What Does Your Reception Desk Really Cost?
The hourly rate is the smallest part of the answer. Superannuation, on-costs and leave cover sit on top of it, and none of it buys a single hour of phone cover after the door shuts. Enter your own roster and see the full annual figure, the loaded cost per hour, and what extending cover to after hours would cost with staff versus a flat AI plan.
Use the rate you actually pay, not the award minimum, and the on-cost percentage your bookkeeper uses. The plan tier slider picks which AI Healthcare plan to put next to the staffing figure.
Medical Receptionist Cost Calculator
Aggregate roster figures only. No staff names or patient information.
The rate you pay, not the award minimum.
Start at the 12 per cent superannuation guarantee. Add workers compensation, payroll tax and leave loading if they apply.
Annual leave plus the sick leave you actually backfill.
Hours outside your opening hours you would like answered. Weekday evenings plus a weekend day is about 40.
1 = Solo Practice $499 per month. 2 = Group Practice $999 per month. 3 = Enterprise $2,499 per month. After-hours triage is included from tier 2.
Base wages plus super and on-costs plus leave cover.
An estimate from the figures you entered, not financial, payroll or legal advice. Penalty rates, casual loading, recruitment and training are not included, so staff figures are conservative. Plan prices are those shown on this site's pricing page.
Reading the Result
Three figures matter. The full annual cost tells you what the desk costs to run. The loaded hourly rate tells you what each hour of cover costs. The after-hours comparison tells you what it would cost to cover the hours you currently do not.
The loaded cost is the real cost
A receptionist on $32 an hour does not cost $32 an hour. Add the superannuation guarantee, workers compensation, any payroll tax and leave loading, then the casual who covers annual and sick leave, and the loaded figure is usually well above the headline rate. That loaded figure is the one to use in any comparison.
Only part of the roster is phone work
Reception staff greet patients, take payments, scan documents and manage the waiting room. The phone share slider lets you allocate a portion of the cost to phone handling, so the number you compare against a phone answering service is the phone portion, not the whole person.
After hours is where staff cost climbs fastest
Covering evenings and weekends with staff means paying for hours when call volume is low and unpredictable. The calculator prices those hours at your loaded weekday rate, without evening or weekend penalty rates, so the staff figure shown is a floor rather than a ceiling.
How the Figures Are Built
Every number on this page comes from the sliders. Nothing is assumed about your practice beyond what you enter.
Base wages
Receptionists multiplied by hourly rate, multiplied by hours per week, multiplied by 52. Permanent staff are paid for 52 weeks including their leave.
Super and on-costs
Base wages multiplied by your on-cost percentage. Start with the 12 per cent superannuation guarantee and add workers compensation, payroll tax and leave loading where they apply to you.
Leave cover
Weeks of leave you cover with a casual, multiplied by weekly hours, multiplied by the loaded hourly rate, for each receptionist. Casual loading is not added, so this is conservative.
After-hours comparison
After-hours hours per week multiplied by 52, multiplied by the loaded hourly rate, set against the selected AI plan multiplied by 12. The difference is shown as a saving or a cost.
Where the Cost Hides
Practice owners tend to know the wage bill and underestimate everything around it. These are the items that move the number most.
On-costs vary by state and by practice
The superannuation guarantee is set nationally. Workers compensation premiums, payroll tax thresholds and leave loading depend on your state, your total wage bill and your award or agreement. Ask your bookkeeper for the percentage they apply, and use that rather than a generic figure.
- Superannuation guarantee applies to ordinary time earnings for eligible staff
- Payroll tax only applies once your state wage threshold is crossed
- Workers compensation premiums are set per industry and per insurer
- Annual leave loading applies under some awards and agreements, not all
Leave is paid twice
When a permanent receptionist takes annual leave, the practice pays their wage and also pays whoever covers the desk. Sick leave works the same way but is unplanned, which means agency or casual cover at short notice. The leave cover slider captures the second payment, which most rough calculations leave out.
