How much can I afford to pay per call?

Up to what a billable call earns you, minus the agent time spent on every call, spread over the billable ones. In the default example a billable call is worth $60 (50% qualified × 30% converted × $400), handling costs $3 on every call and 60% of calls bill, so the break-even payout is $60 − $3 ÷ 0.6 = $55. At a $40 payout, 1,000 calls earn $9,000 profit.

What is a billable duration threshold?

The minimum length a call must last before the buyer pays for it, such as 90 seconds. Shorter calls (wrong numbers, hang-ups, callers who drop on hold) are not billed, but they still take agent time, which is why handling cost is counted on every call.

Why is a billable call not the same as a qualified call?

Duration is only a proxy. Some long calls are confused callers or people who will never qualify, and they cost the full payout. The pay-per-call article makes the same point: labels from billable duration alone can mislead, so judge sources by how many calls qualify and convert, not just by how many bill.

Should every call from a source be valued the same?

No. This calculator uses averages, but calls differ: IVR answers, source, caller attributes and time of day change how likely a call is to qualify and convert. The article routes each call on its expected value, P(qualifies) × payout × P(converts with this buyer), to the buyer where it is worth most.

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Pay-Per-Call Calculator

What is an inbound call worth once billable-duration thresholds, qualification and conversion are counted, and what can you afford to pay per call?

Enter your call volume, how many calls last long enough to bill, the payout per billable call, and how billable calls qualify and convert. The calculator shows what a billable call is worth to you and the most you can pay for one before buying calls loses money. The starting values are an illustrative example, not a benchmark.

Inbound calls per month1,000

Billable duration threshold (example)

60 seconds90 seconds120 seconds180 seconds

The threshold labels the next input; the maths uses the share of calls that pass it.

Calls that last past 90 seconds (billable)60%Payout per billable call$40Billable calls that are qualified50%Qualified calls that convert30%Value per conversion (sale or funded loan)$400Handling cost per call (agent time)$3.00

Billable calls

600 of 1,000

Cost (payouts + handling)

$27,000

Conversions

Revenue

$36,000

Profit

$9,000

Cost per conversion

$300.00

Value per billable call

$60.00

Most you can pay per billable call (break-even)

$55.00

At $40.00 per billable call you keep $15.00 of headroom: you could pay up to $55.00 and still break even.

From call to conversion

Inbound calls1,000

Billable (past 90 seconds)600

Qualified300

Converted90

You pay the payout only on billable calls, but agents handle every call, so handling cost is spread over the billable ones when working out the break-even payout. Value per conversion should be what a sale or funded loan is worth to you after its own costs. Calls that are billable but never qualify still cost their full payout, which is why the qualified share moves the answer so much.

How it works

In pay-per-call you usually pay only for calls that pass a billable duration threshold, but a billable call is not a customer: some callers never qualify, and only some qualified callers convert. Enter your call volume, the share of calls that bill, the payout per billable call, your qualification and conversion rates, what a conversion is worth and the agent time each call takes, to see your profit, cost per conversion and the most you can pay per billable call before buying calls loses money. The default inputs are an illustrative example, not benchmarks.

Billable calls are inbound calls times the share that last past the billable duration threshold (the threshold itself, such as 90 seconds, sets that share; it does not enter the maths). You pay the payout on every billable call and a handling cost, for agent time, on every call, billable or not. Conversions are billable calls times the share that are qualified times the share of qualified calls that convert, and revenue is conversions times the value of a conversion. Profit is revenue minus cost, and cost per conversion is cost divided by conversions. A billable call is worth the qualified share times the conversion rate times the value per conversion. The break-even payout is that value minus the handling cost spread over billable calls (handling cost divided by the billable share): pay more than this per billable call and the calls lose money.

B = N\,b, \qquad K = B\,q\,c

C = B\,p + N\,h, \qquad R = K\,V

\Pi = R - C, \qquad a = \frac{C}{K}

v = q\,c\,V, \qquad p^{*} = v - \frac{h}{b}

where

$N$: inbound calls per month
$b$: share of calls that pass the billable duration threshold
$p$: payout per billable call
$q$: share of billable calls that are qualified
$c$: share of qualified calls that convert
$V$: value per conversion
$h$: handling cost per call (agent time)
$B,\ K$: billable calls, conversions
$C,\ R,\ \Pi$: cost, revenue, profit
$a$: cost per conversion
$v$: value per billable call
$p^{*}$: break-even payout per billable call

What a real decision adds

Calls are not average. Source, caller, IVR answers and time of day change how likely each call is to qualify and convert, so one payout for every call overpays for some and loses others.
Duration is a weak stand-in for quality. Some long calls never qualify, some short ones were transferred quickly and convert, and fraud tends to cluster just above the billable threshold.
Outcomes arrive late and incompletely. Buyers report acceptance and conversion days or weeks after the call, so recent calls look worse than they are until their outcomes come in.
Capacity is live. A call that reaches a busy or closed buyer is lost or abandoned, so what a call is worth depends on who can answer it right now.

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Frequently asked questions

How much can I afford to pay per call?: Up to what a billable call earns you, minus the agent time spent on every call, spread over the billable ones. In the default example a billable call is worth $60 (50% qualified × 30% converted × $400), handling costs $3 on every call and 60% of calls bill, so the break-even payout is $60 − $3 ÷ 0.6 = $55. At a $40 payout, 1,000 calls earn $9,000 profit.
What is a billable duration threshold?: The minimum length a call must last before the buyer pays for it, such as 90 seconds. Shorter calls (wrong numbers, hang-ups, callers who drop on hold) are not billed, but they still take agent time, which is why handling cost is counted on every call.
Why is a billable call not the same as a qualified call?: Duration is only a proxy. Some long calls are confused callers or people who will never qualify, and they cost the full payout. The pay-per-call article makes the same point: labels from billable duration alone can mislead, so judge sources by how many calls qualify and convert, not just by how many bill.
Should every call from a source be valued the same?: No. This calculator uses averages, but calls differ: IVR answers, source, caller attributes and time of day change how likely a call is to qualify and convert. The article routes each call on its expected value, P(qualifies) × payout × P(converts with this buyer), to the buyer where it is worth most.

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