What does the bench cost?

Forty employees, 88% utilisation: that sounds good until you work out what the missing twelve percent means over a year. Heads in, utilisation in, and then the number that ends every scheduling conversation: what one percentage point is worth. No sign-up. The link is the calculation.

Your bench per month

Bench days are paid days. Wages, on-costs and overhead keep running, only the revenue is missing. Two numbers are enough, everything else is below under "Adjust assumptions".

Your workforce
heads
Everyone you can place with clients.
%
Share of working days with an assignment.1
€/h
€/h

This gives 870.0 working days a month, of which 104.4 on the bench and 765.6 on assignment. A bench day costs €211.29, an assignment day brings in €336.

Calculation sheet · per month 104.4 bench days1
Bench days
104.4 days
Wages incl. on-costs for the bench days
€20,378.88
+ Overhead for the same days
€1,680
Cost of the bench
€22,058.88
Lost revenue · month €35,078.40
Of which contribution margin2 €14,699.52
Cost of the bench · year €264,706.56
Lost revenue · year €420,940.80

What a point of utilisation is worth

Lost annual revenue falls in a straight line with utilisation. That is why every point costs the same, and why it pays to name the goal in points instead of "more assignments".3

%
Where you want to be in twelve months.
  • Heute 88. %
  • Ziel 93. %
  • remaining levels
Lost revenue per year by utilisation
0 200 k 400 k 600 k 800 k 80 82 84 86 88 today 90 92 94 Target 96 98 100 €

At 88. % utilisation you lose €420,940.80 revenue a year compared with today: + €0

Every point of utilisation is worth €35,078.40 a year to you. From 88. % to 93. %: €175,392.3

104.4 bench days a month cost you €22,058.88 in wages and overhead, plus €35,078.40 revenue that does not happen.

One point of utilisation
€35,078.40 a year, €2,923.20 a month, regardless of where you stand today.
Your target
5. points more bring you €175,392 a year; the bench then still costs €245,548.80 revenue.
Level by level
Utilisation Lost revenue per year Compared with today Marker
80. % €701,568 − €280,627.20
82. % €631,411.20 − €210,470.40
84. % €561,254.40 − €140,313.60
86. % €491,097.60 − €70,156.80
88. % €420,940.80 + €0 today
90. % €350,784 + €70,156.80
92. % €280,627.20 + €140,313.60
94. % €210,470.40 + €210,470.40 Target
96. % €140,313.60 + €280,627.20
98. % €70,156.80 + €350,784
100. % €0 + €420,940.80
Adjust assumptions
Shared assumptions

The same keys and presets as in the assignment calculator, so a link can be passed from one tool to the next. The presets are approximations common in the industry, not collective-agreement values.4

h
%
€

This gives 1,252.8 bench days a year, for which you carry €244,546.56 in wages and €20,160 in overhead.

alluvo shows you the bench before it arises, from the assignment contracts that end in four weeks, not from a utilisation rate from last month.

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