Free tool

What is a short call actually worth?

Set your numbers and see the gap between logging calls at their raw length and billing them at your real minimum and increment. The defaults show a consultant doing a dozen 20-minute calls a month at $120 an hour.

min
$/h
min
min

These are the same levers Paidwell applies automatically at log time. It also supports prep and post padding, which this calculator leaves out to keep the math simple.

Revenue you are leaving on the table

$11,520/ year

$960 every month, recovered.

Each call, logged raw
20m · $40
Each call, billed correctly
1h · $120
Bill it correctly with Paidwell

How the math works

A billing increment is the smallest block of time you bill. If your increment is 15 minutes, a 5-minute call bills as 15. A per-call minimum goes further: it sets a floor for the whole call, so a quick check-in still reflects the context-switch, the prep, and the follow-up that a real call always carries.

This calculator applies your minimum first, then rounds to your nearest increment, and never lets a real call fall below one full unit. That is the same order Paidwell applies automatically the moment you log a call, except Paidwell also adds prep and post padding if you set it.

Why the gap is bigger than it looks

The leak is not one call. It is every short call, every month, compounding across a year. A dozen 20-minute calls billed as 20 minutes instead of an hour, at a senior rate, is the difference between a rounding error and a real number. The calculator shows the annual figure because that is the one that changes behavior.

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