HVAC
HVAC Technician Payroll Calculator
Work out total payroll cost for a technician or a team, including the employer costs that sit on top of the wage.
Result
Burden rates vary by state, trade and claims history. Take yours from the accounts rather than the default here, because a ten point error moves every price you quote.
Get a Free Business AuditWhat moves the number
- Employer payroll taxes and workers compensation, which for a trade classification are significant.
- Overtime hours, which carry a premium on an already burdened rate.
- Benefits and paid time off, which are paid hours that are never billable.
Where this one goes wrong
Budgeting from gross wages. Employer costs add a substantial amount on top, and a payroll budget built on wages alone is short before the first week.
Questions
About this calculator
What sits on top of a wage?
Employer payroll taxes, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, any benefits, and the cost of paid time off. Rates vary by state and by classification, so use your own figures.
Why is workers compensation high for HVAC?
Because the classification reflects working at height, with electricity, refrigerants and heavy equipment. It is one of the larger burden components in the trade.
How should overtime be budgeted?
As a premium on the burdened rate rather than on the base wage, because the burden applies to overtime hours too. Budgeting on base wage understates it.
The formula
cost = (wage x hours + wage x multiplier x overtime) x (1 + burden%)
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How to use this calculator
- People. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 4.
- Hourly wage ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $28.
- Normal hours per week. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 40.
- Overtime hours per week. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 4.
- Overtime multiplier. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.5.
- Labour burden (%). Payroll tax, insurance, holiday, training.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to payroll per week, 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 |
|---|---|
| People | 4 |
| Hourly wage | $28 |
| Normal hours per week | 40 |
| Overtime hours per week | 4 |
| Overtime multiplier | 1.5 |
| Labour burden | 28% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Payroll per week main result | $6,595 |
| Payroll per year | $342,917 |
| True cost per hour | $37.47 |
| Overtime per year | $44,728 |
Payroll is $6,595 a week, $342,917 a year. A $28.00 wage really costs $37.47 an hour, and overtime alone accounts for $44,728.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only hourly wage, this is what happens to payroll per week. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Hourly wage ($) | Payroll per week |
|---|---|
| $14 | $3,297 |
| $21 | $4,946 |
| $28 example above | $6,595 |
| $42 | $9,892 |
| $56 | $13,189 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- People
- A number, between 0 and 500, starting at 4.
- Hourly wage ($)
- A money amount, starting at $28.
- Normal hours per week
- A number, between 0 and 80, starting at 40.
- Overtime hours per week
- A number, between 0 and 60, starting at 4.
- Overtime multiplier
- A number, between 1 and 3, starting at 1.5.
- Labour burden (%)
- Payroll tax, insurance, holiday, training.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Payroll per week | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Payroll per year | A money figure. |
| True cost per hour | A money figure. |
| Overtime per year | A money figure. |
Before you rely on this number
Sizing, capacity and load figures here are planning estimates. A real installation depends on the manufacturer's data for the specific equipment, the duct system it is going into, and a proper load calculation for the building. Use this to sanity-check a number or price a job, not to select equipment.
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.