Everhour reporting turns tracked time into utilization views, but the percentage still depends on the denominator you choose.
Measure billable utilization against total capacity and see exactly how many hours you're leaving on the table each period.
Working hours this period
Industry average for agencies: 75–85%
The calculator gives you the number — Everhour takes it from there.
One click and you're timing. Start a timer, add an entry, edit the details. This is exactly how it feels in Everhour.
Set a budget, assign rates, and get alerted before you're over.
Measurement
Track your budget through time or costs
Every report you need — configured your way, always up to date.
Tracked hours flow straight into a polished invoice — no copy-paste, no manual math.
Utilization percentage answers one practical question: out of the hours a person, team, or project had available, how many became billable work? The core ratio is billable hours divided by available hours, multiplied by 100. A consultant with 54 billable hours out of 80 gross capacity hours has 67.5% utilization against gross capacity.
The percentage becomes useful only when the denominator is named. Gross capacity, net working hours, and total logged hours all produce different figures. For U.S. teams, full-time capacity is employer-defined because the FLSA does not define full-time or part-time employment. Many firms still use 40 weekly hours as a gross capacity baseline because federal overtime rules require covered nonexempt employees to receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a fixed 168-hour workweek.
The standard formula is: utilization percentage = billable hours ÷ available hours × 100. Billable hours belong in the numerator. The denominator can be gross capacity, capacity net of PTO and holidays, or another firm-defined available-hours base. A 40-hour weekly baseline equals 2,080 annual gross hours before subtracting company PTO, holidays, unpaid leave, or other nonworking time.
Example: a designer logs 54 billable hours in a two-week period. The gross capacity denominator is 80 hours, so utilization is 54 ÷ 80 × 100 = 67.5%. If the designer took 8 hours of PTO and your firm uses net working hours, the denominator becomes 72 hours. The same 54 billable hours then produce 75% utilization.
A utilization percentage without a denominator label creates bad comparisons. One manager sees 67.5% and another sees 75% for the same person because one used gross capacity and the other removed PTO. Neither figure is wrong. Each answers a different operational question. Gross capacity shows staffing against a standard seat. Net working hours shows billable use of time the person was actually available to work.
Leave treatment also needs a written rule. The FLSA does not require payment for time not worked, including vacations, sick leave, or federal or other holidays, so paid annual leave is not a federal denominator entitlement for private employers. OPM lists 11 federal holidays in 2026 for federal employees, while private-sector paid holidays depend on employer policy unless another law or contract applies.
A one-off calculation is enough for a quick check, a monthly spreadsheet review, or a single project closeout. It works when billable hours are already clean, leave has been handled, and everyone agrees on the denominator. The result should travel with its definition, such as 75% utilization against net working hours.
A managed workflow becomes necessary when utilization drives staffing, pricing, bonuses, or capacity planning. Teams need consistent billable and non-billable labels, time-off treatment, approval status, and reporting by person, role, project, and period. Everhour Reporting supports this longer loop with customizable columns, grouping, filters, exports, scheduled email delivery, and dashboards that keep utilization visible over time.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
High Performer
G2
Summer 2026
Best Ease Of Use
Capterra
Summer 2026
Rated in the top time trackers across G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius — with consistent praise for ease of use, integrations, and support.
Divide billable hours by available hours, then multiply by 100. If a consultant has 54 billable hours and 80 gross capacity hours, the calculation is 54 ÷ 80 × 100 = 67.5%. If the denominator changes to 72 net working hours after PTO, the utilization percentage becomes 75%.
The label should state the available-hours base used in the calculation. Use phrases such as gross capacity, net working hours, or total logged hours. A percentage without that label is incomplete because the same billable hours produce different results under different denominator policies.
Yes, but that version measures billable share of logged work rather than billable use of capacity. A person with 54 billable hours and 60 total logged hours has 90% billable utilization by logged time. That does not mean the person used 90% of their capacity.
A 100% utilization target leaves no room for internal work, training, sales support, administration, PTO, holidays, or planning time. 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, role, service-line, or industry benchmark choice.
Leave changes utilization percentage when the firm uses a net-working-hours denominator. OECD defines annual hours actually worked as excluding time not worked because of public holidays, annual paid leave, illness, maternity or parental leave, and similar absences. Gross capacity keeps those hours in the denominator. Net working hours removes them.
Everhour Reporting turns logged time, budgets, costs, and project data into customizable reports with 45+ columns, grouping, filters, date ranges, and exports. Managers can separate billable time from other work, group results by project or member, and schedule recurring email reports for utilization review.
Everhour reports can use metadata filters and grouping to organize utilization inputs by project, client, member, or integration fields. That gives managers a consistent way to compare billable time across teams without rebuilding the report structure for every review period.
Turn one-off percentages into recurring utilization reports. Everhour connects tracked time, billable classifications, grouping, filters, exports, and scheduled delivery so teams can review utilization against targets.
14-day free trial · No credit card · Cancel anytime
