National Contractor Cost Calculator

Your portfolio

Defaults are calibrated low. Swap in your real numbers for a sharper estimate.

Company name(optional) iThe portfolio you’re modeling. (Optional) Leave blank if you’re running a quick what-if. Number of sites iTotal operating locations in the portfolio (stores, branches, restaurants, clinics). Work orders / site / year iAll maintenance events per location in a year — both reactive (break-fix) and planned/preventive. Count tickets, not visits. Default: 100. Average invoice (USD) iThe typical all-in cost of one work order — labor plus materials, as billed to you after any national-contractor markup. Typical $400–$1,400; Default $850. % of invoices through the National Contractor iShare of work orders managed by the National Contractor. Default 70%. Used as n. Contract structure iHow you pay your national contractor: Cost-plus = they add a markup on the sub’s price plus a program fee (most expensive, most common). Fixed management fee = flat fee, no markup. Shared-savings / General Maintenance Program = fee-based with a savings split. Pick the one that matches your master agreement — it changes which leaks apply. National Contractor management fee (% of managed spend) iThe management/program fee national contractors charge on that spend — disclosed in integrator 10-Ks, usually 3–8%. Defaults: 5% fee. Days to pay subcontractors iMedian time from a sub completing work to getting paid under the national contractor-managed program. Longer cycles raise the financing premium subs build into their bids. National contractor programs typically run 45–75 days; Default: 65. % invoices disputed / reworked iShare of invoices that get kicked back for a billing dispute, a callback, or re-done work. Each one burns AP time and often a second site visit. Integrator programs typically 5–12%; Default: 8%.

› Advanced assumptions

Subcontractor cost of capital iThe annual interest rate your subcontractors effectively pay to finance work while waiting to be paid. ~8% for a well-capitalized national, 12–18% for a regional sub on a credit line. Default: 12%. Rework cost / dispute iEnter a percentage of the invoice’s value: ~5% — Just a paperwork fix (re-code, re-approve, re-send). No one goes back on-site. ~15% — Some back-and-forth with the sub plus AP rework. (Most common — default.) ~30% — A tech usually has to return to the site to verify or re-do the work. Invoices / Full-Time Employee / yr iHow many invoices one full-time Accounts Payable/facilities employee can process annually. Lower numbers mean more staff needed for the same volume. This drives the vendor-sprawl overhead estimate. Default: 5,000. Fully-loaded Full-Time Employee cost (USD) iAnnual all-in cost of that employee — salary plus benefits, taxes, software, and overhead, not just base pay. Combined with the rate above, it converts non-NC invoice volume into admin headcount cost. Default: $85,000.

Estimated annual leakage

range $0 – $0

Enter your portfolio numbers to see your estimate.

FM spend (annual)

Spend via NC

Leakage as % of spend

Leakage drivers

Mid-band (22% markup)

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PDF report includes formulas, sources, and a ranked driver breakdown.

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How we calculated this ›

We compute five leakage categories from your inputs:

Markup spread: T_NC × m / (1 + m) — the spread embedded in invoices already paid. Bands at 15 / 22 / 30%.
Management fee: T_NC × f — disclosed in integrator 10-Ks.
Slow-pay carrying cost: T_NC × max(DTP−30, 0)/365 × r_sub — premium subs price in.
Dispute / rework: T_NC × d × k_rework — AP cycles + re-truck-rolls.
Vendor sprawl admin: non-NC invoice volume ÷ invoices-per-Full-Time Employee × loaded Full-Time Employee cost.

Sources: JLL / CBRE / C&W / ABM 10-Ks, IFMA O&M benchmarks, FacilitiesNet invoice management studies, Fed Small Business Credit Survey, BLS OES. Full citations are in the downloadable PDF.

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Source citations

JLL FY24 10-K · Work Dynamics — https://www.jll.com/en/investors
CBRE FY24 10-K · GWS — https://ir.cbre.com/financials/annual-reports
Cushman & Wakefield FY24 10-K — https://ir.cushmanwakefield.com/
ABM Industries FY24 10-K — https://investor.abm.com/
IFMA O&M Benchmarks (paywalled, cited via FacilitiesNet)
Industry “State of Facilities Maintenance” benchmark data
Fed Small Business Credit Survey — https://www.fedsmallbusiness.org/
BLS OES 13-1199 / 11-3013 — https://www.bls.gov/oes/
FacilitiesNet invoice management coverage — https://www.facilitiesnet.com/

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