German professional billing often mixes hourly agreements, RVG rules, and VAT; Everhour keeps approved billable work organized.
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A billable-hours calculation answers three practical questions: how many approved hours should be charged, which rate applies to each hour, and what pre-tax invoice value results. In Germany, those inputs are normally denominated in euros. For attorney work, the answer also depends on whether the matter is billed under the Lawyers' Remuneration Act (RVG) or under a separate remuneration agreement.
This matters because German attorney billing is not automatically an hourly calculation. For civil matters under the RVG, statutory fees are generally based on matter value and legal activity, using the statutory fee table rather than hours worked. Hourly billing belongs in a fee agreement or another client-approved arrangement, so the calculation should match the signed commercial basis.
For hourly work, multiply each approved billable category by its agreed rate, then add the results. Non-billable administration, internal review, training, and write-downs stay outside the invoice total, but they still matter for profitability. If VAT applies, calculate VAT after the pre-tax billable amount, not on the combined total of billable and non-billable time.
Example: a German client project includes 20 approved advisory hours at €130 per hour and 8 approved documentation hours at €90 per hour. Four internal coordination hours are tracked but marked non-billable. The pre-tax invoice value is €3,320. At Germany's 19% standard VAT rate, VAT is €630.80, and the invoice total is €3,950.80 where VAT applies. Spread across all 32 hours worked, the effective yield is €103.75 per total hour.
The common mistake is treating every German professional invoice as a simple hours-times-rate document. For lawyers, a German attorney remuneration agreement must be in text form, clearly identified, separated from other agreements except the engagement itself, and not included in the power of attorney. For court representation, agreed attorney fees generally cannot be lower than the statutory RVG amount.
VAT status is another decision point. German VAT law sets the standard rate at 19% for taxable supplies, and attorney fees are stated as amounts plus VAT where applicable. A Germany-based small entrepreneur's taxable domestic supplies are VAT-exempt only if total turnover did not exceed €25,000 in the previous calendar year and does not exceed €100,000 in the current calendar year. That exemption is an eligibility rule, not a rate.
A one-off calculation is enough when you have a small hourly engagement, a signed rate, approved billable entries, and a clear VAT position. It gives you the pre-tax labor value, the VAT amount where applicable, the gross invoice total, and the effective yield after non-billable time. That is enough for a draft invoice or a quick client estimate.
A managed workflow is better when several people record time, some tasks are non-billable, different rates apply, or the invoice must tie back to approvals. Everhour supports billable and non-billable time through project billing status, task-level non-billable controls, custom task rates, member-rate exceptions, and admin reports for billable time, non-billable time, billable amount, and cost.
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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For hourly work, multiply approved billable hours by the agreed hourly rate, then add each rate category together. In Germany, invoices are normally calculated in euros. For attorney work, confirm whether the matter uses an hourly remuneration agreement or statutory RVG fees, because RVG civil fees generally depend on matter value and activity rather than hours worked.
German VAT law sets the standard rate at 19% for taxable supplies, and attorney fees are stated as amounts plus VAT where applicable. A qualifying Germany-based small entrepreneur is VAT-exempt only if taxable domestic supplies stayed within the €25,000 prior-year and €100,000 current-year turnover limits. Confirm VAT status before adding VAT to the invoice.
No. German lawyer remuneration is calculated either under the Lawyers' Remuneration Act (RVG) or under an agreed remuneration arrangement between lawyer and client. For civil matters under the RVG, the statutory fee is generally based on matter value and legal activity. Hourly billing requires a proper remuneration agreement when it replaces the statutory basis.
Exclude time that the client did not approve, internal administration, duplicated entries, training, and written-off time. Track those hours separately instead of deleting them, because they explain the difference between invoice value and actual effort. For attorney invoices, the text-form calculation must state individual fees and expenses, advances, fee descriptions, applicable RVG schedule numbers, and matter value where value-based fees apply.
A debtor on a payment claim is in default at the latest if payment is not made within 30 days after due date and receipt of an invoice or equivalent payment statement. For consumer debtors, the invoice must specifically warn of this consequence. That rule affects follow-up timing, not the billable-hours arithmetic itself.
Everhour lets admins set project billing status, mark specific tasks non-billable, apply custom task rates, and use member-rate exceptions. Admin reports can show billable time, non-billable time, billable amount, and cost, so invoice review does not require rebuilding the billing split in a spreadsheet.
Everhour Billing & Invoicing turns tracked billable time and expenses into invoices, calculates amounts from rates while excluding non-billable work, and supports client defaults for taxes, discounts, and payment terms. Invoices can be exported to QuickBooks Online, Xero, or FreshBooks as drafts for accounting review.
Track approved work, mark non-billable tasks before invoicing, and keep rate-based billing reports in Everhour so German client billing stays tied to the original time records.
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