Meeting Cost Calculator
What a meeting costs in salary time — per meeting, per year if it recurs, and what a shorter one would save.
The cost is attendees × duration × average hourly rate, plus the overhead multiplier that turns salary into fully loaded cost.
How the meeting cost calculator works
The cost is attendees × duration × average hourly rate, plus the overhead multiplier that turns salary into fully loaded cost. Employers typically pay 1.25 to 1.4 times salary once on-costs are counted.
The figure that lands is the recurring one. A weekly hour-long meeting for eight people at 80,000 average salary costs about 20,000 a year — which is a hiring decision, not a calendar entry.
Formula: cost = attendees × hours × hourly rate × overhead
Worked examples
| Inputs | Cost per meeting | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Eight people, one hour, weekly | £473.68 | about 24,000 a year |
| A one-off | £473.68 | about 470 |
| A daily standup | £118.42 | about 30,000 a year |
FAQFrequently asked questions
How much does a meeting cost?
Attendees times duration times the loaded hourly rate. Eight people for an hour at 90,000 average salary is about 470.
What is the overhead multiplier?
The factor turning salary into total employment cost — payroll taxes, retirement contributions, insurance and equipment. Typically 1.25 to 1.4.
Why does the annual figure matter more?
Because recurring meetings compound. A weekly hour for eight people is around 24,000 a year, which most organisations would scrutinise as a purchase.
Should I show this in the invite?
Some teams do. It reliably shortens meetings and shortens invite lists, which is generally the point.
Does this mean meetings are waste?
No. It means they have a price. A meeting worth 470 is worth having; the question is whether this one is.
Where these figures come from
- ISO 8601 — Date and time — Representations for information interchange — the yyyy-mm-dd format and the week-numbering rules used here
- US Naval Observatory — Calendars — the Gregorian leap-year rule
- GOV.UK — bank holidays — bank holidays by nation (not applied here)
Last checked: September 2026. The Gregorian calendar rules do not change; working-day counts exclude Saturdays and Sundays only.