Meeting Cost Calculator
Estimate how much a meeting costs based on attendees, hourly rate, and duration.
Meetings consume a surprising share of a company's labour budget. This calculator uses the number of attendees, average hourly rate, and meeting duration to reveal the real cost of each meeting — providing concrete numbers that help teams evaluate whether a meeting is worth its price.
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How to Calculate the Cost of a Meeting
- Enter the number of attendees — how many people will be in the meeting.
- Enter the average hourly cost per attendee — include salary, benefits, and overhead (typically 1.3–1.5× base salary).
- Enter the meeting duration in hours — how long the meeting is expected to last.
- Click Calculate — the tool shows the total cost of the meeting based on everyone's time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you calculate the cost of a meeting? ▼
Multiply the number of attendees by their average hourly rate by the meeting duration. A 1-hour meeting with 8 people at $75/hour costs $600. Include benefits and overhead (typically add 30–50% on top of base salary) for the true cost.
Why should I track meeting costs? ▼
Research shows that unnecessary meetings cost organisations millions annually. A mid-size company with 500 employees can spend $15–25 million per year on meetings. Tracking costs makes the expense visible and encourages more efficient meeting culture.
What is a reasonable cost for a meeting? ▼
The meeting should produce value greater than its cost. A $500 meeting that generates a $5,000 decision is excellent ROI. A $500 meeting that could have been an email is waste. As a rule of thumb, if fewer than 50% of attendees are actively contributing, the meeting has too many people.
How can I reduce meeting costs? ▼
Keep meetings short (25 or 50 minutes instead of 30/60), invite only essential participants, use agendas, replace status updates with async tools (Slack, email), and adopt a "no-meeting day" policy. Each attendee removed saves their full hourly cost.
Should I include preparation time in the cost? ▼
For a complete picture, yes. If each attendee spends 15 minutes preparing for a 1-hour meeting, add 25% to the meeting cost. Preparation time is often overlooked but represents real productivity cost.
Is my data stored? ▼
No. All calculations happen in your browser. No salary or meeting data is sent to any server.