Everhour keeps capacity planning visible while you use a simple billable-hours formula for quick utilization checks.
Measure billable utilization against total capacity and see exactly how many hours you're leaving on the table each period.
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Industry average for agencies: 75–85%
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Utilization rate answers one practical question: how much of available working time became billable work? For a services team, the usual formula is billable hours divided by available hours. The result shows whether a person, role, project, or team has enough client-facing work against the capacity assigned to that period.
The easy version still needs one clear denominator. U.S. federal law does not define full-time employment, so full-time capacity is an employer policy input. Many U.S. firms start with 40 hours per week because federal overtime rules require covered nonexempt employees to receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a fixed 168-hour workweek.
A fast utilization check works best when you use the smallest clean set of inputs: billable hours for the period, available hours for the same period, and any time off already approved. A one-person weekly check can use 40 gross hours. A monthly check can use scheduled working hours less PTO, holidays, unpaid leave, and other absences under your firm policy.
The common mistake is mixing denominator types. Gross capacity uses scheduled capacity before leave, while net available hours subtract time not worked. OECD treats annual hours actually worked as excluding public holidays, annual paid leave, illness, maternity or parental leave, and similar absences. Name the denominator on every figure so a 70% gross rate does not get compared with an 80% net rate.
Use this formula: utilization rate = billable hours / available hours * 100. If a consultant has 160 scheduled hours in a month and takes 16 hours of PTO, the net available denominator is 144 hours. If that consultant records 108 billable hours, utilization is 108 / 144 * 100, or 75%.
The same person has a different rate under a gross-capacity denominator. Using 160 scheduled hours instead of 144 net available hours, 108 billable hours produces 67.50% utilization. Both calculations are mathematically correct. The usable answer depends on whether your firm wants a gross capacity view or a working-hours view that removes approved absence.
A one-off calculator is enough when you need a fast check for one person, one week, or one project period. It also works for quick planning conversations, such as deciding whether a team member is lightly loaded or already near the target set by your firm, role, service line, or industry benchmark.
A managed workflow becomes necessary when utilization affects staffing, billing, or performance reviews. You need continuous time capture, billable and non-billable classification, scheduled time off, and reporting against targets over time. Everhour Resource Planning adds visual timelines, member and project views, weekly capacity, availability gaps, scheduled time off, and planned-vs-actual comparisons.
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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Use billable hours divided by available hours, then multiply by 100. For a quick check, use one period and one denominator policy. A weekly employee example is 30 billable hours divided by 40 available hours, which equals 75%. Label the denominator as gross capacity or net available hours before sharing the result.
Enter billable hours first because that is the numerator and usually comes from timesheets or project records. Then enter available hours for the same date range. For U.S. teams, available hours come from employer-defined capacity because the FLSA does not define full-time or part-time employment.
Remove PTO and holidays when the goal is net available utilization. Leave them in when the goal is gross capacity utilization. The FLSA does not require payment for time not worked, including vacations, sick leave, or federal or other holidays, so private-sector paid leave belongs to employer policy unless another law or contract applies.
Yes. U.S. federal sources define work-hour and leave rules but do not set a professional-services utilization target. The target utilization rate is a firm or industry benchmark choice. Set targets by role and service line, because a delivery consultant, manager, and business development lead usually carry different billable expectations.
The report probably uses a different denominator, date range, or billable classification. A calculator result based on 40 weekly hours will differ from a report that subtracts PTO, holidays, unpaid leave, or approved absences. Reconcile the source by comparing billable-hour filters and the exact available-hours policy.
Everhour Resource Planning shows capacity and workload on visual timelines with member and project views. Managers can set weekly capacity, see availability gaps, include scheduled time off, and compare planned capacity with actual tracked time before utilization becomes a staffing problem.
Everhour Reporting uses logged time, budgets, costs, and project data to build customizable reports with columns, grouping, filters, and date ranges. Teams can compare billable and non-billable time by person, project, or client, then export reports in CSV, Excel/XLSX, or PDF.
Use a calculator for the quick answer, then plan capacity in Everhour with visual timelines, scheduled time off, weekly availability, and planned-vs-actual comparisons.
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