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How much of my team's paid time is actually productive?

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Numbers to enter
Use the same team, period and definition of productive work for both hour totals. Productive hours cannot exceed paid hours.

Define productive work consistently for your business and the period measured.

Your own target only; MarginKoala does not apply a universal utilisation benchmark.

Koala's Calculated Result
Productive hours divided by paid hours for the matched period.

Enter the numbers you know

The detailed explanation will appear here once the calculator has a result.

Add total paid hours and productive hours for the same team and period.

Koala's Professional Opinion

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Definition and method

What this calculator answers

Divide productive hours by paid hours for the same period. The calculator does not assign a universal good utilisation rate.

Utilisation

Utilisation = productive hours ÷ paid hours for the same reporting period and definition. Productive hours cannot exceed paid hours under this matched-time definition.

Worked example: your figures

The interactive result above is the worked example. Change any input and the same deterministic engine recomputes the answer; this page does not insert a generic example business or silently treat example values as a benchmark.

  • No market benchmark or outcome is silently inserted by this page.

What should I check next?

Frequently asked questions

What is staff utilisation?

Utilisation = billable hours ÷ paid hours. The "% of paid time that bills out" — the headline metric for a service business or any team that tracks per-hour economics. Higher is better but bounded by training, admin and PTO drag.

Staff Utilisation

What's a healthy target utilisation?

There is no universal numeric benchmark for this decision. The right comparison depends on the industry, geography, business model, time period and exact metric definition. Use the business’s own history, economics and explicit target unless a verified benchmark matching that scope is available.

Staff Utilisation

How do I close the gap to target utilisation?

Pick the smallest source of slack to close first — improved pipeline, faster onboarding, fewer meetings, smaller admin overhead. Re-time the metric each month; aim for a 5 pp uplift over a quarter vs. an instant jump to the target.

Staff Utilisation

Should I include PTO in the gap analysis?

Yes — pull out 4–6 weeks/yr of PTO from the billable baseline, then re-derive target. The gap from target is then a true billable-hours gap, not an artefact of unfair comparisons across the calendar.

Staff Utilisation

Educational use, not financial advice. Numbers are estimates for planning; consult a qualified professional before acting on them.