Event labor is sold on a fixed number and worked by the hour. Every night of a show, someone has to decide how many people to call for tomorrow, usually from memory and a gut feel, because the actual hours are still sitting on paper. Here is the math to make that call on purpose, with a worked example you can copy into a spreadsheet.
The three numbers you need
- Remaining budget: the show's labor budget minus the loaded cost of every day worked so far.
- Loaded cost per man-day: the loaded cost so far divided by the number of people-days worked so far. Loaded means wages plus fringe, supervision markup and reimbursements.
- Tomorrow's share: the part of the remaining budget that belongs to tomorrow, in proportion to its planned cost.
Step by step, on a worked example
A fictional seven-day electrical show, Wednesday night after day 5. Thursday is the dismantle night, the biggest call of the week, with 18 people planned.
- Find what is left.Budget $67,450.83 minus $39,954.39 spent over five days leaves $27,496.44.
- Price one person-day.$39,954.39 ÷ 40 people-days worked = $998.86 loaded per person per day.
- Give tomorrow its share.Thursday's plan is $20,717.12 of the $26,451.08 still planned (Thursday plus Friday), so tomorrow's share is $27,496.44 × 20,717.12 ÷ 26,451.08 = $21,535.87.
- Divide and round down.$21,535.87 ÷ $998.86 = 21.56, so 21 people are affordable. With 18 planned, there is room for 3.
The spreadsheet version
Put the inputs in cells B1 to B5 and the answer falls out:
The hard part is not the formula. It is keeping B2 and B3 current every night, which means the day's sign-in sheets have to be totalled before you plan tomorrow.
Why split by planned cost, not evenly
Show days are not equal. In the example, Thursday's dismantle night is planned at $20,717 and Friday at $5,734. An even split would hand each day $13,748 and tell you to cut Thursday to 13 people, while Friday sits on money it will never use. Splitting by planned cost keeps each day in proportion to the work it actually has.
What the number does not know
- Minimum calls: one more person on a 4-hour minimum costs more than an average person-day.
- Tomorrow's overtime: a night call at double time costs more per person than the days so far.
- Crew mix: a foreman costs more than a journeyman.
Use the result as the number to plan against, then let the supervisor make the call.
Getting the number every night without a spreadsheet
The Live Labor Budget in myCrewIQ runs this math from the same reviewed sign-in sheets that feed payroll, so the cost to date is current the moment the day's sheets are checked. It shows the result as Cut N, Room for N or On plan, with every input listed so you can check it on paper. The full seven-day example, from projection to close-out, is on the Live Labor Budget page.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you calculate how many workers a labor budget can afford tomorrow?
- Take the budget left, give tomorrow its share in proportion to tomorrow's planned cost against every day still to come, and divide that share by the loaded cost of one person for one day so far. Round down to whole people.
- What is loaded labor cost?
- Wages plus everything that rides on each hour: fringe benefit contributions, supervision markup and reimbursements where they apply. Budgets that use wages alone understate the cost of each extra person.
- Why not split the remaining budget evenly across the days left?
- Show days are not equal. A dismantle night can cost four times a show-service day. Splitting by each day's planned cost keeps a big day from starving the small ones, or the other way round.
- Does the result tell me who to cut?
- No. It gives a number to plan the call against. Who works, and whether a minimum call or a different crew mix changes the answer, stays a supervisor's decision.