Photography & events
Photography Job Cost Calculator
Builds the cost of a specific job, where the variables are hours and licensing.
Result
Travel time is counted because it is paid and it occupies the day, whether or not the customer sees it on the invoice. Gross profit is what is left after the cost of doing the job. Overhead comes out of that: the building, the office wages, the vans, insurance, software and advertising. A healthy gross margin still loses money if overhead is larger.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Hours by task at the photographer's cost, plus direct costs for travel, assistants, equipment rental, permits, props and models, plus post-production. For commercial work the licence granted is a separate element of value rather than a cost, and it belongs in the price rather than in the cost build.
What moves the number
- Hours by task including post-production.
- Assistants, rentals, permits, props and models.
- Travel and accommodation for distant work.
- Licensing scope, which affects price rather than cost.
Where this one goes wrong
Model and property releases are required for most commercial use of images featuring recognisable people or private property, and obtaining them is work and sometimes a payment, so a commercial job cost that omits them is short and the job may be undeliverable without them. On distant work, travel days are working days for the photographer even though nothing is captured, and a cost build that charges only the shooting day absorbs them.
Before you quote
- Include model and property releases where commercial use applies.
- Charge travel days as working days on distant jobs.
- Keep licensing in the price, not in the cost build.
Questions
About this calculator
What are model and property releases?
Written permissions required for most commercial use of images featuring recognisable people or private property. Obtaining them is work and sometimes a payment, and a job may be undeliverable for its intended use without them.
Should travel days be charged?
They are working days for the photographer even though nothing is captured, so a cost build that charges only the shooting day absorbs them. On distant work that can be most of the time committed to the job.
Is licensing a cost or a price component?
A price component. The licence granted is the value delivered rather than a cost incurred, which is why commercial pricing follows the scope of use far more than the hours worked. The cost build and the licence are separate questions.
The formula
cost = (project hours + travel) x team x wage x (1 + burden%) + materials + overhead per hour
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How to use this calculator
- Labour hours (h). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 6 h.
- People on the project. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 2.
- Hourly wage ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $32.
- Labour burden (%). Payroll tax, insurance, holiday, training. On top of the wage.
- Materials ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $60.
- Travel hours (h). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 0.75 h.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to true project cost, 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 |
|---|---|
| Labour hours | 6 h |
| People on the project | 2 |
| Hourly wage | $32 |
| Labour burden | 28% |
| Materials | $60 |
| Travel hours | 0.75 h |
| Overhead per working hour | $22 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| True project cost main result | $909.96 |
| Labour including burden | $552.96 |
| Overhead absorbed | $297 |
| Cost per labour hour | $67.40 |
The job costs $909.96: $552.96 of burdened labour, $60 of materials and $297 of overhead. Anything you charge below that loses money.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only hourly wage, this is what happens to true project cost. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Hourly wage ($) | True project cost |
|---|---|
| $16 | $633.48 |
| $24 | $771.72 |
| $32 example above | $909.96 |
| $48 | $1,186 |
| $64 | $1,463 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Labour hours (h)
- Measured in h, starting at 6 h.
- People on the project
- A number, between 0 and 30, starting at 2.
- Hourly wage ($)
- A money amount, starting at $32.
- Labour burden (%)
- Payroll tax, insurance, holiday, training. On top of the wage.
- Materials ($)
- A money amount, starting at $60.
- Travel hours (h)
- Measured in h, starting at 0.75 h.
- Overhead per working hour ($)
- Annual overhead divided by billable hours.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| True project cost | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Labour including burden | A money figure. |
| Overhead absorbed | A money figure. |
| Cost per labour hour | 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.