Meeting Cost Calculator
Calculate the dollar cost of meetings.
About this calculator
Every meeting has a real dollar cost, even though no invoice ever shows up for it: the attendees' time is a cost the organization pays whether or not the meeting produces anything of value. This calculator computes that cost directly -- it multiplies Meeting Duration plus Prep Time Per Person by the Number of Attendees to get total person-hours consumed, then multiplies that by the Avg Hourly Cost per attendee to get a dollar figure for a single occurrence. Because the cost scales with attendee count, doubling the invite list roughly doubles Cost Per Meeting even if the meeting itself is unchanged in every other way -- a useful reminder that trimming an invite list is often the single biggest lever for cutting meeting spend.
Weekly Cost multiplies that per-meeting figure by Meetings Per Week to show the ongoing burden of a recurring meeting, and Monthly Cost and Annual Cost project that weekly figure out using a 4.33-week month and a 52-week year. FTE Equivalent converts the Weekly Hours Consumed by all attendees combined into a share of a standard 40-hour work week, which is a way of asking "how much of one full-time employee's week does this recurring meeting alone absorb?" This model only prices attendee time -- it does not account for opportunity cost (what attendees could have produced instead), meeting-preparation overhead beyond the entered Prep Time, or the value the meeting itself might create, so treat the output as a floor on true cost, not a complete accounting.
Inputs
Results
Cost Per Meeting
$550.00
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the number of meeting attendees.
- Set the average fully loaded hourly cost per attendee.
- Enter the meeting duration in minutes.
- Review the estimated pre-meeting cost figure before the meeting is scheduled or held.
- Use the cost figure to evaluate whether the meeting's outcome justifies the expense — consider async alternatives.
How the result changes with Number of Attendees
| Number of Attendees | Cost Per Meeting |
|---|---|
| 4 | $275.00 |
| 6 | $412.50 |
| 12 | $825.00 |
| 20 | $1,375.00 |
What each input means
- Number of Attendees
- Number of people attending the meeting.
- Meeting Duration
- Meeting duration in minutes.
- Avg Hourly Cost
- Average burdened hourly cost of attendees.
- Meetings Per Week
- How often this meeting occurs per week.
- Prep Time Per Person
- Average preparation time per attendee.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters5 parametersNumber of Attendees = 8, Meeting Duration = 60, Avg Hourly Cost = 55, Meetings Per Week = 3, Prep Time Per Person = 15 = 5 input(s) provided
- Calculate Cost Per MeetingCost Per Meeting550 = $550
- Calculate Weekly CostWeekly Cost1650 = $1,650
- Calculate Monthly CostMonthly Cost7144.5 = $7,144.5
Engine last updated . Checked against 1 independently-derived test — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does adding one more attendee raise the cost of a meeting?
Cost Per Meeting scales directly with Number of Attendees, since total person-hours (duration plus prep time, per person) is multiplied by attendee count before being multiplied by the hourly rate. Adding an attendee at the same Avg Hourly Cost raises the meeting's cost by roughly one attendee's share of the total -- for an 8-person, 1-hour meeting at $55/hour, a ninth attendee adds about $55 to that single occurrence.
Does making the meeting shorter always save the same amount as making it less frequent?
Not necessarily the same amount, but both reduce cost in the same direction: cutting Meeting Duration in half cuts Cost Per Meeting roughly in half (since duration feeds directly into person-hours), while cutting Meetings Per Week in half cuts Weekly Cost, Monthly Cost, and Annual Cost roughly in half without changing Cost Per Meeting at all. Which lever saves more depends on whether the goal is shrinking one occurrence or the whole recurring series.
What does FTE Equivalent actually measure?
It expresses Weekly Hours Consumed -- the combined person-hours every attendee spends on this recurring meeting each week -- as a fraction of one full-time employee's standard 40-hour work week. An FTE Equivalent of 0.5 means the meeting collectively consumes as much weekly time, across all attendees combined, as half of one full-time role would.
Does Prep Time Per Person matter as much as the meeting itself?
Yes -- Prep Time Per Person is added directly to Meeting Duration before being multiplied by Number of Attendees, so it carries the same weight per minute as time spent in the meeting itself. A meeting with substantial prep time (reviewing materials, preparing updates) can cost noticeably more in total than its scheduled duration alone would suggest, especially with a large attendee list.
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