Phone stipend cost calculator

Calculate what a phone-based time clock costs

Enter the number of workers who use a personal phone for work and your own costs. Every default is an example assumption. Replace them with figures from your payroll and your phone bills. The calculator runs in your browser and sends nothing.

What does the calculator count?

The calculator counts three costs that a bring-your-own-phone setup creates and adds them. It does not count the cost of any alternative, so you compare the total with your own quote for the alternative.

1. Stipends per year = workers x monthly stipend x 12.
2. Office time per year = (workers x office minutes per worker per month x 12) divided by 60, x the office hourly cost. This is time spent on stipend claims, helping a worker sign in, fixing location permissions and similar problems.
3. Loaners and replacements per year = workers x the share who need one in a year x the cost of one phone.
4. Total per year = stipends + office time + loaners and replacements. Per worker per year = total divided by workers.

Do employers have to reimburse a personal phone?

In some states an employer must reimburse necessary business expenses, and that can include a personal phone when the employer requires its use for work. Federal law has no general rule of this kind, so the answer comes from state law and from your own policy.

California

Labor Code section 2802 requires an employer to indemnify an employee for necessary expenditures incurred in doing the job. In Cochran v. Schwan's Home Service (2014), the court of appeal held that when employees must use personal phones for work, the employer owes a reasonable percentage of the phone bill. See BYOD reimbursement in California.

Illinois

820 ILCS 115/9.5 requires an employer to reimburse an employee's necessary expenditures within the scope of employment. A written expense policy can set guidelines for what is reimbursed, and the employee must submit expenses with support within 30 calendar days unless the policy allows longer.

Other states

Some states have similar statutes and others have none. Check your state labor agency or ask an employment lawyer before you set a flat stipend and call it settled.

What does the default example work out to?

With the default inputs, a 25-person crew on a $30 monthly stipend costs $11,625 a year, or $465 per worker. The stipends are the largest line at $9,000, and office time adds $2,000.

How do you use the result?

• Comparing options: get a quote for company-issued devices and compare it with your per-worker total. Pricing for ZeroBadge is quote-based and depends on badges, office users and contract term, so the comparison needs your own quote.
• Testing the office time: ten minutes per worker per month is an example. Count one real month of claims and support calls and replace it.
• Checking the stipend: if your stipend is below what a reasonable share of a phone bill would be, that gap is a risk where reimbursement rules apply.
• Looking at coverage: a phone clock only records time when the worker's phone is charged, signed in and allowed to use location. A company-issued badge removes the worker's phone from the process. See time tracking without phones.

For the full comparison of a personal-phone setup and a company-managed badge, read bring-your-own-phone time tracking alternatives.