Billable hours calculator
Start, end and break for each day. Pick the rounding you agreed with the client. Get the hours in h:mm and decimal, and the amount to invoice.
Last updated 15 October 2026
Leave a day empty if you did not work. Untick "Bill" for admin, proposals or your own projects; the hours still count for utilization.
How billable hours are worked out
Each day is end time minus start time, minus the break. The result is rounded to the increment you picked, either to the nearest block or always up, and summed. Billable days are multiplied by your rate. Days you untick still count as hours worked, which is what the utilization figure uses: billable hours divided by all hours.
Rounding is done per day here, which is how most timesheets are read. If you log several entries a day and your contract says to round each entry, the week comes out higher. Put the rule in the contract either way; it is the second most common cause of an invoice dispute after scope.
Decimal hours, and why lawyers use six minutes
Invoices use decimal hours because the maths is clean: 7:45 is 7.75 hours, and 7.75 × 80 is 620. Six-minute increments exist because six minutes is a tenth of an hour, so every entry is a one-decimal number. Fifteen-minute increments give quarters (0.25, 0.5, 0.75) and are the usual agency and consulting convention. Thirty-minute blocks are rare and mostly for on-site work.
| Minutes | Decimal | Minutes | Decimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 0.10 | 36 | 0.60 |
| 12 | 0.20 | 42 | 0.70 |
| 15 | 0.25 | 45 | 0.75 |
| 20 | 0.33 | 48 | 0.80 |
| 30 | 0.50 | 54 | 0.90 |
What to bill and what to eat
- Bill: the work itself, client calls and meetings, revisions inside the agreed scope, research the project needs, project management the client asked for.
- Do not bill: proposals and quotes, your own invoicing and bookkeeping, learning a tool for your own benefit, marketing, the commute. These are the cost of running the business, and the hourly rate is supposed to cover them.
- Grey area, decide in advance: travel to the client, long email threads, "quick questions". Most freelancers bill travel at half rate and emails over ten minutes at full rate, and say so in the scope of work.
Reading the utilization number
Billable hours as a share of hours worked. For a solo freelancer with three to twenty clients, 60 to 75 percent is healthy. Above 85 means no time for sales and a dry month in two. Below 50 means too much admin or too little work, and you should know which, because the fixes are opposite. A week is noisy; the number matters over a month.
Questions people ask
How do I calculate billable hours?
For each day, take the end time minus the start time, subtract breaks, and keep only the time spent on client work. Add the days up, round to the increment you agreed with the client (none, 6 or 15 minutes), convert to decimal hours, and multiply by your rate. Seven hours and 45 minutes is 7.75 hours, so at $80 an hour that is $620.
How do I convert hours and minutes to decimal?
Divide the minutes by 60 and add them to the hours. 7:45 is 7 + 45/60 = 7.75. 3:20 is 3.33. 0:06 is 0.1, which is why lawyers bill in six-minute units: each unit is exactly a tenth of an hour.
What are 6-minute and 15-minute billing increments?
A billing increment is the smallest block of time you charge for. In 6-minute increments (tenths of an hour, the legal standard) a 4-minute email becomes 0.1 hours. In 15-minute increments (quarter hours, common for agencies and consultants) a 20-minute call becomes 0.5 hours when rounded up, 0.25 when rounded to the nearest quarter. Put the increment and the direction in your contract; rounding every entry up without saying so is the fastest way to lose a client over an invoice.
Should I round up or to the nearest increment?
Nearest is the fair default and what most clients expect. Rounding up is standard in legal billing and acceptable when it is written in the agreement. Over a week of 30 entries, rounding up to 15 minutes adds about 3 to 4 hours compared with nearest, so the choice matters more than it looks.
What counts as billable versus non-billable time?
Billable is work the client asked for: the deliverable, meetings with them, revisions inside the agreed scope, research the project needs. Non-billable is running your business: proposals, invoicing, bookkeeping, your own marketing, learning a tool, and the admin around the work. Most solo freelancers bill 50 to 70 percent of their working hours; the rest is the business.
What is a good utilization rate for a freelancer?
Utilization is billable hours divided by hours worked. 60 to 75 percent is healthy for a solo freelancer with several clients. Above 85 percent usually means no time for sales, so a dry month follows. Below 50 percent means either too much admin or not enough work, and the fix is different for each.
Is this timesheet saved anywhere?
No. Everything runs in your browser and is gone when you close the tab. Copy the timesheet text or print the page before you leave. If you want the hours to add up across weeks and turn into an invoice on their own, that is what a time tracker is for.
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One-click timer per client, rounding rules set once, the week adds up on its own, and the hours become the invoice. Built with 100+ freelancers.