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Three glass pavilions on pale stone plinths, in a row on a terrace above the sea. One line of amber light runs under the roof of the nearest. To its right a fourth plinth stands bare.

Training budget calculator

See what cohort size does to the cost.

Try the calculator
What the film shows, in words
  1. See what cohort size does to the cost.
  2. 60 people. Cohorts of 20. Three runs: USD 12,364.
  3. Cohorts of 25: still three runs. Still USD 12,364.
  4. Cohorts of 30: two runs. USD 9,743. USD 162 each. Large cohorts cut practice time.
  5. Cohorts of 15: four runs. USD 14,986. USD 250 each.
  6. Every extra run costs the same: USD 2,621.
  7. Throughout, small on screen: illustrative example. Costs are not GKM fees.

The demo: the worked example, with only the cohort size changed

ExampleStep 1 of 4Illustrative costs, not GKM fees

Sixty people in cohorts of twenty: the course runs three times.

total budget
USD 12,364
per participant
USD 206

USD 12,364 total. USD 206 per participant. USD 17.17 per learning hour.

The line is a stair, not a slope. It stays flat while the course runs the same number of times, then drops by the cost of running it once. The hatched part is where the tool’s own caution about large cohorts begins.

The royal-blue plinth is what cohort size cannot move: the design, paid once, and the materials, paid for each person. Not drawn, behind the break mark: cohorts of 2 to 7, where the course runs 9 to 30 times.

60 managers in cohorts of 20, four three-hour sessions each (illustrative costs). Use your own quotes; the example inputs are not GKM fees. The demo shows what moves. It does not say which cohort size to choose.

Now your own numbers. Find your tread.

Live
hours

From 20 to 29 people in a cohort the course runs 3 times: USD 12,364 throughout. At 30 it runs twice: USD 9,743. At 19 it runs 4 times: USD 14,986.

Not drawn, behind the break mark: cohorts of 2 to 7, where the course runs 9 to 30 times. Move the marker there and the picture follows.

  • Design, once USD 3,000
  • Materials, each person USD 1,500
  • Participants’ time is excluded.
  • One riser USD 2,621, each cohort
  • Hatched: cohorts above 25, where the tool’s caution begins
total budget
USD 12,364
per participant
USD 206
per learning hourthe total ÷ (participants × sessions × hours per session)
USD 17.17
cohorts of up to 20
3

One more cohort costs USD 2,621

Arithmetic on the figures you enter. It does not say which cohort size to choose.

Your quotes

Use your own quotes; the example inputs are not GKM fees.

OnceThe same whatever the cohort size
USD
Each cohortTogether, one riser of the stair: USD 2,621
USD
USD
USD
Each personIn the plinth, under the stair
USD
USD

Leave at 0 to exclude the cost of time away from work.

Faculty and support time

The people who deliver and support the course, counted even where no invoice arrives. A line left at 0 adds nothing. Time entered with no rate is still counted, and the result says it is not costed.

Trainers and aidesIn the room, each session

Each is costed at the facilitator day rate, with preparation.

Co-facilitators or classroom aides, counted for session time.

USD
ChampionsBetween sessions, each cohort

Colleagues who support learners between sessions.

hours
USD
Follow-up and repeatsAfter the last session, and each time the course runs again
hours

Each delivery trains the same number of new people.

USD

On the numbers above

total budget
USD 12,364
per participant
USD 206
per learning hour
USD 17.17
cohorts of up to 20
3

Your full report

Training budget scenarios and cohort plan, by email once delivery is connected.

Training budget scenarios and cohort plan (spreadsheet + one-page PDF summary)

Preview only. No email will be sent. Your results are available above.

Nothing you enter here is sent anywhere. Privacy notice

· a free brief, or book the Professor · from USD 150

Where the money goes, and five cohort sizes side by side

The tool’s own breakdown, scenario table and notes, in full. The table is fixed at cohorts of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 and leaves out any size above your number of participants. The stair above is worked out for every size from 2 to 60. Faculty and support time, and repeat deliveries, are set out here as soon as you enter them.

USD12,364total budget
USD206per participant
USD17.17per learning hour
3cohorts of up to 20
Where the money goes
  1. Design (fixed, one-off)USD 3,000
  2. FacilitationUSD 3,664
  3. Venue and cateringUSD 3,000
  4. MaterialsUSD 1,500
  5. TravelUSD 1,200
Cohort-size scenarios
Cohort sizeCohortsTotalPer participantPer learning hour
10 people6USD 20,229USD 337USD 28.10
15 people4USD 14,986USD 250USD 20.81
20 people3USD 12,364USD 206USD 17.17
25 people3USD 12,364USD 206USD 17.17
30 people2USD 9,743USD 162USD 13.53

Notes

  • Note: Participants’ time is excluded.Add an hourly cost to see the full cost of time away from work.
  • Note: No return on investment is assumed.Measure results after training: behaviour at work, not attendance.

Practice 03: Training & capacity buildingFree · instant results on this pageTool owner: Prof. Wisdom GagakumaVersion 1.0 ·

How it is worked out, and its limits.

Cohorts are rounded up, so the next run of the course is all or nothing. That is why the cost moves in steps.

One riser, taken apart: what one more run costs on the figures now in the calculator. The example’s costs are illustrative, not GKM fees.
  1. Facilitation(4 sessions × 3 hours ÷ 7 + 1 preparation) × 450USD 1,221
  2. Venue and catering4 sessions × 250USD 1,000
  3. Travelonce for the cohortUSD 400

One riser: one more run of the courseUSD 2,621

The formula counts seven hours as one facilitator day, so a session of three hours counts as three sevenths of a day. A quote priced by the whole day or the half day will not match the facilitation line.

Method

  1. 01

    Cohorts = participants ÷ cohort size, rounded up.

  2. 02

    Facilitator days = cohorts × (sessions × hours ÷ 7 + preparation days); venue and travel scale with cohorts; materials and participants’ time scale with people.

  3. 03

    Design is a fixed, one-off cost; everything else is variable.

  4. 04

    More than one trainer multiplies the facilitator days. Aide days = cohorts × aides × sessions × hours ÷ 7. Champion hours = cohorts × champions × the hours each gives a cohort.

  5. 05

    Follow-up sessions add trainer, aide and participants’ time at the same rates, and their hours count as learning hours. No venue, travel or materials are added for them.

  6. 06

    A repeat delivery pays everything again except the design, plus any materials update you enter. The four headline figures are for one delivery.

  7. 07

    The currency is a label on your own figures. Nothing is converted and no rate is held.

What it cannot tell you

  • It uses your quotes; it does not know market rates.
  • Taxes, currency movements and contingency are not included.
  • It says nothing about whether the training will work; that needs evaluation.
  • The cohort examples are illustrative shapes. They set people and time, never a price, and they recommend nothing.
  • It does not know pay scales. Time entered with no rate is counted in days and hours and marked as not costed.

Quality ruleSeparate fixed and variable costs; no assumed ROI.

A bare stone plinth above the sea with four brushed-steel fixing plates waiting on it. The glass corner of the neighbouring pavilion is at the left edge of the frame, with a line of amber light under its roof.
The next room comes whole or not at all.
The view from inside one glass pavilion, out through its glass corner to the next pavilion and the sea: an open floor, a line of amber light along the ceiling edge, daylight.

The calculator adds up a plan. Designing and delivering it is the work.

It says nothing about whether the training will work; that needs evaluation. These are the services that do that work, and the person who leads it.

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