What it does
A one-hour meeting with six people is six hours of work, and those hours have a price. This tool shows that price from the number of people, their average pay and the length, and it can run a live meter while the meeting is on. If the meeting repeats, it also shows what the series costs over a year.
It is not a reason to cancel every meeting. It helps you ask whether a regular meeting is worth the time, or whether fewer people or a shorter slot would do. To see where an hourly figure comes from, use the salary converter; to price your own time, see the freelance rate calculator.
How to use it
- Type the number of people and the length in minutes.
- Choose whether you know their average hourly pay or yearly salary, and enter it.
- Add an extra percentage if you want to count benefits and space (many teams use 20 to 30).
- Choose how often it repeats and read the yearly cost.
- During the meeting, press Start on the live meter.
What each setting does
- Extra on top of pay: the real cost of an employee is more than the salary. 0 uses pay only.
- Working hours a year: turns a yearly salary into an hourly figure. 2,080 means 40 hours for 52 weeks.
- How often it repeats: every day counts 5 a week; every month counts about one in four weeks.
- Weeks held a year: use less than 52 for holidays and weeks off.
Worked example
Six people on 50 an hour in a one-hour meeting cost 6 x 50 = 300. If the meeting is held every week for 48 weeks, the year costs 300 x 48 = 14,400, which is 288 person-hours.
FAQs
Is this money really spent? No. Salaries are paid anyway. The figure shows what the time is worth, so you can decide if the meeting is a good use of it.
What if people earn different amounts? Use the average. For a mix of very different pay levels, run the tool once per group and add the results.
Does the meter keep running if I close the page? No. The meter and all your entries stay on this page only and nothing is saved.
Where the numbers come from
- Plain arithmetic: cost = people x average hourly cost x hours. Hourly cost from a salary = yearly salary / working hours in a year (2,080 is 52 weeks of 40 hours).
Standard scientific values, such as constants, atomic weights and melting points, are facts found in every textbook; we name where ours were checked. If you are an author or publisher and want a value, a credit or a table changed or removed, tell us and we will act quickly.
Last updated 2026-11-10.