Meeting cost is simple arithmetic that almost no organization performs. The formula is: attendees × duration × hourly rate × frequency × overhead multiplier. The hard part is getting the inputs honest — most companies undercount attendees (forgetting dial-ins) and undercount salary (forgetting senior observers).
The 1.4× overhead multiplier
A salary is not what an employee costs. Payroll taxes, health insurance, retirement match, equipment, software licenses, office space, and HR overhead typically add 30-50% to a salary. We default to 1.4× (the U.S. average), but high-overhead enterprises like financial services and consulting firms can hit 1.7× or 2.0×.
The hidden cost we cannot measure
Meetings also fragment attention. A 60-minute meeting in the middle of a maker's schedule can destroy 2-3 hours of deep work — the "context switch" tax. Some studies price this at 23 minutes of recovery per interruption. We do not include it in the calculator because it varies too widely, but be aware: the dollar cost above is the floor, not the ceiling.