Plumbing
Plumber Payroll Calculator
Work out total payroll cost for a plumber or a team, including everything that sits 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 taxes and workers compensation, which for plumbing is a significant rate.
- Overtime, which carries a premium on an already burdened rate.
- Licensing, training and certification renewals.
Where this one goes wrong
Budgeting from gross wages. Employer costs add substantially on top, and a payroll budget built on wages alone is short from the first week.
Questions
About this calculator
Why is workers compensation high for plumbing?
Because the classification reflects working at height, in confined spaces, with hot works and heavy materials. It is one of the larger components of burden in the trade.
Should apprentices be budgeted differently?
Yes. Lower wage, lower output and supervision time from a qualified plumber, which is a real cost that does not appear on the apprentice's own line.
How should overtime be budgeted?
As a premium on the burdened rate, because taxes and insurance apply 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 3.
- Hourly wage ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $27.
- 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 | 3 |
| Hourly wage | $27 |
| 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 | $4,769 |
| Payroll per year | $248,003 |
| True cost per hour | $36.13 |
| Overtime per year | $32,348 |
Payroll is $4,769 a week, $248,003 a year. A $27.00 wage really costs $36.13 an hour, and overtime alone accounts for $32,348.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only hourly wage, this is what happens to payroll per week. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Hourly wage ($) | Payroll per week |
|---|---|
| $13.5 | $2,385 |
| $20.25 | $3,577 |
| $27 example above | $4,769 |
| $40.5 | $7,154 |
| $54 | $9,539 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- People
- A number, between 0 and 500, starting at 3.
- Hourly wage ($)
- A money amount, starting at $27.
- 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
Pipe sizing, flow and pressure figures depend on the actual fittings, the run, the material and local code. Code requirements vary by jurisdiction and override any general calculation, so check what applies where the work is happening.
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.