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Utilisation calculator

Billable hours against paid hours, for the whole team. It gives you the utilisation rate, the revenue it produces, and the euros sitting in the difference between where you are and where you want to be.

People delivering workEveryone whose time could be billed. Not admin or management.Contracted hours per person per weekWhat you pay for each week, per person.hBillable hours booked per weekAcross the whole team, from your time tracker — not what you invoiced.hAverage hourly rate chargedBlended across clients, after discounts.€Cost per person per monthGross salary plus employer contributions plus their share of overhead.€

Utilisation

67.4%

Of paid capacity, actually billable.

Paid capacity per week: 190 h
Revenue per month: €66,509
Team cost per month: €28,000
Utilisation needed to break even: 28.4%
Each point of utilisation is worth: €987 / month

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The number

Utilisation is where an agency's profit actually lives

Payroll is fixed and billable hours are not, so every point of utilisation goes almost entirely to the bottom line. Moving a five-person team from 67% to 75% is worth more than raising every rate by ten percent — and it is usually easier.

Utilisation = billable hours ÷ (people × contracted hours)

Getting it right

Take billable hours from your time tracker, not from your invoices — the gap between them is the write-off you never look at.
Above 85% sustained, quality and retention both start to fall. It is a ceiling, not a target.
Pitching and internal projects are real work — count them as non-billable rather than not at all.

Hourly rate calculator Hiring cost calculator Break-even calculator

Templates that go further

Internal work

What pitches, admin and internal projects really cost in margin — measured, not estimated once a year.

Project costing & marginWhat you quoted, what it cost, and the hourly rate you actually got.Retainer vs project revenueHow much of your payroll the recurring revenue covers — and how much rides on the next pitch.Profit & loss planRevenue down to net profit, month by month, in the order your accountant reads it.

Internal work All Excel templates

Questions

Utilisation calculator — What people ask about it

What utilisation rate should an agency aim for?

Between 70% and 80% of contracted hours is the usual healthy band for delivery staff. Below 65% the fixed cost base is too heavy for the work; above 85% there is no room for pitching, training or a client emergency.

Should management count in the calculation?

Only the part of their time that is genuinely billable, and usually it is cleaner to leave them out of the headcount and put their salary into overhead instead.

One number is an average. Your cash moves day by day.

Connect your accounting data and Foreqast keeps this calculation live — with every committed cost on the date it actually lands.

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