- Four weeks annual leave plus personal leave is a common starting point
- Casual cover usually attracts a loading on top of the base rate
- Public holidays add paid non-working days to the year
- Recruitment and training after turnover is a further cost not modelled here
Phone cover is not the same as being open
A single receptionist can answer one call at a time. During the opening rush, the second and third callers hear an engaged tone or sit on hold, regardless of what the roster costs. The cost per hour of cover shown here is the cost of one line being staffed, not the cost of every call being answered.
- Check your phone system for engaged and abandoned call counts at opening
- Two receptionists on the desk does not mean two lines answered if one is with a patient
- The practice phone audit scorecard on this site helps measure this
- Missed new-patient calls are a revenue cost on top of the staffing cost
The fair comparison
AI phone answering replaces phone hours, not people. A practice that keeps its reception team for in-person work and hands phone overflow and after-hours calls to an AI plan is making a different decision from one that reduces headcount. Model the hours you want covered, not the whole role.
- Compare the phone share of the roster against the plan, not the full wage bill
- After-hours cover is the clearest like-for-like comparison
- Overflow during opening hours is the second clearest
- In-person front desk work stays with people in every plan on this site
Next Steps
Medical Receptionist Cost in Australia
The written guide to award rates, super, on-costs and turnover for reception staff.
Read the guide →Practice AI Savings Calculator
Model the wider administrative saving across reception, recalls and phone handling.
Model the saving →After-Hours Answering for Healthcare
How after-hours calls are answered, triaged and handed over in an Australian practice.
See how it works →Frequently Asked Questions
What hourly rate should I enter?
The rate you actually pay. The Health Professionals and Support Services Award sets a minimum, and the staff versus AI cost guide on this site lists the current Level 3 figure, but most practices pay above award to keep experienced staff. If your receptionists are on different rates, enter the average. The calculator multiplies the rate by every rostered hour, so a small error in the rate compounds across the year.
What should the on-cost percentage include?
At minimum the superannuation guarantee, which is 12 per cent. On top of that, add your workers compensation premium as a percentage of wages, payroll tax if your total wage bill exceeds your state threshold, and annual leave loading if your award or agreement pays it. Your bookkeeper or accountant will have a loaded percentage they already use for budgeting, and that is the best figure to enter.
Why does the calculator not include penalty rates for after-hours staff?
Because penalty rates depend on the exact hours, the award classification and whether the work is rostered as ordinary hours, overtime or a separate shift. Rather than guess, the calculator prices after-hours cover at your loaded weekday rate. In practice, evening, Saturday and Sunday work under the relevant award attracts higher rates, so treat the staff after-hours figure as the lowest it could be, not the likely figure.
Which AI plan should I compare against?
Plan tier 1 is the Solo Practice plan at $499 per month, tier 2 is the Group Practice plan at $999 per month, and tier 3 is the Enterprise plan at $2,499 per month. After-hours patient triage is included from the Group Practice plan up, so tier 2 is the fair comparison if after-hours cover is what you are pricing. The pricing page lists what each plan includes.
Does this mean I should reduce reception staff?
Not necessarily, and the calculator does not assume it. Reception staff do in-person work that a phone answering service does not do. The clearest case for AI is the hours nobody is rostered for at all, which is after hours, and the calls that go unanswered during the opening rush. Most practices use the tool to price those gaps rather than to justify a headcount change.
Is anything I enter stored or sent anywhere?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is transmitted to us. Your slider positions are saved in your own browser storage so they are still there if you return, and the reset button clears them. Enter aggregate roster figures only. There is no reason to enter staff names or any patient information.
Sources and further reading
- Fair Work Ombudsman: pay, awards and conditions (Fair Work Ombudsman)
- Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
Want That After-Hours Figure Checked?
Tell us your roster, the hours you want covered and your typical call volume. We will confirm which plan fits and what the real difference against staff cover would be for your practice.