There is no point reaching for a calculator that cannot show its working. This one starts from people, hourly pay and hours per person and reports cost per person, total cost and man hours, so you can see how each answer follows from the numbers you entered.
What Is the Man Hours Calculator?
The man hours calculator takes people, hourly pay and hours per person and turns them into cost per person, total cost and man hours.
It is the kind of calculation you would otherwise do on the back of an envelope: mechanical, repeatable and easy to get subtly wrong without noticing.
How the Man Hours Figure Is Built
Each result is calculated from the ones before it, so the working is fully visible. That matters when the answer is going to be quoted to somebody else and you need to be able to explain where it came from.
The figures are exactly as good as the assumptions underneath them. Check the rates, the periods and the tax treatment before you rely on the result.
Reading the Result Sensibly
A small change in an input can move the result by much more than you would expect, particularly where the calculation divides by one of the figures you supplied. That is worth understanding before you rely on a figure.
For anything that will be committed to, write the inputs down beside the result. A number you can reproduce is worth far more than one you cannot explain.
A Worked Example
Working through an example, with people set to 10, hourly pay set to 5, hours per person set to 2, the calculator returns man hours of 20, and cost per person of 10, and total cost of 100. Substitute your own figures and the same steps produce the same kind of answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need to work out cost per person?
Enter people, hourly pay and hours per person. The calculator then works through the relationship and reports cost per person, total cost and man hours.
What does the man hours actually calculate?
It takes people, hourly pay and hours per person and converts them into cost per person, total cost and man hours using the standard relationship for this problem. Each step is applied in turn, so every output is traceable back to the numbers you typed in.
How should I enter people?
Use the value you actually have, in the unit shown next to the field. Enter every value in the same unit system. The calculator assumes the figures you supply are consistent, so it cannot correct a mistake that happens before the calculation starts.
Does anything you type get stored?
No. The whole calculation runs inside your browser, and nothing you enter is uploaded, logged or sent anywhere.
Can I use this for a quick estimate as well as a precise answer?
Yes. The calculator is built for quick checks, so round your inputs to a sensible number of significant figures and the result will be just as useful. If you need more precision, keep the same method and add digits to the inputs rather than adjusting the method itself.