Partnership owners: how are you tracking true hourly cost?

C

ccwdude85

Filing Flight Plan
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Feb 14, 2026
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ccwdude
Hi all, new member here. I’m a part-owner in a small partnership and joined mostly to learn from owners who’ve already solved the “shared costs without drama” problem.
I’m especially interested in practical methods for reserves, reimbursements, and clean year-end records.
Appreciate the knowledge here and glad to contribute where I can.
 
First thing I’d say is get extremely familiar with how your partnership agreement documents deal with those things, because that’s going to be controlling in your partnership.
 
We had two monthly charges...one covering fixed costs, hangars, insurance, expected annual (conservative estimate), subscriptions, etc. It is relatively easy to calculate this. We then had an hourly one based on fuel, oil, etc. Both were reviewed and adjusted yearly. If the annual was much larger than expected, we split the unexpected amount. Any purchases outside this were agreed to beforehand. We really didn't build reserves...just a one year look back and one year forward guestimate.

Easy...worked for some 15+ years.
 
Every partnership is different. We split the fixed expenses evenly and charge an hourly rate for reserves & maintenance. Then again, we have 15 years of data that enables that.

Pay as go into the partnership’s account.
 
we picked a random number, charge ourselves that amount dry, and if we fall short, we all kick in. It is presumed we can change that number over time if we accumulate cash or do upgrades, but we haven't done that yet.

No need to make it overcomplicated. The drama comes from needing to hound members to chip in their share or other cat-herding things that adults shouldn't need yet somehow often do. The only way around that is to not partner up with jerks.
 
We did the fixed monthly and per hourly charge.

The per hourly charged included a 12 year overhaul cost estimate based on an average yearly usage.

The club felt it was best to stick with the lyco overall recommendation.

When the overall period came up we had more than enough reserve to cover it.

In any case you should have a clear understanding of how the overhaul costs will be paid. Ignoring this will guarantee disputes within the partnership. This is more important now than ever with the very high costs involved.

A consideration here is equity. Depending on engine hours and overhaul period the value relationship between partners can feel quite different.
 
I was in a 2 owner partnership. He paid the bills and I reimbursed him for half.
 
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