The telephone expense can form a significant portion of the operating expenses of a start up business, particularly those operating with internet business models. The expense is part of the operating expenses included in the income statement of the business plan financial projection.
The telephone expense projection is carried out by multiplying the number of employees the business has by the average telephone usage, to give the estimated usage in minutes for the business. This is then applied to the average cost per minute and a fixed charge is added on to give the telephone expense for the accounting period.
This telephone expense calculator allows a business to input details of the headcount, average usage per employee, cost per minute, and the fixed cost, and then calculates the telephone expense over the five year term of the business plan financial projection.
Using the Telephone Expense Calculator
The Excel telephone expense calculator is available for download below and is used as follows:
- Enter the headcount The headcount is the number of employees the business has that use a telephone. The value can be obtained from the headcount calculator used to calculate staff costs.
- Enter the average usage per employee. Enter the average number of minutes an employee uses the telephone each month. The telephone expense calculator works out the total number of minutes per month.
- Enter the telephone cost per minute The average monthly telephone cost per minute will depend on the nature of the business, but an estimate should be available from an invoice or from published rates.
- Enter the fixed cost It is normal for a telephone operator to charge a fixed cost for the use of the telephone services. The monthly fixed cost should be entered. The telephone expense calculator works out the telephone expense for each of the next five years to be included in the business plan financial projections.
Telephone Expense Calculator Download
The telephone expense spreadsheet is available for download in Excel format by following the link below.
Users use this business telephone expense calculator at their own risk. We make no warranty or representation as to its accuracy and we are covered by the terms of our legal disclaimer, which you are deemed to have read. This is an example of a telephone expense template that you might use. It is purely illustrative. This is not intended to reflect general standards or targets for any particular company or sector. If you do spot a mistake in the telephone expense calculator, please let us know and we will try to fix it.
About the Author
Chartered accountant Michael Brown is the founder and CEO of Plan Projections. He has worked as an accountant and consultant for more than 25 years and has built financial models for all types of industries. He has been the CFO or controller of both small and medium sized companies and has run small businesses of his own. He has been a manager and an auditor with Deloitte, a big 4 accountancy firm, and holds a degree from Loughborough University.