Accountants Billable Hours (Monthly) Calculator
Estimate monthly billable hours, fee revenue and the utilization needed to meet your accounting practice revenue target.
Overview
This monthly billable hours calculator helps accountants, bookkeepers and practice owners estimate available client time, likely fee revenue and the utilization required to achieve a monthly target. Enter your working days, daily hours, expected billable percentage and average hourly rate.
How it works
The calculator first multiplies working days by daily hours to find total monthly capacity. It then applies your expected billable utilization percentage to estimate client-chargeable hours. Estimated revenue equals billable hours multiplied by your average hourly rate. For the target calculation, the calculator divides the target revenue by the hourly rate and compares the required hours with total available capacity.
How to use this calculator
- 1Enter the number of days you expect to work this month.
- 2Add your average working hours per day.
- 3Set the percentage of time you expect to charge to clients.
- 4Enter your average realised hourly billing rate.
- 5Add a monthly fee revenue target and review the required hours and utilization.
Example Calculation
Working days per month
20
Working hours per day
7.5
Expected billable utilization
70%
Average billable hourly rate
$150
Monthly revenue target
$15,000
Estimated monthly billable hours
105.0 hours
With 150 available working hours and 70% utilization, the estimate is 105 billable hours and 15,750 in monthly fee revenue. A 15,000 target requires 100 billable hours, or about 66.7% utilization.
Frequently asked questions
What are billable hours for an accountant?
Billable hours are time entries that can be charged to a client, such as accounts preparation, tax work, advisory services, bookkeeping or audit work.
What is a good billable utilization rate for accountants?
The appropriate rate depends on the role, service mix and firm processes. Client-facing staff usually need more billable time than partners or people with significant management and business-development duties.
How do I calculate monthly billable hours?
Multiply working days by hours per day, then multiply the result by your expected billable utilization percentage.
Why is my estimated revenue below my target?
The estimate may be below target because available capacity, expected billable utilization or the average hourly rate is too low for the revenue goal.
Should I use my standard rate or average realised rate?
Use the average rate you expect to realise after considering different services, discounted work, fixed-fee assignments and expected write-offs.
Does this calculator work for fixed-fee accounting services?
Yes, if you convert expected fixed-fee revenue into an effective hourly rate. Track actual time and realised fees to keep that average current.
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Assumptions and warnings
Assumptions
- Billable utilization represents the proportion of total working hours that can be charged to clients.
- The hourly rate is an average realised rate across all billable work completed during the month.
- The estimate excludes write-offs, bad debts, discounts, taxes, fixed-fee scope changes and unrecorded time.
- Working days and daily hours are assumed to be consistent throughout the month.
- Results are planning estimates rather than a forecast of actual practice revenue.
Warnings
- This calculator provides an estimate only and is not financial or business advice.
- Actual billable time and fee income can vary due to client demand, deadlines, recovery rates and changes in work scope.