hourly cost times the time spent, summed over the room. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes employer costs for employee compensation, including benefits as a share of pay, at https://www.bls.gov/ect/ . The examples above are independent fixtures for this method.