Billable Hours Calculator
See how many hours you can actually invoice this year.
Estimate how many hours per year you can actually invoice. Most freelancers overestimate annual billable capacity by 30 to 50 percent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is annual billable hours so much less than 40 times 52?
Because nobody invoices every working hour. Pitching, scoping, internal meetings, admin, learning, and downtime between projects all eat into the year. Even a disciplined operator usually lands between 60 and 75 percent billable across a full year.
What utilization rate is normal for solo freelancers versus agencies?
Solo freelancers typically realize 55 to 70 percent because they wear every hat. Healthy agencies push delivery staff to 70 to 80 percent by moving sales and admin to dedicated roles. Below 50 percent usually points to a sales pipeline problem, not a delivery problem.
Does PTO and vacation count as non-billable?
No. PTO sits outside this model. Drop your planned working weeks below 52 to account for vacation, holidays, and sick time. Whatever weeks you actually expect to work feed the calculation; everything else is unpaid time off.
Should I track non-billable hours too?
Yes. The non-billable bucket is where margin quietly disappears. Tracking it makes the leaks visible and forces an honest conversation about which internal activities still earn their keep.
How does this differ from a timesheet calculator?
A timesheet calculator adds up actual logged hours over a day or week. This calculator forecasts annual billable capacity from your planned schedule and utilization target. Use both in parallel: forecast with this, reconcile with your timesheet.