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Accountants Utilisation Rate (Monthly) Calculator

Calculate an accountant's monthly billable utilisation rate from working days, daily hours, leave and recorded billable time.

Your Details

Overview

This monthly accountants utilisation rate calculator estimates the proportion of available work time spent on billable client activity. Enter scheduled days, standard daily hours, absences and billable hours to review utilisation and compare it with a monthly target.

How it works

The calculator first multiplies working days by daily hours to find scheduled hours. It subtracts absence hours to estimate available working time. Monthly utilisation is then billable hours divided by available hours, expressed as a percentage. It also calculates the billable hours needed for the target and the difference from that target.

How to use this calculator

  1. 1Enter the number of scheduled working days in the month.
  2. 2Add the usual working hours per day.
  3. 3Record absence hours to remove leave, sickness or other unavailable time.
  4. 4Enter the billable hours recorded for client work.
  5. 5Set your target utilisation rate and review the results.

Example Calculation

Working days in month

21

Working hours per day

7.5

Absence hours

7.5

Billable hours recorded

110

Target utilisation rate

75%

Monthly utilisation rate

73.3%

Scheduled time is 157.5 hours and available time is 150 hours after one day of absence. With 110 billable hours, utilisation is 73.3%, which is 2.5 hours below a 75% target of 112.5 billable hours.

Frequently asked questions

What is an accountant utilisation rate?

It is the percentage of an accountant's available working hours that are spent on billable client work during a period.

How is monthly utilisation calculated?

Divide billable hours by available working hours after absences, then multiply by 100. For example, 110 billable hours out of 150 available hours equals 73.3%.

Should annual leave be included in available hours?

Usually no. Enter leave and other absences as absence hours so they are removed from the available-hours figure.

What counts as a billable hour?

This depends on your firm's policy, but it commonly includes time spent on client assignments that can be charged or treated as chargeable.

Why might utilisation be above 100%?

A result above 100% can occur if overtime is recorded as billable but is not included in scheduled hours, or if the source time data uses different definitions.

What is a good utilisation target for accountants?

Targets vary by role, service line, seniority and business model. Use the target set by your firm and consider capacity, training and internal responsibilities when reviewing it.

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Assumptions and warnings

Assumptions

  • Utilisation is calculated as billable hours divided by available working hours after absences.
  • Billable hours are assumed to be recorded consistently using the same time-recording rules throughout the month.
  • The calculation does not distinguish between chargeable, written-off, recovered or invoiced time.
  • The target rate is a planning benchmark and may vary by role, seniority, workload and firm policy.

Warnings

  • This calculator provides an operational estimate only; review your firm's time-recording and billing policies when interpreting results.
  • Billable time can exceed available hours where overtime or data-entry differences are included, which may produce a rate above 100%.
Accountants Utilisation Rate Monthly Calculator