Nail Down Your Employee Costs to Raise Profits By Melanie Hodgdon, President Business Systems Management, Inc. 8/29/13 Agenda 1. The strategy 2. Burdened labor 3. Productivity/efficiency 4. Crunching the numbers 5. Using the numbers
1. The strategy: WSIC? 1. The strategy: identify the challenges Labor is the hardest piece to estimate How long will it take? How much will it cost?
1. The strategy: identify what you can If you estimate labor in units of time Hours Days Man/Days Need to identify the actual cost per unit To come up with realistic labor cost Agenda The strategy 2.Burdened labor 3.Productivity/efficiency 4.Crunching the numbers 5.Using the numbers
2. Burdened labor - defined The cost to compensate and support a worker in the field Start with wages Add Mandatory costs Voluntary costs Associated costs 2. Burdened labor - specifics Start with wages Hourly is easy If salary, divide annual amount by estimated paid hours/year
2. Burdened labor - specifics Add mandatory costs Payroll taxes Worker s Comp Liability insurance 2. Burdened labor - specifics Add voluntary costs Health insurance Dental insurance Retirement plan Bonus
2. Burdened labor - specifics Add associated costs Vehicle costs Communications Training/Education 2. Burdened labor - calculating Fixed and hourly If you pay Jim for 1 hour, you need to pay the wages plus associated taxes and worker s comp for that hour Fixed and annual You pay health insurance whether or not you are paying Jim or not (ex: he s still covered if he s on unpaid vacation) Estimated based on history Vehicle Communications
2. Burdened labor - calculating Two options: Add up all costs per year and divide by hours to get per hour cost Convert everything to cost/hour and add up Result should be the same! Agenda The strategy Burdened labor 3.Productivity/efficiency 4.Crunching the numbers 5.Using the numbers
3. Productivity/efficiency Is your employee s time 100% billable? Does it matter? Do the math 3. Productivity/efficiency - identified What contributes to lost productivity? Paid holiday, sick, vacation time Education/training Company meetings Uncharged travel time Customer face time Required company tasks Organize shop Clean & gas up vehicle?
3. Productivity/efficiency - calculating What s productive time? Anything included in the estimate Anything that s chargeable How to calculate? Count up paid hours Count up non-productive time Subtract from paid hours to get productive hours 3. Productivity/efficiency - example This employee is only available 85.87% (1786/2080) of the time for which he s paid
3. Productivity/efficiency another burden The cost of nonproductive time is another burden It can be calculated Agenda The strategy Burdened labor Productivity/efficiency 4.Crunching the numbers 5.Using the numbers
4. Crunching the numbers Required data Hourly wage Rates for state taxes (vary by state/company) Worker s Comp rate Liability (total annual cost total annual payroll) Annual costs for benefits Annual costs for vehicle, phone, training Other costs relevant to your company Non-productive time 4. Crunching the numbers - calculator
Agenda The strategy Burdened labor Productivity/efficiency Crunching the numbers 5.Using the numbers 5. Using the numbers Use the same burdened labor cost when estimating and job costing Don t mix and match burdened and partially burdened figures
5. Using the numbers: example Let s say your burdened cost is $60/hr and you estimate 10 hrs of work Estimated cost for the task = $600 5. Using the numbers: example You job cost using a partially burdened cost of $50/hr According to your job cost report, the actual cost was $550
5. Using the numbers: example Are you really under budget? 5. Using the numbers: example If you don t know you have an situation, will you continue to be misled?
Agenda The strategy Burdened labor Productivity/efficiency Crunching the numbers Using the numbers Summary Know what your labor costs Estimate and sell based on these costs Job cost based on the same numbers Constantly review and update E-mail me for your copy of the
Thank You Questions? Melanie Hodgdon Business Systems Management, Inc. 352 Rock Schoolhouse Road Bristol, ME 04539 Melanie@MelanieHodgdon.com (207) 529-5849 For book purchase information, please visit www.moneymazebooks.com