Meeting Cost Calculator
Calculate the true cost of any meeting. Enter attendees, salaries, and duration to see real expenses—including hidden costs most calculators miss.
A meeting cost calculator is a tool that computes the true expense of any meeting by multiplying the hourly rate of each attendee by the meeting duration. The formula is: Meeting Cost = (Annual Salary ÷ 2,080 hours) × Duration × Attendees. Most calculators also include a 1.4× loaded rate for benefits and a 23-minute recovery time cost based on Gloria Mark's research at UC Irvine.
Quick Presets
Select a common meeting type or customize your own
Meeting Parameters
Hourly rate: $57/hr (loaded)
52 occurrences per year
Calculation Options
Adds 40% for taxes, benefits, and overhead costs per BLS ECEC data
Time to regain focus after a meeting (Gloria Mark, UC Irvine research)
Meeting Cost Analysis
Single Meeting Cost
$475
$8/minute
Cost Breakdown
Monthly
$2,058
Annual
$24,692
Annual Time Investment
72 hours/year
Equivalent to Hiring
0.2 full-time employees
Industry Benchmark
Based on $85K average salary with 1.4× loaded rate
You're spending $25K/year on meetings
See this cost in real-time during every Zoom, Meet, and Teams call
Key Insight
The average company spends 15% of all employee time in meetings—that's 312 hours per person per year. For a 100-person company at $85K average salary, that's over $4 million annually in meeting time. Even a 20% reduction through smarter meeting practices saves $800K.
How to Calculate Meeting Costs
Select a Preset
Enter Attendees
Add Salary Data
Set Duration
What Makes This Calculator Different
Quick Presets
Recovery Time Cost
Industry Benchmarks
Meeting Cost Formula
Meeting Cost = Direct Cost + Recovery Cost
Where:
Direct Cost = Hourly Rate × Duration (hours) × Attendees
Recovery Cost = (23 min ÷ 60) × Hourly Rate × Attendees
Hourly Rate = (Annual Salary × Loaded Rate) ÷ 2,080 hours
For recurring meetings:
Annual Cost = Meeting Cost × Frequency Multiplier| Variable | Default | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Loaded Rate | 1.4× (40% overhead) | BLS ECEC Data |
| Annual Hours | 2,080 hours | 40 hrs × 52 weeks |
| Recovery Time | 23 minutes/person | Gloria Mark, UC Irvine |
| Weekly | 52× per year | Standard calendar |
| Daily | 260× per year | 5 days × 52 weeks |
Meeting Cost Examples
| Meeting Type | Attendees | Duration | Frequency | Single Cost | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Standup | 8 | 15 min | Daily | $100 | $26,000 |
| Weekly Team Sync | 6 | 60 min | Weekly | $338 | $17,576 |
| Sprint Planning | 8 | 120 min | Bi-weekly | $902 | $23,452 |
| Weekly 1:1 | 2 | 30 min | Weekly | $84 | $4,368 |
| Monthly All-Hands | 50 | 60 min | Monthly | $2,814 | $33,768 |
| Status Meeting (eliminate?) | 12 | 60 min | Weekly | $676 | $35,152 |
* Based on $85,000 average salary with 1.4× loaded rate and 23-min recovery time. Your results will vary based on actual salaries.
Why Meeting Costs Matter
The Problem
Meetings are the largest hidden expense in most organizations. Unlike software subscriptions or travel, meeting costs are invisible—they don't appear on any budget line.
The average professional spends 23 hours per week in meetings. For a company with 100 employees at $85K average salary, that's $4.1 million annually in meeting time alone.
The Solution
Making meeting costs visible changes behavior. When teams see that a weekly sync costs $18,000/year, they start questioning whether every meeting is necessary.
Companies that track meeting costs typically reduce meeting time by 20-40% without impacting productivity. Shopify famously eliminated 12,000 hours of meetings per week using this approach.
$37B+
Wasted annually on unnecessary meetings (U.S.)
71%
Of meetings considered unproductive by attendees
30%
Time recovered when organizations audit meetings
How to Reduce Meeting Costs
Audit recurring meetings
Cancel meetings that haven't produced clear value in the past month. If no one complains, it wasn't needed.
