Billable Hours Calculator
Put in the hours you work and the hours that reach an invoice. This gives your billable share, what you actually earn per hour worked rather than per hour billed, and the annual revenue behind it.
Free · Runs in your browser · Nothing is stored
How it is calculated
Formula: Billable share = billable hours / hours worked x 100
Billable hours are the hours a client pays for. Non billable hours are everything else that still has to happen: pitching, admin, invoicing, internal meetings, the proposal that did not land, and the hour spent working out why a plugin update broke a site. Both are work. Only one appears on an invoice.
For agency delivery staff the share usually lands between 55 and 75%. Solo freelancers are often lower, around 50 to 60%, because one person carries all the admin that a larger team spreads out.
The number that matters more than your rate
Your rate is what you charge for a billable hour. Your effective rate is what you earn per hour actually worked, and it is the one that pays your bills. Someone charging $100 an hour who bills half their week earns $50 an hour for the time they spend.
That is also why raising the billable share is usually worth more than raising the rate. Moving from 50 to 60% is a 20% revenue increase without a single price conversation.
Track both columns, not just the one that bills
If the timesheet records the 26 hours that bill and not the 19 that do not, the agency looks efficient and nobody can see where the week went. Tracking both turns the non billable column into a list of candidates for automation, which is usually where the next margin improvement is hiding.
Track both columns automatically
A timer on every task, hours attached to the client, and reports that put time next to the fee. Included on every AgencyKit plan.
Start a free trialFrequently asked questions
Billable hours are the hours a client pays for. Everything else you do, pitching, admin, invoicing, internal meetings and the proposals that do not land, is non billable. Both are real work, but only one reaches an invoice, which is why hours worked and revenue can move in opposite directions.
Take the hours worked and subtract everything that cannot be charged to a named client. The more useful figure is the share: billable hours divided by hours worked. For agency delivery staff that usually sits between 55 and 75%, and for solo freelancers closer to 50 to 60% because one person carries all the admin.
Hours worked is everything you put in. Billable hours is the part a client is charged for. The gap is where most of the confusion about agency profitability lives: a fully booked week can still be a bad week if half of it went to work nobody is paying for.
For agency delivery roles, 55 to 75% is normal. Below 40% something structural is wrong, usually admin that should be automated or a sales process consuming delivery time. Above 75% is only sustainable if somebody else is absorbing the non billable work, and it is often a sign of burnout rather than efficiency.
It is what you earn per hour actually worked, rather than per hour billed. Someone charging $100 an hour who bills half their week has an effective rate of $50. It is the number that pays your bills, and it is why raising the billable share is often worth more than raising the price.
Yes, and it is the part most people skip. If the timesheet only records what bills, the week looks efficient and nobody can see where the rest went. Tracking both turns the non billable column into a list of candidates for automation, which is usually where the next margin improvement is hiding.