Hourly cost calculator for field service agents
Price your agents right. Enter your numbers to get the true cost per billable hour — and the rate you should charge.
Setting the right hourly rate is the difference between profit and quietly losing money on every job. This free calculator turns your real costs — wages, employer charges, overhead, billable hours and target margin — into the price you should actually charge per hour.
Your numbers
Base hourly pay before charges
Social contributions (~42% in France)
Equipment, products and admin per hour
% of paid hours actually billed (travel, gaps and leave reduce it)
Your desired margin on the billed rate
Recommended billing rate
$37.41
per billable hour
Estimates for guidance only. Adjust the assumptions to your situation.
How it works
- 1Loaded wage = gross pay + employer charges. That's what one paid hour truly costs you.
- 2True cost per billable hour = loaded wage divided by the share of hours you actually bill, plus your overhead per hour.
- 3Recommended rate = true cost divided by (1 − your target margin).
Why billable hours change everything
An agent paid for 8 hours rarely bills 8. Travel, gaps between jobs, admin and paid leave eat into it. If only 85% of paid hours are billed, your real cost per billed hour is well above the wage — and that's the number your price has to cover to stay profitable.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good hourly rate for a field service agent?
There's no universal number — it depends on your wages, employer charges, overhead and target margin. Enter your figures above to get a rate tailored to your business.
Why is my cost per billable hour higher than the wage?
Because you pay for every hour but only bill some of them. Employer charges, overhead and non-billable time (travel, gaps, admin) all push the real cost up.
What profit margin should I aim for?
20–30% is common in field service, but set it to whatever keeps your business healthy and lets you reinvest and absorb bad months.