Find sustainable pay that fits inside your Big 5 benchmarks.
Do this for one service at a time, not all services at once, or the math won't work. Fill in the three fields and we'll show you a sustainable range for trainer pay per session.
Your Inputs
Do this for one service at a time.
$
Use an average across all pricing options for one service.
%
Target: 90–100% for 1:1, 70–80% for small group, 65–75% for large group.
A Reminder About Our Benchmarks
Using our Big 5 Benchmarks, your total people costs, excluding the owner, shouldn't be more than 40% — with some limited exceptions.
If you pay trainers for anything outside training sessions (admin, manager tasks, etc.) or have non-training staff, all of it has to fit inside that 40%.
Trainers can typically make 25–35% of the per-session cost, depending on your market, to leave buffer for other staff costs.
Maximum session revenue
$0
Average session revenue
$0
Suggested Trainer Pay Per Session
25% — New trainer
It's likely you can pay this per session to a new trainer.
$0
30% — Seasoned trainer
The most you should pay a seasoned trainer per session.
$0
35% — Maximum
The maximum you can pay any trainer per session.
$0
Other considerations. How does your trainer pay compare to your local market? To attract the best talent, aim to be in the top 20% of trainer pay in your area — that might mean raising your rates to stay competitive. And if your weekly average utilization is below the benchmarks above, you may need to cut some sessions or add members to hit your ideal trainer pay.
Suggested next steps.
1️⃣ Create a shifty first draft (SFD) of your trainer pay based on your current schedule and utilization. Add it to all other people costs to confirm total people costs stay under 40% of monthly gross revenue.
2️⃣ Talk to your coach or hop into Office Hours to fine-tune your model and plan implementation.
How to use this
A full Profit First view of your pricing and staff pay. Work left to right through the five steps below — everything recalculates live as you type.
1
Gross revenue. Enter your average for one billing pulse (e.g. two weeks).
2
Allocations. Set your Profit First percentages (should total 100%).
3
Expenses. Enter your fixed and variable operating costs.
4
Services. Add each service's client cost, plus your tax and CC-fee rates.
5
Explore. Play with the numbers until you like what you see. 😀
Step 1 — Gross Revenue
$
Use a two-week period, or whatever your client billing pulse is.
Step 2 — Profit First Allocations
%
%
%
%
%
Total allocation
100%
Suggested: Profit 10%, Tax 15%, Owner Pay 20%, Savings 5%, Op Ex 50%. Allocations should total 100%.
Step 3 — Op Ex: Fixed
$
$
$
Fixed subtotal
$0
Op Ex: Variable
$
$
Variable subtotal
$0
Step 4 — Service Waterfall
Taxes
%
CC Fees
%
Staff0%
Overhead0%
Profit0%
Staff, Overhead, and Profit rates are derived from your inputs on the left. Taxes and CC Fees are yours to set.
Service
Client Cost
−Tax
−CC
−Staff
−O/H
Profit
Budget Check
Your Op Ex budget minus what your Fixed + Variable expenses actually use.
This calculator is a planning tool. Employment laws, taxes, and pay rules vary by country and area — confirm your pay structure with your own accountant or lawyer before implementing. See the Pricing & Staff Pay Playbook for full benchmarks and guidance.
