HOW THE MEETING COST CALCULATOR WORKS
The math is deliberately simple: cost = time × average hourly rate × attendees. Set the average hourly rate for the people in the room, set the headcount, and press Start. The cost updates every second, computed from real wall-clock time. Walked in late? Use the backdate field — “meeting actually started 20 minutes ago” — and the cost jumps to where it should be. Pause excludes break time, and when you stop, you get a shareable result card sized for Slack and LinkedIn.
WHY MEETINGS COST MORE THAN YOU THINK
A meeting’s cost is invisible because nobody writes an invoice for it. But eight people in a one-hour status update at an average loaded cost of $75/hour is $600 — every week, that’s over $30,000 a year for one recurring slot on the calendar. Salary is only part of it: the fully loaded cost of an employee, with benefits, taxes and overhead, typically runs 1.25–1.4× base pay. And the timer still understates the true price, because it can’t count the context-switching cost of getting back to real work afterwards. Seeing the number tick up changes meeting behavior faster than any policy memo: agendas get shorter, invite lists get smaller, and “this could have been an email” stops being a joke and becomes a budget line.
BUILT FOR REAL ROOMS
The cost number is legible from the back of a conference room or on a projector, which makes this a favorite of agile coaches running retros and workshop facilitators making a point. Your inputs and timer state stay in your browser — no account, no cookies, nothing uploaded. It survives a page refresh mid-meeting, respects your system’s dark mode, and supports every ISO 4217 currency with correct formatting.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How is the meeting cost calculated?
Cost = elapsed time (in hours) × average hourly rate × number of attendees. If 5 people at an average of $75/hour meet for one hour, the meeting costs $375. The timer recalculates every second from wall-clock time, so it stays accurate even if your laptop sleeps or you refresh the page.
What hourly rate should I use?
A useful default is fully loaded cost — salary plus benefits, payroll taxes and overhead — divided by roughly 2,000 working hours a year. As a rule of thumb, fully loaded cost is 1.25–1.4× base salary. A $120k salary is roughly $75–85/hour fully loaded, which is why the default is 75.
Does the timer keep running if I close the tab?
Yes. The start time is stored in your browser (localStorage), and elapsed time is computed from the clock, not from a counter. Refresh the page or close and reopen the tab and the timer picks up exactly where it truly is.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. Rates, attendee counts and timer state never leave your browser — there is no backend and no account. We collect anonymous, cookieless usage analytics (via Plausible) such as "a timer was started", but never your inputs as raw values.
Can I use a currency other than US dollars?
Yes — every ISO 4217 currency is supported (150+), from euros and yen to CFA francs. The tool formats amounts correctly per currency, including zero-decimal currencies like JPY. Note this is formatting only: there is no exchange-rate conversion.