Act on the result
Verify productive capacity and full commercial cost for the leading option before choosing a workforce mix.
Educational only: Business decision support, not accounting, tax or legal advice.
Privacy: No account is required. Tool inputs and results stay in this browser. Anonymous categorical usage analytics send only governed page, tool, cluster and action identifiers; tool inputs and results are never sent. Error monitoring is disabled. Optional saved state stays only on this device.
Update policy: Reviewed when formulas or official dependencies change.
Scope: Market-neutral small-business planning using your own assumptions.
What this planner helps you decide
Best for
Owners comparing commercial workforce options on cost and productive capacity without classifying workers.
Outputs
Total headcount, productive hours, cost, cost per productive hour and remaining capacity gap.
Start here
Enter headcount, productive hours and cost per person for each relevant option, then set required productive hours.
Use a different tool when: Do not use this to measure the cost and user-entered revenue-capacity effect of paid but unassigned hours; use Unassigned Capacity Cost Planner for that decision. Use this tool to compare cost and productive capacity across a user-defined workforce mix without classifying workers.
Profit & break-even
Employee and Contractor Mix: total headcount
Total headcount, productive hours, cost, cost per productive hour and remaining capacity gap.
Amounts use the same currency as your inputs. No currency conversion is performed.
Staffing decision assumptions
Use your own records on one consistent period, capacity, currency and tax basis.
Your numbers stay in this browser
Whole people in option one.
Productive capacity for one person on the selected period basis.
Whole people in option two.
Additional planning inputsOpen the assumptions you are less likely to change on every comparison.
User-entered total commercial cost for one person. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis.
Productive capacity for one person on the selected period basis.
User-entered total commercial cost for one person. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis.
Whole people in optional workforce option 3.
Productive capacity for one person in optional workforce option 3.
User-entered total commercial cost for one person in optional workforce option 3. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis.
Whole people in optional workforce option 4.
Productive capacity for one person in optional workforce option 4.
User-entered total commercial cost for one person in optional workforce option 4. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis.
Whole people in optional workforce option 5.
Productive capacity for one person in optional workforce option 5.
User-entered total commercial cost for one person in optional workforce option 5. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis.
Whole people in optional workforce option 6.
Productive capacity for one person in optional workforce option 6.
User-entered total commercial cost for one person in optional workforce option 6. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis.
Whole people in optional workforce option 7.
Productive capacity for one person in optional workforce option 7.
User-entered total commercial cost for one person in optional workforce option 7. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis.
Whole people in optional workforce option 8.
Productive capacity for one person in optional workforce option 8.
User-entered total commercial cost for one person in optional workforce option 8. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis.
Demand the combined workforce mix needs to cover.
Decision result
Results come from the registered exact staffing engines. A component table is used because it is clearer than a chart for this decision.
- Total headcount
- 3
- Total productive hours
- 2,500 hours
- Total workforce cost
- 270,000.00
- Cost per productive hour
- 108.00
- Capacity gap
- 500 hours
| Option | Headcount | Productive hours/person | Cost/person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee scenario | 2 | 1,000 | 100,000 |
| Contractor scenario | 1 | 500 | 70,000 |
| Combined result | 3 | 2,500 | 270,000 |
Scenario comparison
Each row names the assumption axis changed from the baseline.
ScenarioResultDifference
Entered scenario270,000.00Baseline
Lower Required productive hours270,000.000.00
Higher Required productive hours270,000.000.00
Save these results, change an input, then compare the updated figures with this baseline.
The baseline is temporary in this tab and is not added to shared scenario links or generated reports.
Calculation details
View calculation detailsView the formulas and inputs used for these results.
Total headcount
Total headcount
ฮฃ option headcount3 unitsResult3
Uses user-entered staffing records and assumptions on one consistent period, capacity and currency basis. The exact engine retains raw precision; bounded display formatting does not feed calculation.
