Calculators tool
IT Budget Calculator
Build a ballpark annual IT budget for your business.
Budget categories (deselect to exclude)
Budget estimate — 20 employees
$60,520 – $81,880 / year
~$5,933/month — $3,560/user/year
Benchmarks from Gartner, CompTIA, and Elevate internal data (Los Angeles SMB market, 2025). Actuals vary by vendor selection, existing infrastructure, and contract terms. This is a planning range, not a quote.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of revenue should a mid-market firm spend on IT?
Industry benchmarks from Gartner and CompTIA place IT spending for professional services firms at 3–6% of annual revenue. Regulated industries (healthcare, legal, financial) trend toward the higher end due to compliance requirements. Firms relying on managed IT with a full security stack typically spend $1,800–$3,500 per user per year, depending on the service tier and Los Angeles labor market rates.
Is a managed IT provider (MSP) more cost-effective than hiring in-house IT?
For firms under 100 employees, a managed IT provider almost always delivers a lower total cost than a comparable in-house team when you account for salary, benefits, training, tool licensing, and after-hours coverage. An MSP also provides specialist depth — security engineers, compliance analysts, network architects — that a single in-house hire cannot. The break-even point varies, but most firms find MSP engagement cost-effective up to 150–200 employees.
Want this handled for you?
Elevate manages IT & security for regulated Los Angeles firms.
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