Billable hours
Hours worked that can be charged to a client, as opposed to internal or non-billable time. Tracked to protect margin and inform pricing.
For example, a developer's eight-hour day might include six hours building a client feature (billable) and two hours on a team standup and internal tooling (non-billable). Only those six hours appear on the client's invoice or count against their retainer.
Why it matters to your firm: billable hours are the raw material your agency sells. Tracking them accurately protects your margin, exposes work that is quietly being given away, and gives you the real data you need to quote future projects and set rates.
For delivery roles, keeping ~70-85% of available hours billable is a healthy target - enough margin without burning the team out.
- Chasing 100% utilisation and burning people out.
- Counting hours worked as hours billed.
- Not tracking, so you cannot see the leak.