Act on the result
Document the chosen base and check that projected jobs recover the full entered overhead pool.
Educational only: Business decision support, not accounting, tax or legal advice.
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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
Project businesses distributing a defined overhead pool across jobs or productive capacity.
Outputs
Overhead pool, recovery base, recovery rate and allocated project overhead.
Start here
Define which costs are in the overhead pool, then choose one recovery base without duplicating direct costs.
Use a different tool when: Do not use this to find completion, billing or contribution threshold for a project; use Project Break-even Planner for that decision. Use this tool to choose a transparent overhead recovery base across jobs.
Quote & capacity
Project Overhead Recovery: overhead pool
Overhead pool, recovery base, recovery rate and allocated project overhead.
Amounts use the same currency as your inputs. No currency conversion is performed.
Project Overhead Recovery
Turn period overhead and productive capacity into an hourly recovery rate, then compare required project recovery with overhead already billed.
Your numbers stay in this browser
Enter the overhead pool to recover for one consistent period. Use one consistent ex-tax basis.
Enter the productive hours available to recover that overhead pool.
Enter productive hours assigned to this project.
Enter overhead currently included in the project price. Use one consistent ex-tax basis.
Decision result
Use the cost and recovery rows to identify the component changing the exact reconciliation.
PDF and CSV exports stay on this device. Clean page links contain no inputs.
- Overhead rate per productive hour
- 20.00
- Project overhead required
- 800.00
- Overhead recovery gap
- -100.00
Scenario comparison
Each row names the assumption axis changed from the baseline.
ScenarioResultDifference
Entered scenario-100.00Baseline
Lower Overhead billed to the project-170.00-70.00
Higher Overhead billed to the project-30.0070.00
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.
Overhead rate per productive hour
Overhead rate per productive hour
period overhead ÷ period productive hours20.00Result20.00
Uses only the entered market-neutral commercial records and assumptions. Raw engine precision is retained until display.
Project Overhead Recovery Planner formulas →Inputs used by these formula steps
- Overhead rate per productive hourOverhead Per Period Ex Tax
- 24,000
- Overhead rate per productive hourProductive Hours Per Period
- 1,200
- Overhead rate per productive hourProject Hours
- 40
- Overhead rate per productive hourOverhead Billed Ex Tax
- 700
Project overhead required
Project overhead required
overhead rate per hour × project hours800.00Result800.00
Uses only the entered market-neutral commercial records and assumptions. Raw engine precision is retained until display.
Project Overhead Recovery Planner formulas →Inputs used by these formula steps
- Project overhead requiredOverhead Per Period Ex Tax
- 24,000
- Project overhead requiredProductive Hours Per Period
- 1,200
- Project overhead requiredProject Hours
- 40
- Project overhead requiredOverhead Billed Ex Tax
- 700
Overhead recovery gap
Overhead recovery gap
overhead billed − project overhead required-100.00Result-100.00
Uses only the entered market-neutral commercial records and assumptions. Raw engine precision is retained until display.
Project Overhead Recovery Planner formulas →Inputs used by these formula steps
- Overhead recovery gapOverhead Per Period Ex Tax
- 24,000
- Overhead recovery gapProductive Hours Per Period
- 1,200
- Overhead recovery gapProject Hours
- 40
- Overhead recovery gapOverhead Billed Ex Tax
- 700
Inputs used
- Overhead for the period
- 24,000
- Productive hours for the period
- 1,200
- Project hours
- 40
- Overhead billed to the project
- 700
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| overheadBilledExTax | Enter overhead currently included in the project price. Use one consistent ex-tax basis. | currency units/project, ex tax | 0 to 10000000 | Required | 700 |
| overheadPerPeriodExTax | Enter the overhead pool to recover for one consistent period. Use one consistent ex-tax basis. | currency units/period, ex tax | 0 to 10000000 | Required | 24000 |
| productiveHoursPerPeriod | Enter the productive hours available to recover that overhead pool. | hours/period | 0.01 to 100000000 | Required | 1200 |
| projectHours | Enter productive hours assigned to this project. | hours/project | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 40 |
Project Overhead Recovery: overhead pool
The overhead pool and recovery base must be mutually consistent and must not duplicate direct job costs.
Formula summary
- Primary formula
- overhead billed − project overhead required.
Data used here
- The estimate uses your inputs and the general business formula documented in the methodology.
Decision checks
Stress-test the decision
Retest fewer jobs or productive hours and a higher overhead pool.
When this estimate can be misleading
- Use one consistent ex-tax commercial basis.
- Hours, utilisation, costs, rates and recovery targets are user inputs rather than defaults.
- This is educational business decision support, not accounting, tax, legal or financial advice.
- The overhead pool and recovery base must be mutually consistent and must not duplicate direct job costs.
Educational estimate, not advice. See all assumptions & limitations →
Related reading
Guides to interpret the decision and its assumptions.
- Direct, Indirect, Variable and Fixed Costs for Decisions
Classify traceability and cost behaviour separately against a named object, activity driver, period and relevant range.
Read guide - Overhead Allocation Without Hiding Bad Economics
Define the pool and object, compare plausible allocation drivers and retain an unallocated contribution view.
Read guide
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a transparent overhead recovery base across jobs?
Document the chosen base and check that projected jobs recover the full entered overhead pool.
Which planning assumptions should I stress-test?
Compare a plausible alternative scenario and verify the decision-critical assumption that changes the plan most.