Roofing Vacancy Cost Calculator

Enter a vacancy scenario

Avoid double counting

Formula: weeks × (weekly contribution lost + extra coverage cost) + one-time cost. If extra overtime or subcontracting recovers some output, reduce the lost-contribution assumption accordingly. Do not count the same expense in both categories.

Use the result as a planning estimate

The fields start empty; enter your own planning assumptions. Actual cost depends on backlog, crew capacity, scheduling, weather, and whether work is delayed or lost. Compare a short vacancy with a longer one, then use the assumptions to decide where clearer job requirements or faster communication could help.

Post your roofing opening · Improve your hiring brief

Write down the business assumption

Contribution lost means revenue you expect to lose minus costs you would avoid by not doing that work. If work is merely delayed and later completed, estimate the actual timing or capacity effect rather than treating all revenue as permanently lost. This worksheet excludes taxes and financing effects and does not establish a hiring return on investment.

Use avoidable costs, not the whole missing employee’s revenue

The calculator combines weeks open, weekly lost contribution, weekly additional coverage cost and one-time hiring cost. The key word is contribution: revenue that would have remained after the variable costs needed to perform that work. If the job would require materials and subcontract labor, do not count the entire customer invoice as lost profit.

A worked hiring scenario

Fictional example: four weeks open, $1,000 weekly lost contribution, $250 weekly additional coverage and $500 one-time recruiting cost produces 4 × ($1,000 + $250) + $500 = $5,500. These are visitor assumptions, not surveyed roofing-industry averages.

If the work can be rescheduled without losing the customer, the full contribution may not be lost. If overtime coverage already preserves that work, counting both the full lost contribution and the overtime expense may double-count the impact. Build a separate scenario for each operating response.

Evidence to collect for each input

Use the result to choose an action

Compare a faster recruiting effort, a revised shift, training an internal worker or temporary coverage. Run low and high assumptions; do not use one speculative total to justify any advertising price. This page does not estimate time-to-hire, candidate volume or the return from WorkOn Roofs. Preserve the calculation date and the person who supplied each input so the estimate can be revisited.