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This calculation answers whether an associate is pacing above, below, or near a stated annual billable-hour target. Law-firm associate expectations commonly sit between 1,800 and 2,500 billable hours per year, and NALP reported an average associate billable-hour requirement of 1,892 hours per year across reporting offices in its 2015-2016 Directory data.
For an individual associate, the useful result is not only the total hours recorded. You need the average per period, the annualized pace, and the gap to target. A 160-hour monthly average annualizes to 1,920 hours, which is 28 hours above a 1,892-hour benchmark. That tells you whether current matter load, staffing, or time entry discipline is enough.
Average billable hours should use approved, billable matter time only. Non-billable training, recruiting, firm administration, business development, and write-off time answer different management questions. Associate time is usually tracked in 0.1-hour, six-minute increments, so the inputs should already be rounded under the firm's timekeeping policy before you calculate the average.
Do not average billed dollars and call it an hours average. A month with heavy write-downs can produce lower revenue even when the associate recorded the same hours. Berkeley Law's law-firm economics materials frame revenue as hours billed multiplied by effective rate after discounts, write-offs, and uncollectible amounts, so hours, realization, and collection belong in separate lines.
Start with billable hours for each period, add them, then divide by the number of periods. To annualize a monthly average, multiply by 12. Example: an associate records 156, 148, 172, and 164 approved billable hours over four months. The total is 640 hours, the monthly average is 160 hours, and the annualized pace is 1,920 hours.
You can extend the same example into revenue planning without confusing it with the hours average. At a $230 hourly rate, 1,920 hours produces $441,600 at standard value. Applying an 88% realization benchmark gives $388,608 billed value. Applying a 93% collection benchmark gives $361,405.44 collected value. The hours average stays 160 per month; the money view changes after realization and collection.
A calculator is enough for a one-time pace check, a compensation conversation, or a staffing review using a clean set of monthly totals. It is also enough when you only need to compare one associate's annualized hours with a target such as 1,892, 1,930, or a firm-published number in the 1,800 to 2,500 range.
A managed workflow becomes necessary when time entries need approval, billable and non-billable categories must stay separate, or partners need recurring reports by associate, matter, client, and date range. Everhour Reporting supports customizable reports with 45+ columns, grouping, filters, exports, and scheduled email delivery, which turns repeated associate pace checks into a durable review process.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
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Add the associate's approved billable hours for the selected periods, then divide by the number of periods. For a monthly average, add the months and divide by the month count. To annualize that pace, multiply the monthly average by 12. Keep non-billable firm work out of the numerator unless you are calculating total workload instead of billable-hour pace.
Compare the average with the target used by the associate's firm, office, class year, or practice group. Published associate targets commonly fall between 1,800 and 2,500 hours per year. NALP's 2015-2016 data reported a 1,892-hour average requirement across reporting offices and 1,930 hours at firms with more than 700 attorneys.
A 0.1-hour increment turns every six minutes into one billing unit. That matters because the average should use the same rounded time values the firm uses for billing and reporting. Mixing raw timer minutes with tenths-of-an-hour billing entries creates small differences that compound across months, especially when you compare an associate's pace with a strict annual target.
No. The billable average is the number of billable hours per period. Utilization compares billable hours with total available or worked hours. NALP's 2014 averages showed associates recorded 1,806 billable hours out of 2,081 total hours worked, which implies an 86.8% billable-to-worked-hours ratio.
Write-downs should not reduce the recorded billable-hour average unless your purpose is to measure realized hours instead of recorded work. Keep recorded billable hours, billed value, realization, and collection separate. That separation shows whether the associate is producing enough billable time, whether partners are reducing invoices, and whether clients are paying the billed work.
Everhour Reporting lets admins build reports with 45+ columns, filters, grouping, date ranges, and exports for associate time review. A firm can group approved billable time by member, project, client, task, or date range and schedule recurring email reports for weekly or monthly pace checks.
Track approved associate time by matter, group it by member or client, and schedule recurring reporting in Everhour so billable-hour pace stays visible before targets slip.
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