Salon, spa & fitness
Fitness Studio Overhead Calculator
Totals studio overhead, where rent per class hour is the figure to price from.
Result
Overhead is what the business costs whether or not you work. Wages for people who are on jobs belong in job cost instead, and counting them here overstates overhead and underprices everything.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
The monthly total of what the studio costs regardless of classes: rent, utilities, insurance, booking software, music licensing, equipment maintenance and marketing. Divided by the class hours the space can host it gives the overhead each class has to carry.
What moves the number
- Rent, usually the largest line.
- Booking and payment software.
- Music licensing where applicable.
- Insurance and equipment maintenance.
Where this one goes wrong
Music licensing is the line studios most often overlook and it is a genuine obligation where recorded music is played in a commercial setting, with licences typically required from the relevant performing rights organisations. The other structural point is that overhead per class hour falls as the schedule fills the space, which means a studio with a half-used room carries the same rent across fewer classes and each one has to clear more.
Before you quote
- Confirm music licensing obligations for commercial play.
- Divide overhead by class hours the space can host.
- Review booking and payment software costs annually.
Questions
About this calculator
Do studios need a music licence?
Where recorded music is played in a commercial setting, licences are typically required from the relevant performing rights organisations. It is the overhead line studios most often overlook, and it is a genuine obligation rather than a formality.
How should studio overhead be expressed?
Per class hour the space can host, because that is what class pricing has to clear. A monthly total is abstract, while the overhead each class carries connects directly to whether the schedule can pay for the room.
Why does an underused room hurt so much?
Because the rent is the same across fewer classes, so each one has to clear more overhead. A studio with a half-filled schedule is paying for hours it is not selling, and that shows up as every class looking marginal.
The formula
overhead rate = monthly overhead / monthly revenue
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How to use this calculator
- Premises per month ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $1,800.
- Office and management wages ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $5,200.
- Equipment and salon maintenance ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $2,400.
- Insurance and licensing ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $900.
- Software, phones and internet ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $450.
- Marketing and advertising ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $1,500.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to overhead per month, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Premises per month | $1,800 |
| Office and management wages | $5,200 |
| Equipment and salon maintenance | $2,400 |
| Insurance and licensing | $900 |
| Software, phones and internet | $450 |
| Marketing and advertising | $1,500 |
| Everything else | $700 |
| Monthly revenue | $48,000 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Overhead per month main result | $12,950 |
| Overhead per year | $155,400 |
| Overhead rate | 27.0% |
| Cost of opening the doors | $588.64 |
Overhead runs $12,950 a month, 27.0% of revenue. Every working day costs $588.64 before anybody turns a wheel.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only premises per month, this is what happens to overhead per month. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Premises per month ($) | Overhead per month |
|---|---|
| $900 | $12,050 |
| $1,350 | $12,500 |
| $1,800 example above | $12,950 |
| $2,700 | $13,850 |
| $3,600 | $14,750 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Premises per month ($)
- A money amount, starting at $1,800.
- Office and management wages ($)
- A money amount, starting at $5,200.
- Equipment and salon maintenance ($)
- A money amount, starting at $2,400.
- Insurance and licensing ($)
- A money amount, starting at $900.
- Software, phones and internet ($)
- A money amount, starting at $450.
- Marketing and advertising ($)
- A money amount, starting at $1,500.
- Everything else ($)
- A money amount, starting at $700.
- Monthly revenue ($)
- A money amount, starting at $48,000.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Overhead per month | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Overhead per year | A money figure. |
| Overhead rate | A percentage. |
| Cost of opening the doors | A money figure. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.