Costs and pricing
Part of Budgeting for B2B social selling with VAT as a position, not a blanket uplift
B2B social selling cost guide: an hour of staff time after HMRC employer NI and pension on qualifying earnings
B2B social selling cost guide: hourly staff cost at three salaries after 2026 to 2027 employer NI, pension on qualifying earnings and Employment Allowance.
What to take away
- Staff time is usually the largest cost in B2B social selling, and an hour costs more than salary divided by hours.
- For 2026 to 2027, HMRC sets employer National Insurance at 15% of pay above a £5,000 annual secondary threshold.
- The employer pension minimum is 3% of qualifying earnings, which are the part of pay above £6,240 and not more than £50,270 a year.
- Employment Allowance can cut an eligible employer's National Insurance bill by up to £10,500 a year.
- A paid seat earns its place only if the hours it saves cost more than the seat.
Which public rates sit on top of a salary?
Three public rules sit on top of pay: employer National Insurance, the pension minimum and the Employment Allowance. None needs a supplier quote.
Employer National Insurance is 15% for category A earnings in the 2026 to 2027 employer rates and thresholds published by HMRC. The secondary threshold is £5,000 per year, so the 15% applies only to pay above that figure.
The pension minimum comes from the Pensions Act 2008. Section 13 defines qualifying earnings as the part of gross earnings that is more than £6,240 and not more than £50,270 in a 12-month period. The minimum employer contribution is 3% of that band, within a total minimum of 8%.
Employment Allowance allows eligible employers to reduce their annual National Insurance liability by up to £10,500. Check eligibility with your payroll provider before relying on it.
What does one hour cost at three salaries?
Each row is arithmetic on assumed inputs, not a market benchmark. Productive hours are set at 1,500 a year in every row.
| Salary | Employer NI (15% above £5,000) | Pension (3% of earnings from £6,240) | Loaded annual cost | Cost per productive hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £28,000 | £3,450 | £652.80 | £32,102.80 | £21.40 |
| £36,000 | £4,650 | £892.80 | £41,542.80 | £27.70 |
| £50,000 | £6,750 | £1,312.80 | £58,062.80 | £38.71 |
For the £36,000 row, £36,000 minus £5,000 is £31,000, and 15% of that is £4,650. Pension is £36,000 minus £6,240, which is £29,760, times 3%, or £892.80. The loaded cost is £41,542.80, and dividing by 1,500 hours gives £27.70 after rounding.
If Employment Allowance covers the National Insurance, the £36,000 row falls to £36,892.80 a year, or £24.60 an hour. Replace the salaries and the 1,500 hours with figures your finance team approves.
How much does a weekly social selling habit cost?
Convert weekly time into annual cost. The example uses the £27.70 rate and an assumed 46 working weeks.
- Light habit, 3 hours a week3 times 46 is 138 hours, which costs £3,823.
- Steady habit, 5 hours a week230 hours, which costs £6,371.
- Heavy habit, 8 hours a week368 hours, which costs £10,194.
Even the light habit costs more than most single licences. That is why a pricing models comparison alone cannot give the total, and why the hidden costs article starts with time.
A quick unit check helps in meetings. A 15-minute follow-up costs a quarter of the hourly rate, about £6.93 at £27.70. Multiply by the follow-ups per week to see where the hours go.
When does a paid seat beat the hours it saves?
Compare the seat price with the cost of the time it removes. The seat prices below are test values, so use a written quote in practice.
Multiplying a price excluding VAT by 1.2 gives the price including the standard 20% rate, as the guide to charging VAT shows. A VAT-registered buyer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the net price counts. An unregistered buyer pays the gross price. Registration is required once taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000.
| Seat price excluding VAT | Gross price at 1.2 | Hours to break even at £27.70 |
|---|---|---|
| £600 | £720 | 26 |
| £1,000 | £1,200 | 43 |
| £2,000 | £2,400 | 87 |
The break-even is the gross price divided by £27.70, rounded to whole hours. Over 46 weeks, 43 hours is under one hour a week. If the seat saves more than that, it pays for itself on time alone. If not, the case must rest on leads. The guide to Sales Navigator versus free LinkedIn covers that second case.
Test the seat twice: once at the net price and once at the gross price. The decision should survive both.
What should a supplier quote state?
A usable quote lets you run the test without guessing. The commercial contracts article covers the clauses behind these points.
- Currency, billing unit and number of seats.
- Minimum commitment and renewal terms.
- Expiry date of the quote itself.
- Whether the price includes VAT.
- Charges for cancelling or exporting your data.
Hold the numbers in a budget template once they are agreed. Then set the total against pipeline with the return on investment method.
Common questions
Why add National Insurance and pension to a salary?
Both are paid by the employer on top of the salary. Leaving them out understates the cost of a £36,000 role by about 15 per cent, because £5,543 sits on top of the salary.
Do I count staff time if nobody is hired for the work?
Yes, when the decision changes how existing staff spend their hours. Cost the hours that move, using an approved loaded rate and not a guess.
Does the 1.2 multiplier apply to salaries?
No. It applies to supplier invoices that carry VAT. Payroll costs are handled through National Insurance and pension, not VAT.