Employee and Contractor Mix Planner formulas โInputs used by these formula steps
- Total headcountOption1 Headcount
- 2
- Total headcountOption1 Productive Hours Per Person
- 1,000
- Total headcountOption1 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 100,000
- Total headcountOption2 Headcount
- 1
- Total headcountOption2 Productive Hours Per Person
- 500
- Total headcountOption2 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 70,000
- Total headcountOption3 Headcount
- 0
- Total headcountOption3 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total headcountOption3 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total headcountOption4 Headcount
- 0
- Total headcountOption4 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total headcountOption4 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total headcountOption5 Headcount
- 0
- Total headcountOption5 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total headcountOption5 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total headcountOption6 Headcount
- 0
- Total headcountOption6 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total headcountOption6 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total headcountOption7 Headcount
- 0
- Total headcountOption7 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total headcountOption7 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total headcountOption8 Headcount
- 0
- Total headcountOption8 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total headcountOption8 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total headcountRequired Productive Hours
- 3,000
Total productive hours
Total productive hours
ฮฃ headcount ร productive hours per person2,500 hoursResult2,500 hours
Uses user-entered staffing records and assumptions on one consistent period, capacity and currency basis. The exact engine retains raw precision; bounded display formatting does not feed calculation.
Employee and Contractor Mix Planner formulas โInputs used by these formula steps
- Total productive hoursOption1 Headcount
- 2
- Total productive hoursOption1 Productive Hours Per Person
- 1,000
- Total productive hoursOption1 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 100,000
- Total productive hoursOption2 Headcount
- 1
- Total productive hoursOption2 Productive Hours Per Person
- 500
- Total productive hoursOption2 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 70,000
- Total productive hoursOption3 Headcount
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption3 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption3 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption4 Headcount
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption4 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption4 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption5 Headcount
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption5 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption5 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption6 Headcount
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption6 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption6 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption7 Headcount
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption7 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption7 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption8 Headcount
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption8 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total productive hoursOption8 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total productive hoursRequired Productive Hours
- 3,000
Total workforce cost
Total workforce cost
ฮฃ headcount ร cost per person270,000.00Result270,000.00
Uses user-entered staffing records and assumptions on one consistent period, capacity and currency basis. The exact engine retains raw precision; bounded display formatting does not feed calculation.
Employee and Contractor Mix Planner formulas โInputs used by these formula steps
- Total workforce costOption1 Headcount
- 2
- Total workforce costOption1 Productive Hours Per Person
- 1,000
- Total workforce costOption1 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 100,000
- Total workforce costOption2 Headcount
- 1
- Total workforce costOption2 Productive Hours Per Person
- 500
- Total workforce costOption2 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 70,000
- Total workforce costOption3 Headcount
- 0
- Total workforce costOption3 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total workforce costOption3 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total workforce costOption4 Headcount
- 0
- Total workforce costOption4 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total workforce costOption4 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total workforce costOption5 Headcount
- 0
- Total workforce costOption5 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total workforce costOption5 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total workforce costOption6 Headcount
- 0
- Total workforce costOption6 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total workforce costOption6 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total workforce costOption7 Headcount
- 0
- Total workforce costOption7 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total workforce costOption7 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total workforce costOption8 Headcount
- 0
- Total workforce costOption8 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Total workforce costOption8 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Total workforce costRequired Productive Hours
- 3,000
Cost per productive hour
Cost per productive hour
total workforce cost รท total productive hours108.00Result108.00
Uses user-entered staffing records and assumptions on one consistent period, capacity and currency basis. The exact engine retains raw precision; bounded display formatting does not feed calculation.
Employee and Contractor Mix Planner formulas โInputs used by these formula steps
- Cost per productive hourOption1 Headcount
- 2
- Cost per productive hourOption1 Productive Hours Per Person
- 1,000
- Cost per productive hourOption1 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 100,000
- Cost per productive hourOption2 Headcount
- 1
- Cost per productive hourOption2 Productive Hours Per Person
- 500
- Cost per productive hourOption2 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 70,000
- Cost per productive hourOption3 Headcount
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption3 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption3 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption4 Headcount
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption4 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption4 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption5 Headcount
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption5 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption5 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption6 Headcount
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption6 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption6 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption7 Headcount
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption7 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption7 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption8 Headcount
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption8 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Cost per productive hourOption8 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Cost per productive hourRequired Productive Hours
- 3,000
Capacity gap
Capacity gap
max(0, required productive hours โ total productive hours)500 hoursResult500 hours
Uses user-entered staffing records and assumptions on one consistent period, capacity and currency basis. The exact engine retains raw precision; bounded display formatting does not feed calculation.
