Billable efficiency — billed hours over paid hours — shows how much of a tech’s day turns into revenue. Drive time, restocking, and gaps eat the difference.
The example
6 billed of 8 paid hours.
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Item | Value |
| 2 | 6 / 8 | — |
| 3 | Efficiency | → 75% |
The formula
The formula:
How it works
How it works:
- Billed hours = time charged to customers (flat-rate book hours or actual labor).
- Divide by paid hours (the full shift) for billable efficiency.
- The gap is drive, restock, admin, and idle — necessary but unbilled.
- Multiply unbilled hours by the labor rate for the daily revenue opportunity.
Billable efficiency is the lever behind labor profitability. Two techs paid the same earn very differently at 75% vs 60% billable — that’s an extra 1.2 billed hours a day, every day. The gap is mostly drive time and restocking, so tighter routing, stocked trucks, and dispatch discipline convert paid hours into billed ones. Track it per tech and the coaching targets itself.
Try it: interactive demo
Billed hours, paid hours, labor rate.
Variations
Unbilled hours
The gap:
Daily revenue lost
Gap × rate:
Revenue per tech-day
Billed × rate:
Pitfalls & errors
Billed vs worked. Use customer-billed hours, not just on-job time.
Necessary unbilled. Some drive/restock is unavoidable — aim to reduce, not zero.
Zero paid hours. No shift gives #DIV/0!.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate technician billable efficiency in Excel?
What's the revenue opportunity in the gap?
What causes low billable efficiency?
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