Billable Hour Target Calculator

Calculate the billable hour target for your project.
hours
days
days
%

Required weekly hours
47.5
Available working days
234 days
Daily hours needed
9.5 hours/day
Total days off
26 days
Hours worked per week
Effective billable hours
42.7
Effective non-billable hours
4.7
Total weekly hours worked
47.5

A calculator for legal professionals

For lawyers and other professionals who bill by the hour, meeting annual targets requires careful planning. The billable hours calculator helps answer a critical question: "If I take X days of vacation and observe Y holidays, how many hours do I need to bill each workday to meet my annual requirement?"

Why this calculator matters

Law firms typically set annual billable hour targets for associates and partners. These targets often range from 1,800 to 2,400 hours per year, depending on the firm size, practice area, and seniority level. However, these numbers can be misleading without accounting for:

  • Federal and firm holidays
  • Vacation days
  • Non-billable work (administrative tasks, business development, training)
  • Productivity fluctuations

Planning your daily and weekly billable requirements with these factors in mind helps create realistic work schedules and reduces end-of-year scrambling to meet targets.

How the calculator works

The billable hours calculator uses a straightforward formula to determine your required daily and weekly hours:

  1. Calculate available working days: (52 weeks × 5 days) - (holidays + vacation days)
  2. Determine available working weeks: Available working days ÷ 5
  3. Calculate required weekly billable hours: Yearly target ÷ Available working weeks
  4. Adjust for productivity rate: Required weekly hours ÷ Productivity rate
  5. Calculate daily hours needed: Adjusted weekly hours ÷ 5

The productivity rate is especially important as it accounts for the reality that not every hour worked is billable. For example, if your productivity rate is 90%, you'll need to work approximately 1.11 hours to bill 1 hour.

Key inputs and considerations

The calculator allows you to adjust four main variables:

  • Yearly billable hour target: Your firm's annual requirement (typically 1,800-2,400 hours)
  • Holidays: Standard federal holidays (typically 11 in the US) plus any firm-specific holidays
  • Vacation days: Your planned personal time off
  • Productivity rate: The percentage of your working time that translates to billable hours

Interpreting the results

The calculator provides several valuable outputs:

  • Required weekly hours: The total time you need to work each week
  • Available working days: Your total workdays after subtracting holidays and vacation
  • Daily hours needed: How many hours you need to work each day
  • Total days off: Combined holidays and vacation days
  • Effective billable vs. non-billable hours: How your time breaks down weekly

Practical applications

Beyond the raw numbers, this calculator can help you:

  1. Plan vacations strategically: Understand the impact of additional time off on your daily requirements
  2. Improve work-life balance: Set realistic daily targets rather than facing unpredictable crunches
  3. Track progress: Compare your actual billable hours against the calculated targets
  4. Budget non-billable time: Allocate appropriate time for administrative tasks and professional development

Conclusion

Meeting billable hour requirements doesn't have to mean unpredictable workdays or weekend sacrifices. With proper planning using this calculator, legal professionals can distribute their workload evenly throughout the year, accounting for holidays, vacation, and productivity fluctuations.

By understanding exactly how many hours you need to bill each day, you can establish sustainable work habits that satisfy firm requirements while preserving your well-being and personal time.