Per-class or per-head instructor pay: find the class size where they cross

A flat fee per class and a rate per client cost the studio the same at exactly one class size. Below it, paying per head costs the studio less; above it, the flat fee does. Find that size for the agreements you are weighing, then compare it with the class sizes you actually run. That tells you who carries the risk of a small class, which is the real decision.

Three agreements for the same class

The figures below are hypothetical, in USD, for one class with eight places. They are planning inputs, not market rates.

Each visit brings in $28 on average. That is not the drop-in price: it is a month's class revenue, counting drop-ins and each visit's share of pack and membership income, divided by the visits taken. Each visit also costs $3 in laundry, cleaning and card fees. So every client adds $25 before the instructor is paid.

• Per class: $65 for the class, however many come.
• Per head: $11 for each client.
• Base plus per head: $35 for the class plus $6 for each client.

What the studio keeps at each class size

Studio contribution is the $25 per client minus instructor pay, before rent and other costs that do not change with the class.

The agreements cross at three points:

• Per class and per head cost the same at 65 ÷ 11, about 5.9 clients.
• Per class and base plus per head cost the same at 5 clients: the $30 gap in the base is closed by $6 a client.
• Per head and base plus per head cost the same at 7 clients.

Below six clients, per-head pay protects the studio: a two-person class still contributes $28 instead of losing $15. From six clients up, the flat fee leaves the studio more, $135 against $112 when all eight places are full.

Compare your own agreements below with your class size, revenue per visit, visit cost and rates. The calculator reports pay and contribution under each agreement and the three crossovers.

Per-class and per-head instructor pay

Instructor pay and studio contribution for one class under three agreements, and the class sizes at which two of them cost the studio the same. The defaults are the guide's USD example; enter amounts in your own currency.

Places in the class (places)

Assumption: The guide's hypothetical class. Count the places one class can sell.

Clients in the class (clients)

Assumption: Try the class sizes you actually run: a crossover matters only near them.

Revenue per visit ($ per visit)

Assumption: Not the drop-in price: a month's class revenue, counting drop-ins and each visit's share of pack and membership income, divided by the visits taken.

Cost per visit ($ per visit)

Assumption: Laundry, cleaning and card fees for one visit.

Per class: flat fee ($ per class)

Assumption: A hypothetical rate from the guide, not a market rate. Enter the agreement you are weighing. For hourly pay, enter the paid hours times the hourly rate.

Per head: rate ($ per client)

Assumption: A hypothetical rate from the guide, not a market rate. Enter the agreement you are weighing.

Per head: minimum ($ per class)

Assumption: The least a per-head class pays, whatever its size. Zero means no minimum.

Base plus per head: base ($ per class)

Assumption: A hypothetical rate from the guide, not a market rate. Enter the agreement you are weighing.

Base plus per head: rate ($ per client)

Assumption: A hypothetical rate from the guide, not a market rate. Enter the agreement you are weighing.

At 5 clients, per head leaves the studio the most: $70.00.

Result

Per class: studio contribution	$60.00
Per head: studio contribution	$70.00
Base plus per head: studio contribution	$60.00
Per class: instructor pay	$65.00
Per head: instructor pay	$55.00
Base plus per head: instructor pay	$65.00
Per class and per head cost the same at	5.9 clients
Per class and base plus per head cost the same at	5 clients
Per head and base plus per head cost the same at	7 clients

• Studio contribution is before rent and other costs that do not change with the class.
• Below a crossover, the agreement with the higher rate per client costs the studio less; above it, the other one does. A per-head minimum raises pay in small classes only, so the crossovers leave it out.

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The instructor sees the same table from the other side

Per-head pay moves the risk of a small class onto the instructor. At two clients, the per-head instructor earns $22 for the same hour of teaching, preparation and travel that earns $65 under a flat fee. At eight clients, they earn $88.

A minimum per class limits that risk. Per head at $11 with a $40 minimum pays $40 for classes of two and three, then $11 a client from four up ($44 at four). The minimum costs the studio money only in its smallest classes.

StudioGrowth's guide to how Pilates instructors get paid works through a $30 base plus $5 a student at several class sizes, alongside a $48 flat rate, and stops at what the instructor earns. Solve for where they pay the same and they cross at 3.6 students: the flat $48 costs the studio more below four students and less from four up.

A week of classes

Suppose one instructor teaches ten classes in a week, with 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8 and 8 clients: 54 clients, an average of 5.4.

With the same ten classes and no minimum, a week's pay depends only on the total number of clients, so the average class size is enough to compare agreements. The minimum is what makes the spread matter: it adds $32 here, all of it from the classes of two and three.

The spread also shows which classes cost money under a flat fee. The class of two loses $15 under the flat fee, and each class of three leaves only $10 before rent. Those are the ones to move, merge or rebuild, whatever the pay agreement.

A full class is not always the best-paying one

Under per-head pay, a class full of discounted visits can leave the studio less than a smaller class at regular prices. Eight intro clients bringing in $19 a visit leave $40 after visit costs and $11 a head. Five regular clients at $28 leave $70.

Under the $65 flat fee, the same full class leaves $63 and the class of five leaves $60. The pay agreement changes which class looks better, so compare classes under the agreement you actually have.

Hourly pay behaves like a flat fee

An instructor paid by the hour costs the same whether two clients come or eight. A 60-minute class with 15 minutes to set up and reset, at $40 an hour, costs $50. Enter that as the per class fee to compare it with per-head pay.

Whether an instructor is an employee or a contractor, and which pay arrangements suit each, is a legal and tax question this guide does not answer. Check with an accountant or employment lawyer in your state or province. If instructors are employees, any agreement must still pay at least minimum wage for all the hours they work, setup and reset included; your state labor department or provincial employment standards office sets the rate and the rules.

Work out per-head pay from your class records

Elara's payroll estimates pay as hours times each person's hourly rate, from the time they record (1.5 times for overtime, twice for double time). To pay per class or per head, calculate the pay in your payroll provider or a spreadsheet. Elara's reports give you the counts to pay from: Staff Attendance shows each instructor's check-ins, no-shows and cancellations for the dates you choose, and exports to CSV. It credits every session to the instructor assigned to it, so move a substitute's classes from the assigned instructor's counts to the substitute's yourself, and it counts a client as checked in only when staff check them in. Decide whether your agreement pays on clients booked or clients who came, and whether no-shows and late cancellations count, before the first pay run. The report counts every cancellation together, without separating late ones.

To set the class price these agreements depend on, work out the price floor for a reformer class.