Course profitability by cohort
Work out whether a specific cohort makes or loses money once delivery, support and overheads are counted.
For RTO managers, business managers, independent trainers
How to use this calculator
Start with the worked example below. Replace the figures in Your numbers with your own inputs, then select Recalculate. Read the assumptions and limitations before using the estimate in your planning. Save report downloads the last calculated results and inputs.
Margin for the cohort
$4,265.00
Revenue less all costs including overhead recovery. Negative means this cohort costs you money to run.
- Revenue
- $33,840.00
- Fees from completing learners, retained fees from withdrawals and funding.
- Total cost
- $29,575.00
- Direct delivery, assessment, materials and fixed costs, plus overhead.
- Direct cost before overhead
- $23,660.00
- What the cohort costs before the share of running the organisation.
- Margin per enrolment
- $213.25
- Spread across everyone who started, which is what you actually control.
- Margin percentage
- 12.6%
- Margin as a share of revenue. Compare across cohorts of different sizes.
- Learners completing
- 17 people
- After the withdrawal rate you entered.
This is an estimate to support your professional judgement, not a determination. Our tools draft. You validate.
Saves the last calculated inputs, results and assumptions to your device. Recalculate after changing inputs.
Your numbers
Learners who start. Not expressions of interest.
What each learner or their employer pays you, excluding GST.
Subsidy you receive per learner. Zero for full-fee delivery.
Percentage who withdraw without completing. Delivery cost is largely incurred regardless.
Percentage of the fee returned when a learner withdraws, on average across your refund policy.
Total face-to-face or live online hours, regardless of cohort size.
Including on-costs, and including preparation if you are not costing it separately.
Marking, feedback and re-assessment for one learner.
Printing, textbooks, platform seats, consumables, PPE.
Room hire, equipment, marketing and administration that does not vary with headcount.
Percentage added to direct costs for compliance, management and premises. Leaving this at zero is how a profitable-looking cohort loses money.
How this is worked out
Completing = enrolments × (100 − withdrawal%). Revenue = (completing × full fee) + (withdrawing × fee × (100 − refund%)) + (enrolments × funding). Direct cost = (delivery hours × trainer rate) + (enrolments × materials) + (completing × assessment hours × trainer rate) + fixed cost. Total cost = direct × (1 + overhead%). Margin = revenue − total cost.
What it assumes
- Withdrawing learners consume materials and a share of delivery. Only their assessment cost is avoided.
- Funding is received for every enrolment. Most subsidy models pay on progression or completion, which is less favourable than this.
- The trainer rate covers assessment as well as delivery.
What it does NOT account for
- Timing. This shows whether the cohort is profitable, not whether you can afford to run it. See the cash-flow calculator.
- Bad debt and unpaid fees.
- The cost of acquiring these enrolments, unless you put it in the fixed cost.
- Re-enrolment and lifetime value from learners who return for another qualification.
- GST. Every figure here is excluding GST.
What to do next
- Re-run with your worst realistic withdrawal rate. A cohort that only works at low attrition is a cohort that will occasionally lose money.
- Check your overhead percentage against actual overheads divided by actual direct costs: most people guess it low.
- If the margin per learner is thin, look at the fixed cost first: it is the part that does not improve with a bigger cohort.
- Compare against the break-even calculator to find the enrolment number where this cohort turns.
Sources
- Overhead recovery: Entered as an input. There is no standard rate; the defensible figure is your own overheads divided by your own direct costs. (reviewed 2026-08-27)
- Fee and funding treatment: Excludes GST throughout. Subsidy arrangements vary by state and contract; confirm payment triggers against your own funding agreement. (reviewed 2026-08-27)