Time Cost Calculator
Applies activity-based costing to convert time spent on each business activity into a dollar cost. Reveals the true cost of meetings, admin tasks, and process steps so managers can allocate time to highest-value activities.
Operations - Time Cost Calculator.xlsx
Excel (.xlsx) — No macros — Works in Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice
What This Spreadsheet Solves
- No visibility into the dollar cost of recurring meetings and admin tasks
- Time allocation decisions made without understanding their financial impact
- Low-value activities consuming expensive labor hours unnoticed
- Difficulty building a case for eliminating or reducing time-intensive processes
- Activity costs not factored into project pricing or client billing
Who This Is For
- Operations managers auditing time allocation across teams
- Department heads justifying headcount or process changes
- Business analysts conducting activity-based cost studies
- Lean practitioners quantifying the cost of non-value-added time
Inputs
- textActivity name
- #Hours per week on activity
- #Number of people involved
- $Average hourly cost of participants
- #Activity frequency (times per week)
Outputs
- Weekly cost per activity
- Annual cost per activity
- Cost ranking of all activities
- Percentage of total labor cost per activity
- Efficiency ratio (value-generating vs. overhead activities)
How Calculations Work
Each activity's weekly cost is calculated as hours times participants times average hourly cost times frequency. Annual cost multiplies by 52 weeks. Activities are tagged as value-generating or overhead. The efficiency ratio shows what portion of total labor cost goes to each category. A Pareto chart identifies the 20% of activities consuming 80% of cost, highlighting targets for reduction or elimination.
Example Use Case
Scenario: A team of 12 has five recurring activities: client work (80 hrs/wk total, $75/hr), internal meetings (30 hrs/wk, 6 people avg, $65/hr), reporting (15 hrs/wk, $60/hr), email (20 hrs/wk, $65/hr), training (8 hrs/wk, $55/hr).
Result: Annual costs: client work $312,000, meetings $608,400, reporting $46,800, email $67,600, training $22,880. Meetings are the highest cost activity. Efficiency ratio: 29.5% value-generating (client work) vs. 70.5% overhead.
What You Get — 5 Sheets
Technical Details
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate the hourly cost of a participant?
Divide annual fully loaded cost (salary plus benefits plus overhead) by annual working hours. A $100,000 employee with 2,080 working hours costs approximately $48/hr.
Should I include time in transit or commuting?
Include only if it displaces productive working time. Commuting generally no. Travel between client sites yes.
What is a healthy value-generating ratio?
60-70% for most teams. Below 50% indicates excessive overhead activities. Above 80% may indicate insufficient investment in training, planning, or communication.
How do I handle activities shared across departments?
Allocate the cost proportionally based on each department's participation. If 3 of 10 meeting attendees are from your team, attribute 30% of the meeting cost.
Can this replace a full time study?
It provides a useful approximation for decision-making. For precise activity-based costing, conduct a formal time study with observed measurements over 2-4 weeks.
Download Time Cost Calculator
Ready to use immediately. Enter your data in the INPUT sheet, see results in OUTPUT.