Billed Hours

What are billed hours?

Billed hours are the time entries actually invoiced to clients. Not all time worked becomes billed hours. Some time is written off, discounted, or deemed non-billable. Billed hours represent the portion of your work that generates revenue. Tracking billed hours helps you understand productivity, profitability, and how much of your effort translates into income.

Billed hours vs worked hours

Worked hours include all time spent on client matters. Billed hours are what appears on invoices after write-downs and adjustments. The difference reflects realization losses. High variance between worked and billed hours indicates pricing problems, scope issues, or efficiency concerns. Analyze the gap to understand where revenue leaks from your practice.

Using billed hours for planning

Billed hours drive revenue projections. Multiply expected billed hours by average rates to forecast income. Compare actual billed hours to targets to assess performance. Track billed hours by client, matter type, and timekeeper to identify patterns. This data informs staffing decisions, rate negotiations, and practice development priorities. Billed hours are a key operational metric for any hourly practice.