Overhead rate calculator
Your overhead rate per direct labor hour and as a share of direct labor cost, so every job and repair carries its fair part of rent, utilities, office staff and the rest.
Your numbers
See your resultResult
Overhead per labor hour $30.91 As a share of labor cost 52.0% Labor plus overhead per hour $90.34 Stop working this out by handFleetZap work orders record labor time, parts and outside work for each job, the direct costs your overhead rate is spread over.
See FleetZap Maintenance · Try the demoThe formula
Overhead rate = Overhead costs ÷ Direct labor hours (or ÷ Direct labor cost)
With the example: $180,000 ÷ 5,824 hours = $30.91 an hour, or 52% of labor cost. Pick one base and use it the same way on every job: labor hours suit shops, labor cost suits mixed crews. Machine hours are another base for equipment-heavy work. The mechanic labor rate calculator uses the same numbers to set a shop rate.
Using the numberWhat to do with it
- Overhead that isn’t charged to jobs still has to be paid; leaving it out makes every job look more profitable than it is.
- A falling number of billable hours raises the overhead rate even when costs stay flat.
- Review overhead once a year and cut what doesn’t help get work done.
Guides behind this calculator
Heavy equipment cost per hour Equipment lifecycle cost Maintenance KPIsMore free calculators
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The heart of FleetZap, and everything a maintenance team needs in one place: work orders and preventive maintenance, inspections and the field app, plus a parts store with purchasing, compliance and certificate tracking, multi-location assets with a full lifecycle, and the KPIs that prove it’s working.
- Work orders
- Preventive maintenance
- Procedures, inspections & field app
- Parts & purchasing
- Compliance
- Assets, reports & KPIs
Good to know
How do you calculate the overhead rate?Divide yearly overhead by direct labor hours (or direct labor cost). $180,000 over 5,824 hours is about $30.91 an hour.
What counts as overhead?Costs that support the work but aren't charged to one job: rent, utilities, insurance, software, office staff and supervisors.
Labor hours or labor cost as the base?Labor hours suit shops where rates are similar; labor cost suits mixed crews with very different wages. Use one base consistently.
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