OFFICE BLUES

OFFICE BLUES — MEETING TAX

How much does this meeting actually cost?

Pick who's in the room. Set the cadence. We'll do the receipts. Including benefits & overhead (1.3× burden).

Who's in the room
    How long?
    60 min
    How often?

    This meeting costs

    $18,395

    / year

     
      
     
        
     
    What does a recurring meeting actually cost?
     
    
The room above — 2 × Software Engineer, 1 × Product Manager, 1 × Eng Manager, weekly, 60 minutes — costs
$18,395 a year. Same math, three rooms you've
        definitely sat in:

     
       
    •  A daily 15-minute standup — 6 engineers and their manager: $152 every time it runs,
 $39,528 a year.

    •  A weekly 1-hour exec sync — 3 directors, 2 VPs, 1 C-suite: $938 every time it runs,
 $48,750 a year.

    •  A monthly 1-hour all-hands — 47 people: $4,169 every time it runs,
 $50,025 a year.

      •  
     
    
Salaries are the defaults listed under the receipt, loaded at 1.3× for
        payroll tax, benefits and overhead. Put your own numbers in above and
        the figure changes.

     
      
     How we get to that number 
    
We use BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024
for base salary medians where available, sector-adjusted gut-feel for
        roles BLS doesn't slice cleanly (Eng Manager, Director, VP, C-Suite).
        Then we apply a 1.3× burden to cover payroll taxes,
        benefits, and pro-rated overhead — a conservative figure within the
        US Chamber of Commerce 1.25–1.4× range.

     
       
    • Working hours per year: 2,080 (52 weeks × 40 hrs)
      •  
    • Daily frequency = 260 weekdays/year
      •  
    • Career horizon: 22 years (median remaining for a 43-year-old US worker)
      •  
    • You can override any role with your actual salary.
      •  
     
    
Defaults (USD/yr base):
Software Engineer $133,000 · Product Manager $125,000 · Designer $98,000 · Eng Manager $175,000 · Director $210,000 · VP $260,000 · C-Suite $350,000 
     
     Full methodology → — sources, formula, what's anonymized, license, and how to cite.