Meeting Cost Calculator

Enter the number of participants, their average hourly rate, and the meeting length to see the total cost.

The formula

Hours = Minutes ÷ 60
Cost = Hourly rate × Participants × Hours
Hourly rate
The average loaded cost per person per hour. Using a bare salary rate understates it — see below.
Participants
Everyone in the room, including anyone attending only to listen.
Minutes
Scheduled length. Preparation and the recovery time after an interruption are not counted.

Worked example

Eight people in a 45-minute meeting at an average loaded rate of 75 an hour.

450 for one 45-minute meeting. Held weekly, that is 23,400 a year.

Use a loaded rate, not a salary rate

The cost of an hour of someone’s time is more than their salary divided by their hours: employer taxes, pension, benefits, equipment, software and premises all sit on top. A loaded rate is what makes the output comparable to any other line of spend. If you do not have one, taking the salary hourly rate and adding a substantial uplift is closer to the truth than using the salary rate alone — and using a single blended average across the room is fine, since precision per person adds nothing to the decision.

The recurring figure is the one that changes behaviour

A single 450 meeting rarely prompts anyone to act. The same meeting held weekly is 23,400 a year, and that is a number that would face scrutiny if it were a software subscription. Recurring meetings are also the ones that survive longest past their usefulness, because nobody owns the decision to cancel them. Multiply by 52 before deciding whether a standing invitation still earns its slot.

Attendance is the cheapest lever

Cost scales linearly with headcount, so removing two people from a room of eight cuts it by a quarter without shortening the meeting or changing the agenda. Shortening from 60 to 45 minutes cuts it by the same quarter. Both are easier to act on than trying to make a meeting better, and either can be done unilaterally by whoever sends the invitation.

What this deliberately does not measure

It counts salary time and nothing else. It does not capture the value of the decision made, the cost of the interruption to focused work on either side of the meeting, or the preparation time. That means the figure is a floor, not a verdict — a 450 meeting that unblocks a project is cheap, and a free-feeling one that repeats every week without producing a decision is not.

Common questions

How do I calculate the cost of a meeting?

Multiply the average hourly cost per person by the number of participants and by the length in hours. Forty-five minutes is 0.75 hours, so eight people at 75 an hour comes to 450.

What hourly rate should I use?

A fully loaded rate that includes employer taxes, benefits, equipment and overhead rather than the bare salary rate. A blended average for the room is adequate — the purpose is a decision about whether the meeting is worth holding, not an accounting entry.

Should I include people who only listen?

Yes. Their time is spent whether they speak or not, and silent attendees are usually where the easiest saving is. If someone genuinely only needs the outcome, notes serve them better and cost nothing.

How do I work out the annual cost of a recurring meeting?

Calculate one instance and multiply by the number of times it runs — 52 for weekly, 26 for fortnightly, 12 for monthly. Recurring meetings accumulate quietly, and the annual figure is what makes them comparable to other spending.

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