[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":365},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-billability":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"date":354,"description":355,"extension":356,"image":357,"meta":358,"navigation":359,"path":360,"seo":361,"stem":362,"tag":363,"updated":354,"__hash__":364},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-billability.md","Billability: what it is, how to calculate it, and what a good rate looks like",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":343},"minimark",[9,13,18,21,38,41,45,48,148,155,158,162,165,224,227,231,234,254,257,271,275,318,322,325,332,339],[10,11,12],"p",{},"Billability is the percentage of your working time that ends up as\nbillable work for a client. If you worked 40 hours this week and 26 of\nthem were client work you can invoice, your billability is 65%. It's\none of the few numbers that explains why a perfectly reasonable hourly\nrate can still leave you short at the end of the month: the rate is\nonly ever paid on the billable share of your week, never on all of it.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"the-billability-formula","The billability formula",[10,19,20],{},"Billability = billable hours ÷ total available hours × 100",[22,23,24,32],"ul",{},[25,26,27,31],"li",{},[28,29,30],"strong",{},"Billable hours"," are hours you can put on an invoice: client work\ninside the agreed scope, or extra work the client has agreed to pay\nfor.",[25,33,34,37],{},[28,35,36],{},"Total available hours"," are the hours you actually had to work\nwith in that period. Most freelancers use hours worked; agencies\nusually use contracted capacity (for example 40 hours a week minus\nholidays and sick days).",[10,39,40],{},"Pick one denominator and stick with it. Measuring against hours worked\ntells you how much of your effort turns into revenue. Measuring against\ncapacity also exposes quiet weeks, since an empty afternoon counts\nagainst you instead of disappearing from the sum.",[14,42,44],{"id":43},"a-worked-example","A worked example",[10,46,47],{},"Say a freelance developer logs this week:",[49,50,51,67],"table",{},[52,53,54],"thead",{},[55,56,57,61,64],"tr",{},[58,59,60],"th",{},"Activity",[58,62,63],{},"Hours",[58,65,66],{},"Billable?",[68,69,70,82,92,103,114,124,134],"tbody",{},[55,71,72,76,79],{},[73,74,75],"td",{},"Client A: feature work",[73,77,78],{},"18",[73,80,81],{},"Yes",[55,83,84,87,90],{},[73,85,86],{},"Client B: bug fixes",[73,88,89],{},"7",[73,91,81],{},[55,93,94,97,100],{},[73,95,96],{},"Client B: call that ran over scope",[73,98,99],{},"1",[73,101,102],{},"No, written off",[55,104,105,108,111],{},[73,106,107],{},"Sales calls and proposals",[73,109,110],{},"5",[73,112,113],{},"No",[55,115,116,119,122],{},[73,117,118],{},"Admin, invoicing, bookkeeping",[73,120,121],{},"4",[73,123,113],{},[55,125,126,129,132],{},[73,127,128],{},"Learning a new framework",[73,130,131],{},"3",[73,133,113],{},[55,135,136,141,146],{},[73,137,138],{},[28,139,140],{},"Total",[73,142,143],{},[28,144,145],{},"38",[73,147],{},[10,149,150,151,154],{},"Billable hours: 18 + 7 = 25. Billability: 25 ÷ 38 × 100 ≈ ",[28,152,153],{},"66%",".",[10,156,157],{},"At €80 an hour, that's €2,000 invoiced for 38 hours of work, or an\neffective rate of about €53 an hour across the whole week. That gap\nbetween the rate you quote and the rate you actually earn is what\nbillability measures.",[14,159,161],{"id":160},"billability-vs-utilization-vs-realization","Billability vs. utilization vs. realization",[10,163,164],{},"These three terms get used interchangeably, but they measure different\nthings, and the difference matters once you start tracking them.",[49,166,167,180],{},[52,168,169],{},[55,170,171,174,177],{},[58,172,173],{},"Metric",[58,175,176],{},"What it measures",[58,178,179],{},"Formula",[68,181,182,198,209],{},[55,183,184,187,195],{},[73,185,186],{},"Billability",[73,188,189,190,194],{},"Share of time spent on work that ",[191,192,193],"em",{},"can"," be billed",[73,196,197],{},"Billable hours ÷ available hours",[55,199,200,203,206],{},[73,201,202],{},"Utilization",[73,204,205],{},"Share of time spent on any client or productive work, billed or not",[73,207,208],{},"Client hours ÷ available hours",[55,210,211,214,221],{},[73,212,213],{},"Realization",[73,215,216,217,220],{},"Share of billable work that ",[191,218,219],{},"actually got"," invoiced and paid",[73,222,223],{},"Hours invoiced ÷ billable hours",[10,225,226],{},"In practice most freelancers and small agencies say \"utilization rate\"\nor \"billable utilization\" and mean billability. Realization is the one\npeople forget: a 75% billability rate doesn't help much if a fifth of\nthose hours never make it onto an invoice because they weren't logged\nor got discounted away.",[14,228,230],{"id":229},"whats-a-good-billability-rate","What's a good billability rate?",[10,232,233],{},"There's no single right number, but these ranges are typical:",[22,235,236,242,248],{},[25,237,238,241],{},[28,239,240],{},"Freelancers and solo consultants: 50-70%."," You do your own sales,\nadmin, and invoicing, so a big slice of the week can never be billed.