Billable Hours Calculator
See what your time is really earning. Enter your billable and non-billable hours and your rate to get your revenue, your utilisation rate, and your true effective hourly rate across all the hours you actually work.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your weekly billable and non-billable hours.
- Enter your billable rate and weeks worked per year.
- See utilisation, revenue and your true effective rate.
Formula used
Utilisation is the share of your working time that's actually billable. Your effective rate spreads billable revenue across all hours worked — always lower than your headline rate, because non-billable time earns nothing but still takes time.
Example calculation
25 billable + 15 non-billable hours at 80/h: utilisation = 63%, weekly revenue = 2,000, effective rate = 2,000 ÷ 40 = 50/h.
Your "80/hour" work really earns 50/hour once admin and sales are counted.
Billable rate vs what you really earn
Utilisation — the fraction of your working hours you can actually bill — is one of the most clarifying numbers in freelance or professional-services work, because it exposes the gap between your headline rate and your real earnings. Non-billable time is unavoidable and necessary (winning clients, admin, invoicing, keeping skills current), but it earns nothing directly, so your effective rate across all hours is always below your billable rate.
Understanding this reframes how to grow income. You can raise utilisation (bill more of your time, or reduce admin overhead) or raise your rate — but hours have a hard ceiling and pushing utilisation too high leads to burnout and no time to find the next client. Rate is the more scalable lever, which is why experienced freelancers tend to focus on charging more for high-value work rather than simply grinding more billable hours. Tracking these numbers turns vague busyness into a clear picture of what's actually paying.
Why use this calculator?
- See your true effective rate, not just the headline number.
- Track utilisation to spot where time leaks to non-billable work.
- Understand whether to raise your rate or your billable hours.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good utilisation rate?
For freelancers and consultants, 60–75% billable is typical and healthy — the rest goes to sales, admin and development. Agencies often target similar figures for staff. Very high utilisation is often unsustainable and leaves no time to win new work.
What's the difference between billable rate and effective rate?
Your billable rate is what you charge per billable hour; your effective rate spreads that revenue across all hours worked, including non-billable ones. If you bill 25 of 40 hours at 80, your effective rate is 50 — what your total time actually earns.
Should I increase my rate or my hours?
Rate is usually the better lever — hours have a hard ceiling and pushing billable time too high causes burnout and leaves no time to find work. Raising your rate on high-value work scales income without needing more hours.