What counts as a billable hour?

Any time spent directly on a client's project -- research, meetings, revisions, writing, design, coding, or calls -- typically counts as billable. Whether administrative tasks like project management or internal coordination are billable depends on your contract terms.

How do I decide what hourly rate to charge?

Your hourly rate should cover your billable and non-billable time, business expenses, self-employment taxes, benefits, and desired profit. A common formula: divide your target annual income by your expected billable hours per year, then add a buffer for taxes and overhead.

Should I bill in six-minute increments or quarter hours?

Both are common -- attorneys traditionally bill in six-minute increments (tenths of an hour), while many freelancers use quarter-hour increments. The key is to choose one method and apply it consistently so clients can predict how time is calculated.

Can I bill for meetings and calls?

Yes, in most cases client meetings and calls are billable time since they require your direct attention and expertise. Specify in your contract that meetings and calls are billed at your standard hourly rate to avoid disputes.

What is a good billable hours target for a full-time freelancer?

Most full-time freelancers aim for 25 to 35 billable hours per week, acknowledging that marketing, administration, and other non-billable activities consume the rest of a standard 40-hour week. Tracking your actual billable percentage helps you price accordingly.

Invoicing & Billing

What is Billable Hours?

Billable hours explained in plain English. Learn how to calculate your hourly rate, track billable hours accurately, and maximize the percentage of your time that's actually paid.

Billable hours are the units of time that a freelancer or professional charges to a client for work performed. Every hour you spend directly on a client's project -- researching, writing, designing, coding, or meeting -- is potentially billable. The concept originated in law and consulting but is now standard across freelance professions. Billable hours give clients transparency into what they are paying for and give freelancers a structured way to price services. Tracking billable hours accurately is foundational to fair compensation and to building trust with clients. If you work 40 hours in a week but only 28 of those are billable to clients, understanding that split helps you evaluate your business model, price future projects, and identify where non-billable time is eating into your profitability.

Billable hours work by logging time spent on specific client tasks and multiplying that time by your agreed hourly rate. For example, if you charge $100 per hour and log 15 hours on a client's project in a given week, you invoice that client $1,500 for the week. Accurate time-tracking is the engine behind this model -- without it, you risk under-billing (losing revenue) or over-billing (damaging client trust). Most freelancers use time-tracking software or apps to log hours in real time, often down to the minute. At the end of a billing period, they export a time log and create an invoice with an itemized breakdown of tasks and hours. Retainer agreements often involve a set number of billable hours per month, with additional hours billed at an agreed rate.

For freelancers and small business owners, the billable hours model is one of the most common -- and most debated -- pricing structures. Its advantages include transparency, straightforward invoicing, and the ability to capture scope creep by billing for all legitimate work. Its drawbacks include incentivizing time rather than results, and the cap it places on income since there are only so many hours in a day. Many experienced freelancers eventually shift toward project-based pricing or value-based pricing, but billable hours remain essential for engagements with variable scope, ongoing retainers, or clients who want detailed accountability. Tracking your billable rate -- total client revenue divided by hours worked -- helps you evaluate whether your pricing is sustainable.

Billable hours are the time you charge to clients. Non-billable hours are time you spend on your business but cannot charge to any client -- marketing, invoicing, administrative tasks, professional development, and downtime between projects. Both types of hours affect your business health, but only billable hours generate direct revenue. A common rule of thumb is that freelancers bill only 60-70% of their total working hours, with the rest absorbed by non-billable activities. Knowing your non-billable ratio helps you set hourly rates high enough to cover all your time, not just the hours on client work. For example, if you work 40 hours per week but only 25 are billable, your effective rate on 25 hours must cover all 40 hours of your time plus business expenses.

To track and calculate billable hours effectively: First, choose a time-tracking method -- dedicated apps like Toggl, Harvest, or Clockify, or a simple spreadsheet. Second, start the timer when client work begins and stop it when you switch tasks -- do not reconstruct time from memory at the end of the day. Third, tag each time entry with the client name, project, and task description. Fourth, set a billing period -- weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly -- and review your time log before invoicing. Fifth, calculate the invoice total by multiplying each task's hours by the applicable rate. Sixth, present the time log as an itemized attachment to your invoice so clients can see exactly what they are paying for. Seventh, track your billable rate monthly to assess whether your pricing needs adjustment.

Eonebill makes it easy to convert your tracked hours into professional invoices. Log your time, import your hours, and generate a detailed invoice your clients can trust. Our [free invoice generator](/free-tools/invoice-generator) supports itemized billing so every hour is accounted for. With Eonebill, you can see which invoices are paid and which are outstanding at a glance. Visit [Eonebill pricing](/pricing) to find a plan that fits your freelance workflow.

1. Reconstructing time from memory at the end of the week -- this consistently leads to under-billing because humans forget short tasks. 2. Billing for all time without checking your contract -- some agreements specify what is and is not billable, such as excluding travel time or administrative overhead. 3. Not rounding time consistently -- decide in advance whether to round to the nearest quarter hour or tenth of an hour, and apply it consistently. 4. Forgetting to bill for revision rounds -- if your contract allows billing for revisions beyond a certain number, track and bill that time. 5. Mixing personal and work time in your tracker -- always start a new entry when switching between client work and personal tasks.

Learn more about related topics: [Time Tracking](/glossary/time-tracking), [Retainer Agreement](/glossary/retainer-agreement), [Net-30 Payment Terms](/glossary/net-30-payment-terms), [Invoiced](/glossary/invoiced).