\nConsistently above 75% usually means you've stopped doing the sales\nwork that keeps next quarter full.",[25,243,244,247],{},[28,245,246],{},"Agency and consultancy delivery staff: 70-85%."," Someone else\nhandles sales and admin, so delivery roles are expected to bill most\nof their time.",[25,249,250,253],{},[28,251,252],{},"Agency leads and managers: 30-60%."," Their job is partly running\nthe team, so lower billability is expected, not a problem.",[10,255,256],{},"The more useful benchmark is your own trend. A billability rate that\nslides from 65% to 50% over three months is worth looking into, even if\n50% would be fine for someone else.",[258,259,262],"callout",{"title":260,"type":261},"Billability belongs in your rate, not just your reports","tip",[10,263,264,265,270],{},"If you price assuming 40 billable hours a week, you're quietly\noverestimating your income by 30-50%. Plug your real billability into\nthe ",[266,267,269],"a",{"href":268},"\u002Ftools\u002Ffreelance-rate-calculator\u002F","freelance rate calculator"," and\nit works out the hourly rate you need at the share of your week you\nactually bill.",[14,272,274],{"id":273},"how-to-improve-your-billability","How to improve your billability",[276,277,278,284,295,301,312],"ol",{},[25,279,280,283],{},[28,281,282],{},"Track all your time, not just client time."," You can't calculate\nbillability from billable hours alone. Log admin, sales, and learning\ntoo, even roughly, so the denominator is real.",[25,285,286,289,290,294],{},[28,287,288],{},"Agree on what's billable up front."," Calls, revisions, and travel\nare where unbilled hours pile up. Spell out in your contract which\nof them you charge for. ",[266,291,293],{"href":292},"\u002Fblog\u002Ffreelance-contract-essentials\u002F","Freelance contract\nessentials"," covers the clauses\nthat prevent most scope disputes.",[25,296,297,300],{},[28,298,299],{},"Bill scope creep instead of absorbing it."," The \"quick extra\nchange\" is billable work. Log it as billable and either invoice it\nor make a deliberate decision to write it off.",[25,302,303,306,307,311],{},[28,304,305],{},"Cut the admin that doesn't need to exist."," Rebuilding a timesheet\nfrom memory, chasing payments by hand, and retyping hours into an\ninvoice all count against your billability. Connecting ",[266,308,310],{"href":309},"\u002Fblog\u002Fonline-time-and-billing-for-freelancers\u002F","online time\nand billing"," removes\nmost of it.",[25,313,314,317],{},[28,315,316],{},"Don't push it to 100%."," Sales, learning, and rest are what keep\nyour billable hours coming next quarter. Aim for a stable rate you\ncan sustain, not the highest one you can hit for a month.",[14,319,321],{"id":320},"track-billable-and-non-billable-hours-in-one-place","Track billable and non-billable hours in one place",[10,323,324],{},"Billebly lets you log time against each client's projects and mark\nentries as billable or non-billable, so you can see what share of your\nweek is invoiceable. When it's time to bill, the billable hours go\nstraight onto an invoice, which keeps your realization up as well:\nhours you logged can't quietly drop off before they reach the client.",[10,326,327],{},[328,329],"img",{"alt":330,"src":331},"Billebly's time tracking table: hours, project, and whether they've been invoiced yet","\u002Fimages\u002Fapp\u002Fcrops\u002Ftime-tracking-table.png",[333,334],"cta-banner",{"button-label":335,"description":336,"href":337,"title":338},"See time tracking and invoicing","Log billable and non-billable time per client, then turn the billable hours into an invoice, in the same free account.","\u002Fsolutions\u002Ftime-tracking-and-invoicing\u002F","See how much of your week you actually bill",[340,341],"faq-block",{":faqs":342},"[{\"question\":\"What is billability?\",\"answer\":\"Billability is the percentage of your working hours spent on work you can bill a client for. It's calculated as billable hours divided by total available hours, multiplied by 100.\"},{\"question\":\"How do you calculate billability?\",\"answer\":\"Divide your billable hours by your total available hours for the same period and multiply by 100. For example, 25 billable hours out of 38 hours worked is a billability of about 66%.\"},{\"question\":\"What is a good billability rate for a freelancer?\",\"answer\":\"Most freelancers land between 50% and 70%, because they handle their own sales, admin, and invoicing. Agency delivery staff are typically expected to hit 70-85%, since someone else covers those tasks.\"},{\"question\":\"Is billability the same as utilization?\",\"answer\":\"Not exactly. Utilization usually counts all client or productive work, billed or not, while billability only counts work that can be invoiced. Many agencies use 'billable utilization' to mean billability.\"},{\"question\":\"What's the difference between billability and realization?\",\"answer\":\"Billability measures how much of your time is billable. Realization measures how much of that billable time actually got invoiced and paid. Unlogged hours, discounts, and write-offs lower realization even when billability looks healthy.\"}]",{"title":344,"searchDepth":345,"depth":346,"links":347},"",2,3,[348,349,350,351,352,353],{"id":16,"depth":345,"text":17},{"id":43,"depth":345,"text":44},{"id":160,"depth":345,"text":161},{"id":229,"depth":345,"text":230},{"id":273,"depth":345,"text":274},{"id":320,"depth":345,"text":321},"2026-10-24","Billability is the share of your working hours you can actually bill a client for. Here is the formula, realistic benchmarks for freelancers and agencies, and how to raise it.","md",null,{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-billability",{"title":5,"description":355},"blog\u002Fwhat-is-billability","Billing & pricing","AkKDaq_Bvh_HmXcYgP7P8OSZaxlirusnEqfcDyrxmnc",1792840628801]