How this calculator works
A per-minute cost is simply the total divided by the number of minutes. Multiplying it by sixty gives the hourly equivalent, which is the form most quotes and invoices use. The calculator also runs the relationship in both other directions: a rate and a duration give a total, and a total and a rate give a duration. Decimal minutes are accepted, so a metered service billed in fractions of a minute can be entered exactly rather than rounded first.
Formula
cost per minute = total cost / duration in minutes. cost per hour = cost per minute x 60. total cost = cost per minute x duration. duration = total cost / cost per minute.
Worked example
A 30-minute service that costs $45 works out to $1.50 per minute, which is $90 per hour. At $1.50 per minute, a 45-minute session costs $67.50; spending $60 at that rate buys 40 minutes.
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Frequently asked questions
Is the cost per hour just the hourly wage?
Not necessarily. The per-minute cost of a service usually includes materials, overhead, taxes and profit, so it is higher than the worker's wage. Use the pay-rate and time-card pages when the question is payroll rather than billing.
How do I handle a rate with free minutes included?
Subtract the included minutes before dividing, and add any fixed charge to the total first. This page does not model minimum charges or tiers, so enter the billable total and billable minutes once those adjustments are made.
Why does the duration need to be above zero?
A duration of zero makes the per-minute rate undefined rather than infinite, so the page reports an error instead of a meaningless number. The other two directions do allow zero duration, which gives a zero total.
Can I enter seconds?
Enter them as a fraction of a minute: 90 seconds is 1.5 minutes. The page also reports the duration in seconds once it has been found.