Employee and Contractor Mix Planner formulas โInputs used by these formula steps
- Capacity gapOption1 Headcount
- 2
- Capacity gapOption1 Productive Hours Per Person
- 1,000
- Capacity gapOption1 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 100,000
- Capacity gapOption2 Headcount
- 1
- Capacity gapOption2 Productive Hours Per Person
- 500
- Capacity gapOption2 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 70,000
- Capacity gapOption3 Headcount
- 0
- Capacity gapOption3 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Capacity gapOption3 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Capacity gapOption4 Headcount
- 0
- Capacity gapOption4 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Capacity gapOption4 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Capacity gapOption5 Headcount
- 0
- Capacity gapOption5 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Capacity gapOption5 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Capacity gapOption6 Headcount
- 0
- Capacity gapOption6 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Capacity gapOption6 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Capacity gapOption7 Headcount
- 0
- Capacity gapOption7 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Capacity gapOption7 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Capacity gapOption8 Headcount
- 0
- Capacity gapOption8 Productive Hours Per Person
- 0
- Capacity gapOption8 Cost Per Person Ex Tax
- 0
- Capacity gapRequired Productive Hours
- 3,000
Inputs used
- Employee scenario headcount
- 2
- Employee scenario productive hours per person
- 1,000
- Employee scenario cost per person
- 100,000
- Contractor scenario headcount
- 1
- Contractor scenario productive hours per person
- 500
- Contractor scenario cost per person
- 70,000
- Option 3 headcount
- 0
- Option 3 productive hours per person
- 0
- Option 3 cost per person
- 0
- Option 4 headcount
- 0
- Option 4 productive hours per person
- 0
- Option 4 cost per person
- 0
- Option 5 headcount
- 0
- Option 5 productive hours per person
- 0
- Option 5 cost per person
- 0
- Option 6 headcount
- 0
- Option 6 productive hours per person
- 0
- Option 6 cost per person
- 0
- Option 7 headcount
- 0
- Option 7 productive hours per person
- 0
- Option 7 cost per person
- 0
- Option 8 headcount
- 0
- Option 8 productive hours per person
- 0
- Option 8 cost per person
- 0
- Required productive hours
- 3,000
Open this calculator with preset values
This calculator supports documented, shareable scenario URLs. Compatible assistants and applications can construct links using the parameters below.
Scenario links contain only allowlisted numeric and closed-choice inputs shown in the URL; Margin101 excludes free text and identifying fields. Anyone you share the URL with can read those numbers, so do not include private or identifying data.