Reduce attendees ruthlessly
Apply Amazon's "two-pizza rule": if you can't feed the group with two pizzas, it's too big.
Default to shorter meetings
Use 25 minutes instead of 30, and 50 instead of 60. Parkinson's Law: work expands to fill time available.
Replace with async
Status updates, FYIs, and simple decisions can be Slack messages, Loom videos, or shared docs instead of meetings.
Require agendas
No agenda, no meeting. Meetings without clear purpose waste the most time. Make agendas mandatory.
Implement no-meeting days
Shopify, Asana, and Meta all use meeting-free days. One day per week of uninterrupted focus time significantly boosts productivity.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Canceling all meetings indiscriminately
Some meetings (1:1s, retrospectives) have high ROI. Cut the right ones.
Using cost data punitively
Meeting costs should prompt reflection, not blame. Focus on improvement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate meeting costs?
Enter the number of attendees, their average annual salary, and the meeting duration. The calculator automatically applies a 1.4× loaded rate (for benefits and overhead) and divides by 2,080 annual working hours to get the hourly cost. Multiply by duration and attendees to get the total meeting cost.
What costs are included in the meeting calculation?
The calculator includes direct salary cost (time × hourly rate × attendees), optional loaded rate (1.4× multiplier for benefits, taxes, and overhead), and optional recovery time (23 minutes per person to regain focus after the meeting, based on UC Irvine research).
What is the 1.4× loaded rate?
The loaded rate accounts for the full cost of an employee beyond their salary. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) data, benefits and overhead typically add 30-50% to base salary. We use 1.4× (40%) as a conservative industry standard.
Why include 23 minutes of recovery time?
Research by Gloria Mark at UC Irvine found it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to fully regain focus after an interruption. Since meetings are significant interruptions to deep work, including recovery time gives a more accurate picture of the meeting's true cost.
How accurate is this meeting cost calculator?
The calculator uses industry-standard formulas and research-backed constants. Accuracy depends on your salary inputs. For precise calculations, use actual average salaries rather than estimates. The loaded rate and recovery time are based on peer-reviewed research but can be toggled off for direct salary-only calculations.
Can I use this for different types of meetings?
Yes! Use the quick presets for common meeting types (standup, team sync, planning, all-hands, 1:1) or customize every parameter. The calculator works for any meeting type—just adjust attendees, duration, and frequency to match your scenario.
How do recurring meeting costs add up?
Recurring meetings compound significantly. A weekly 1-hour meeting with 6 people at $85K average salary costs approximately $18,000/year. Daily standups with 8 people cost about $52,000/year. The calculator projects monthly and annual costs automatically for any frequency you select.
What should I do if meeting costs seem too high?
High meeting costs warrant a meeting audit. Consider: Can this meeting be async (Slack, email, Loom)? Can you reduce attendees (only essential participants)? Can you shorten duration (25-minute default instead of 30)? Can you reduce frequency (biweekly instead of weekly)? Companies like Shopify have saved 12,000+ hours weekly by eliminating unnecessary meetings.
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Track meeting costs automatically
Stop manual calculations. See real-time meeting costs during every Zoom, Meet, and Teams call with the MeetingToll Chrome extension.
Sources & Methodology
- Gloria Mark, UC Irvine (2005, 2023) — "The Cost of Interrupted Work: More Speed and Stress" and "Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity" — foundational research on the 23-minute recovery time
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) data for loaded rate calculations (March 2025 release)
- Harvard Business Review — Leslie Perlow's research on meeting-free time and organizational time use
- Atlassian State of Teams Report (2024) — Meeting time and productivity impact research across 100+ organizations
- Microsoft Work Trend Index (2024, 2025) — Workplace meeting patterns and productivity data across 31,000+ workers
- Shopify — "Chaos Monkey for Meetings" (2023) — 12,000 hours/week recovered through meeting audit
- Amazon — Jeff Bezos' "Two-Pizza Rule" for meeting size optimization
- Cyril Northcote Parkinson (1955) — Parkinson's Law: "Work expands to fill the time available"