Free tool
Meeting Cost Calculator
Add who attends, how long it runs and how often it repeats. See what the meeting costs each time, each month and each year, and what a shorter version would save.
Cost per meeting
$319
6 people for 60 minutes, with 1.3x overhead
- Per month
- $1,381
- Per year
- $16,575
- 52 meetings
- Per minute
- $5.31
- People-hours a year
- 312
- 52 h each
This weekly meeting costs about $16,600 a year. Cutting it to 30 minutes saves about $8,300 a year.
How this is calculated
Cost per meeting = people × hourly rate × overhead × hours. A salary becomes an hourly rate by dividing it by 2,080 working hours.
- Group 1: 6 × ($85,000 ÷ 2,080 h) × 1.3 × 1 h = $319
Weekly: 52 meetings a year. $319 × 52 = $16,575 a year, or $16,575 ÷ 12 = $1,381 a month.
Keeping the meeting? Bridge takes the notes and sends the action items, so the time you spend still ends with a record.
Salaries and pay rates stay in your browser and in links you copy. They are never sent to Bridge.
How it works
Add who attends
Group people by role with a head count and an annual salary or hourly rate. Averages are fine.
Set length and frequency
Choose how long the meeting runs and how often it repeats. Adjust overhead and working hours if you need to.
Share the estimate
The cost updates as you type. Copy the link to send the same estimate to your manager or team.
Example output
Weekly product sync
A worked example: six people meeting for an hour every week.
Estimate
A 60 minute weekly sync with four engineers on $120,000, a product manager on $135,000 and a contract designer at $65 an hour, with 1.3x overhead and 2,080 working hours a year. It costs $469 per meeting, $2,032 a month and $24,382 a year, or $7.81 for every minute. The six attendees spend 312 hours a year in it.
Breakdown by group
Engineers × 4: $300 per meeting (64%)
$75.00 an hour each, $15,600 a year
Product manager × 1: $84.38 per meeting (18%)
$84.38 an hour, $4,388 a year
Contract designer × 1: $84.50 per meeting (18%)
$84.50 an hour, $4,394 a year
Ways to save
Cut it to 30 minutes: saves $12,191 a year
Meet every two weeks instead of weekly: saves $12,191 a year
Two engineers read the notes instead of attending: saves $7,800 a year
What a recurring meeting really costs
A meeting never shows up on an invoice. It is paid for in salary: everyone in the room is paid for that hour, whether the meeting moves the work forward or not. Six people on an average salary of $85,000 in a weekly one hour meeting cost about $16,600 a year once benefits and overhead are counted, and most teams have several meetings like that on the calendar.
The Meeting Cost Calculator turns that hidden cost into a number. Add the people who attend, grouped by annual salary or hourly rate, pick the length and how often the meeting repeats, and you get the cost of one meeting, a month and a year, the cost of every minute and the hours your team spends in it. The formula sits under the result, so you can check the math or walk someone else through it.
Use the number to make a decision, not to blame anyone. A weekly status meeting that costs $20,000 a year can be worth every cent, or it can work just as well as a written update with a 15 minute call for blockers. Try a shorter length or a smaller group and see what the change saves before you propose it.
When to run the numbers
Auditing recurring meetings
Before a new quarter, price each standing meeting on your calendar and decide which ones to shorten, merge or replace with a written update.
Making the case for a smaller invite list
Add each role as its own group to see what it adds. Two senior engineers who mostly listen can be a third of a meeting's cost.
Planning an all-hands or offsite
Price a 90 minute all-hands for 120 people before you book it, and compare it with a recorded update and a short Q&A.
Comparing meeting formats
Put a daily standup next to one held every two weeks, or a 60 minute review next to a 30 minute one, with the same people.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate the cost of a meeting?
Multiply each attendee's hourly rate by the meeting's length in hours and add the results together. For salaried staff, the hourly rate is the annual salary divided by working hours per year, 2,080 for a 40 hour week. Multiply by an overhead factor, usually 1.25 to 1.4, to include taxes, benefits and office costs, then by the number of meetings a year to get the annual cost.
How much does a one hour meeting cost?
It depends on who attends. Eight people on an average salary of $75,000 cost about $375 for one hour with 1.3x overhead, or $19,500 a year if the meeting happens every week. Add a few senior people and the same hour can easily pass $600.
Is the salary data I enter stored?
No. The math runs in your browser. Salaries and pay rates stay in your browser and in links you copy; they are never sent to Bridge. A copied link keeps them after the # sign, which browsers do not send when the link is opened, but anyone you share it with can see them, so use averages if that matters. Bridge does count anonymous usage: the number of attendees, the length and how often the meeting repeats.
What overhead multiplier should I use?
Pay is only part of what an employee costs. Payroll taxes, health insurance, pension contributions, equipment and office space usually add 25 to 40 percent, so 1.3 is a common middle estimate. Turn overhead off under Assumptions to count pay only.
Should I enter a salary or an hourly rate?
Whichever you know. Salaries are converted to an hourly rate using the working hours under Assumptions, and contractors or agencies can be entered at their hourly rate. Switching a group between the two keeps the same cost per hour.
How can I reduce the cost of meetings?
Shorten them first: most meetings fill the slot they are given, and moving a 60 minute meeting to 30 halves its cost. Then invite only the people who need to decide and send everyone else the notes. Bridge records and summarizes your meetings, so people who skip one still get the decisions and action items. Learn more →
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