Auto repair Fully Loaded Labour Cost
Loaded cost = (pay + employer costs + allocated overhead) / productive hours
Gather repair orders, parts invoices and technician time logs. Include parts, technician time, and shop overhead. The starting figures are examples. Replace them with your own records.
Formula and worked example
Loaded cost = (pay + employer costs + allocated overhead) / productive hours
| Input | Example |
|---|---|
| Annual gross pay | 45,000 |
| Employer benefits and payroll costs | 10,000 |
| Allocated annual staff overhead | 5,000 |
| Productive annual hours | 1,500 |
| Calculated result | 40 per productive hour |
Choose reliable inputs
Separate parts, technician time and bay availability for each repair order. For this auto repair calculation, use repair orders, parts invoices and technician time logs and a consistent definition of one repair order.
- Parts: include the portion belonging to this repair order or reporting period, and record where the value came from.
- Technician time: include the portion belonging to this repair order or reporting period, and record where the value came from.
- Shop overhead: include the portion belonging to this repair order or reporting period, and record where the value came from.
Use the same currency for every money input. Do not mix weekly costs with monthly revenue, or count the same expense in both an itemised cost and allocated overhead.
Why is salary divided by paid hours too low?
Productive hours exclude leave, training and non-delivery time. Enter employer charges from your own payroll records.
What if this input changes?
If annual gross pay rises by 10%, this example changes by 3 per productive hour. This shows the effect of one change; it does not predict what will happen.
Open the calculator, save your baseline, then change the input supported by the least reliable estimate in your records. Compare both scenarios before committing to a price or capacity promise.