Supplier Quality, Development & Audits worked example

Supplier Audit Cost at 98% auditor billable utilization: a worked example in supplier quality, development & audits

This scenario runs the supplier audit cost calculation on the strong side: 98% auditor billable utilization, with every other input held at its documented default. A supplier quality engineering lead uses it to budget a scheduled second-party audit of a new or at-risk supplier.

The inputs for this scenario

  • On-site audit days: 4 days (unchanged)
  • Loaded auditor day rate: 1,200 $/day (unchanged)
  • Auditor billable utilization: 98 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 85)
  • Travel and lodging adder: 1,800 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Total audit cost = audit days x day rate x billable utilization% + travel adder) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 6,504 $ for total supplier audit cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 1,626 $ / piece for supplier audit cost per unit.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 4,704 $ for variable supplier audit cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 1,800 $ for fixed supplier audit cost adder.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where auditor billable utilization sits at 85% and the headline result is 5,880 $, this scenario comes in 10.61% above the baseline at 6,504 $.
  • Use it when budgeting an audit plan, comparing on-site versus remote assessments, or setting an internal chargeback rate for supplier audits. Treat this as a target state: the delta against the baseline quantifies what the improvement is worth before you commit to chasing it.

Results at a glance

  • Total supplier audit cost: 6,504 $ (headline result)
  • Supplier audit cost per unit: 1,626 $ / piece
  • Variable supplier audit cost: 4,704 $
  • Fixed supplier audit cost adder: 1,800 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Supplier Audit Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.