How this is calculated

• Trade type — selects which industry benchmark we compare you against.
• Annual revenue — last 12 months' total turnover (ex-GST).
• Team size (FTE) — including you. Part-timers count as 0.5.
• Annual wages bill — total gross wages including any owner drawings.
• Subcontractor costs (optional, available for all trades) — when entered, we exclude these from the revenue figure used for benchmarking so we're comparing the revenue your own team actually generates.

All-in wages   = wages × 1.14            (ACC, KiwiSaver, holidays, tools)
Adj. revenue   = revenue − sub costs     (only when subbies entered)
RPE            = adj. revenue ÷ headcount
Labour %       = all-in wages ÷ adj. revenue
Ideal FTE      = adj. revenue ÷ benchmark midpoint
Gap            = headcount − ideal FTE
Profit leak    = gap × (all-in wages ÷ headcount)   when gap > 0

The 1.14× wage loading is a rough rule-of-thumb for the real cost of an employee in NZ once ACC, KiwiSaver, holiday loading, tools and PPE are factored in. Your actual loading might be a bit higher or lower depending on how you treat owner draws and what you provide.

These ranges are drawn from publicly available NZ trades industry averages and our own experience working with owners. They're a starting point for the conversation — not a hard rule.

When subcontractors or labour-only contractors are used:

Adjusted ranges are lower because the comparison is on value-added revenue (turnover minus subcontractor costs) rather than headline turnover.

• On track (green) — gap under 0.3 FTE, labour % inside benchmark, RPE at or above the benchmark floor.
• Worth a look (amber) — gap between 0.3 and 0.6 FTE, or labour % over benchmark, or RPE below benchmark.
• Time for a closer look (red) — gap over 0.6 FTE, or both labour % over benchmark and RPE below benchmark.

A few numbers can't capture a whole business. Results may not reflect your reality if any of these are true:

• Big seasonal swings in revenue or workload.
• Project-based income (a single large job distorting the year).
• Unusual gross margins — high-margin work needs less labour leverage.
• Owner draws not run through the wages line.
• Heavy plant / materials businesses where labour isn't the main cost.
• Regional cost-of-labour differences.

This is why the result is a starting point for a conversation, not a verdict. If the numbers don't feel right, they probably aren't telling the whole story — but they're usually pointing at something worth looking at.