Meeting Cost Calculator
Calculate the true cost of business meetings by attendee count, hourly rate, and duration. Includes recurring cost, opportunity cost, individual rates for up to 8 people, prep time, and ROI.
Meeting Cost
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Cost per Minute —
Annual Cost (if weekly) —
Extended More scenarios, charts & detailed breakdown ▾
Meeting Cost
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Cost per Person —
Cost per Minute —
Professional Full parameters & maximum detail ▾
Direct Costs
Direct Labor Cost —
Fully-Loaded Meeting Cost —
Time Costs
Preparation Cost —
Travel Time Cost —
Total Time Cost (prep + meeting + travel) —
Budget & ROI
Annual Meeting Budget (weekly recurrence) —
Meeting ROI (if decision value entered) —
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the number of attendees, average hourly rate, and meeting duration to see the meeting cost instantly.
- Use the Recurring tab to calculate monthly and annual cost for regular meetings.
- Use the Opportunity Cost tab to estimate the productive output lost while in the meeting.
- The Professional tier supports individual rates for up to 8 attendees, prep time, travel time, overhead multiplier, annual meeting budget, and ROI if you enter the value of decisions made.
Formula
Meeting Cost = Σ Hourly Rates × Meeting Duration (hours)
Fully Loaded Cost = Meeting Cost × Overhead Multiplier
Annual Cost = Per-Meeting Cost × Meetings per Year
Meeting ROI = (Decision Value − Meeting Cost) ÷ Meeting Cost × 100%
Fully Loaded Cost = Meeting Cost × Overhead Multiplier
Annual Cost = Per-Meeting Cost × Meetings per Year
Meeting ROI = (Decision Value − Meeting Cost) ÷ Meeting Cost × 100%
Example
Example: 6 attendees, $80/hr average, 90-minute meeting. Meeting cost = 6 × $80 × 1.5 = $720. With 1.5× overhead = $1,080. Weekly: $1,080 × 52 = $56,160/year. If prep is 30 min per person, add $360 prep cost = $1,440 total per meeting.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Meeting Cost = Number of Attendees × Average Hourly Rate × Duration in Hours. For a 1-hour meeting with 5 people at $75/hour: 5 × $75 × 1 = $375. To get the fully-loaded cost, multiply by an overhead factor (typically 1.3–2.0×) to account for benefits and employer costs.
- A 1-hour weekly meeting with 8 people at $75/hour costs $600/meeting × 52 weeks = $31,200/year. Including prep time (30 min × 8 people × $75 = $300 prep) and overhead multiplier of 1.5×, the true annual cost can exceed $70,000.
- Opportunity cost is the value of productive work lost while in a meeting. If an engineer generates $200/hour of value, their opportunity cost in a 1-hour meeting is $200, not just their $100 salary cost. This often doubles or triples the perceived meeting cost.
- Run shorter meetings (30 min default), invite only essential attendees, replace status updates with async communication (Slack, email), use time-boxed agendas, and calculate the cost before scheduling to raise awareness.
- 1.3× covers salary + basic benefits. 1.5× is a common "fully loaded" figure including benefits, payroll taxes, and overhead. 2.0× is used by some companies to include office space, equipment, HR, and management overhead per employee.