Meeting Cost Calculator
Calculate meeting cost from attendee count, average hourly salary, and duration.
Returns total cost, cost per attendee, and annual cost for recurring meetings.
Every meeting has a real dollar cost — it is just invisible because it is buried in payroll. The meeting cost calculator makes that cost explicit so teams can make smarter decisions about which meetings to hold, who to invite, and how long to run them.
Formula: Meeting Cost = Number of Attendees × Average Hourly Rate × Duration (hours)
For mixed salary teams: Meeting Cost = Σ(Individual Hourly Rate × Duration) for all attendees
What each variable means:
- Number of Attendees — everyone in the room or on the call, including managers whose time is expensive.
- Average Hourly Rate — each attendee’s fully-loaded hourly cost. “Fully loaded” means salary plus benefits, payroll taxes, and overhead (typically 1.25–1.4× base salary).
- Duration — the actual meeting length in hours. A 45-minute meeting = 0.75 hours.
Converting annual salary to hourly rate: Hourly Rate = Annual Salary ÷ 2,080 (2,080 = 52 weeks × 40 hours/week)
Fully-loaded multiplier: Add ~30–40% for benefits and overhead: Loaded Rate = Hourly Rate × 1.35
Worked example: A one-hour sprint planning meeting with 8 developers (average $110,000/year salary): Hourly rate = $110,000 ÷ 2,080 = $52.88 Fully loaded = $52.88 × 1.35 = $71.39/hour per person Meeting cost = 8 × $71.39 × 1.0 = $571.12
If this meeting happens weekly, annual cost = $29,699 for just that one recurring meeting.
Reference: how often does the average knowledge worker meet?
- Microsoft research found workers average 3–4 hours of meetings per day.
- Unnecessary meetings cost U.S. businesses an estimated $37 billion per year.
The calculator does not judge whether a meeting is worth its cost — but it forces that conversation to happen with real numbers.