| Parameter | Meaning | Unit | Allowed values | Presence | Default |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| option1CostPerPersonExTax | User-entered total commercial cost for one person. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis. | currency units/person/selected period, ex tax | 0 to 10000000 | Required | 100000 |
| option1Headcount | Whole people in option one. | whole people/workforce option | 0 to 100000 | Required | 2 |
| option1ProductiveHoursPerPerson | Productive capacity for one person on the selected period basis. | productive hours/person/selected period | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 1000 |
| option2CostPerPersonExTax | User-entered total commercial cost for one person. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis. | currency units/person/selected period, ex tax | 0 to 10000000 | Required | 70000 |
| option2Headcount | Whole people in option two. | whole people/workforce option | 0 to 100000 | Required | 1 |
| option2ProductiveHoursPerPerson | Productive capacity for one person on the selected period basis. | productive hours/person/selected period | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 500 |
| option3CostPerPersonExTax | User-entered total commercial cost for one person in optional workforce option 3. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis. | currency units/person/selected period, ex tax | 0 to 10000000 | Required | 0 |
| option3Headcount | Whole people in optional workforce option 3. | whole people/workforce option | 0 to 100000 | Required | 0 |
| option3ProductiveHoursPerPerson | Productive capacity for one person in optional workforce option 3. | productive hours/person/selected period | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 0 |
| option4CostPerPersonExTax | User-entered total commercial cost for one person in optional workforce option 4. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis. | currency units/person/selected period, ex tax | 0 to 10000000 | Required | 0 |
| option4Headcount | Whole people in optional workforce option 4. | whole people/workforce option | 0 to 100000 | Required | 0 |
| option4ProductiveHoursPerPerson | Productive capacity for one person in optional workforce option 4. | productive hours/person/selected period | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 0 |
| option5CostPerPersonExTax | User-entered total commercial cost for one person in optional workforce option 5. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis. | currency units/person/selected period, ex tax | 0 to 10000000 | Required | 0 |
| option5Headcount | Whole people in optional workforce option 5. | whole people/workforce option | 0 to 100000 | Required | 0 |
| option5ProductiveHoursPerPerson | Productive capacity for one person in optional workforce option 5. | productive hours/person/selected period | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 0 |
| option6CostPerPersonExTax | User-entered total commercial cost for one person in optional workforce option 6. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis. | currency units/person/selected period, ex tax | 0 to 10000000 | Required | 0 |
| option6Headcount | Whole people in optional workforce option 6. | whole people/workforce option | 0 to 100000 | Required | 0 |
| option6ProductiveHoursPerPerson | Productive capacity for one person in optional workforce option 6. | productive hours/person/selected period | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 0 |
| option7CostPerPersonExTax | User-entered total commercial cost for one person in optional workforce option 7. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis. | currency units/person/selected period, ex tax | 0 to 10000000 | Required | 0 |
| option7Headcount | Whole people in optional workforce option 7. | whole people/workforce option | 0 to 100000 | Required | 0 |
| option7ProductiveHoursPerPerson | Productive capacity for one person in optional workforce option 7. | productive hours/person/selected period | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 0 |
| option8CostPerPersonExTax | User-entered total commercial cost for one person in optional workforce option 8. Use one consistent currency and indirect-tax basis. | currency units/person/selected period, ex tax | 0 to 10000000 | Required | 0 |
| option8Headcount | Whole people in optional workforce option 8. | whole people/workforce option | 0 to 100000 | Required | 0 |
| option8ProductiveHoursPerPerson | Productive capacity for one person in optional workforce option 8. | productive hours/person/selected period | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 0 |
| requiredProductiveHours | Demand the combined workforce mix needs to cover. | productive hours/selected period | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 3000 |
Employee and Contractor Mix: total headcount
Use cost per productive hour together with the capacity gap; the labels do not determine legal worker status.
Formula summary
- Primary formula
- total productive hours = ฮฃ headcount ร productive hours per person
Data used here
- The estimate uses your inputs and the general business formula documented in the methodology.
Decision checks
Stress-test the decision
Retest lower productive hours and higher cost per person for the apparent leading mix.
When this estimate can be misleading
- Employee and contractor are scenario labels, not worker-classification findings.
- The comparison supports up to eight stable options using user-entered cost and capacity.
- Use one consistent period, capacity, currency and indirect-tax basis.
- This is educational decision support, not accounting, payroll, employment, tax or legal advice.
- Use cost per productive hour together with the capacity gap; the labels do not determine legal worker status.
Educational estimate, not advice. See all assumptions & limitations โ
Related reading
Guides to interpret the decision and its assumptions.
- Manager Capacity Before Adding Another Team Member
Make coordination work and manager capacity visible before hiring without prescribing a span-of-control benchmark.
Read guide
Frequently asked questions
How do I compare cost and productive capacity across a user-defined workforce mix without classifying workers?
Verify productive capacity and full commercial cost for the leading option before choosing a workforce mix.
Which planning assumptions should I stress-test?
Compare a plausible alternative scenario and verify the decision-critical assumption that changes the plan most.