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Action Toolkit

Trades

What an Employee Really Costs

A $20/hr hire is a $26/hr decision.

Trade utility

A $20/hr hire is a $26/hr decision

Workers' comp rate6 per $100

Varies hugely by trade — roofing and framing are among the highest. Your agent has your class code.

State unemployment (SUTA)2.7%

New employers get a default rate; it moves with your claims history.

Realistically billable60%

Drive time, loading, cleanup and training are not billable. 60% is a good year.

The wage

$20/hr

What they cost

$23/hr

1.16× the wage.$48,265 a year, all in.
Contributes $57,815 a yearThey need about 568 billable hours a year just to cover themselves. Payroll is fixed; work is not.

What you type here is saved automatically — on this device, and to your account if you have one.

About this tool

Wage plus your half of FICA, unemployment tax, workers' compensation and benefits — the fully loaded cost, and how many billable hours it takes to cover.

Best for

For a business owner about to hire for the first time.

Expected outcomes

Generate actionable structure, optimized formulas, and verified indicators under strict outcome standards.

Loaded hourlyAnnual costHours to break evenPrintable summary

Goes well with

Keep the workflow moving

View all tools

Trades

Break-Even Calculator

How many jobs a month before you're actually earning?

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Cost Per Lead & Per Job

Which channel is actually paying for itself?

Leading

1:1 Planner

Prepare a better coaching conversation without overthinking it.

Trades

Business Setup Planner

LLC, EIN, bank, payments — in the order the paperwork allows.

This tool appears in

A number is a start. Here’s what to do with it.

This journey uses What an Employee Really Costs as one step in a longer sequence of real actions.

21

Your First Employee

→ Someone who can employ another person properly

Open journey

Playbooks that use it

A playbook is the short workflow between a tool and a journey — a handful of steps that end in a finished document.