Free Billable Time & Utilization Tools
Three percentages decide what a legal year is worth
Utilization, realization and collection measure completely different failures and multiply together. These four tools measure each one separately, convert minutes into billing units, and work backwards from a revenue target to the rate it requires.
Time Increment Calculator
Convert worked minutes into billing increments under your firm’s rounding rule, and see what the rounding is worth.
Result
Billable units
3
Billed hours
0.3
- Value at your rate
- $105.00
- Minutes worked
- 13
- Minutes billed
- 18
- Rounding difference
- 5
- Value per unit
- $35.00
- Units per hour
- 10
This tool performs arithmetic on the values you enter. It does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Six-minute increments (tenths of an hour) are the most common billing unit, but the agreed increment belongs in the engagement letter.
Rounding every short task up adds real money across a year - and it is also the thing clients audit most closely. Use the rule your engagement letter states.
Read the full guide, worked examples and FAQ for this calculator →
Popular tools
The calculators visitors to LegalTimeTools open most often.
- Time & Utilization
Time Increment Calculator
Convert worked minutes into billing increments under your firm’s rounding rule, and see what the rounding is worth.
Open calculator → - Time & Utilization
Utilization Rate Calculator
Measure utilization, realization and collection separately, and multiply them to see the share of your capacity that reaches the bank.
Open calculator → - Time & Utilization
Billable Hours Target Calculator
Work out what an annual billable target means day by day, and what it is worth once realization and collection are applied.
Open calculator → - Time & Utilization
Effective Hourly Rate Calculator
Work backwards from a revenue target to the hourly rate it requires once write-downs and unpaid invoices are accounted for.
Open calculator →
A lawyer’s year is measured in hours and paid in cash, and the two are further apart than most firms track. Some of the day never becomes billable time at all. Some of the billable time is written down before an invoice. Some of the invoice is never paid.
Each of those is a different problem with a different fix, and reporting a single headline number hides which one you actually have. These tools separate them, because the largest gain almost always comes from the weakest of the three rather than from pushing the strongest one higher.
Browse by category
Time & Utilization
Billable hours, increments, utilization and realization.
Why use LegalTimeTools
Three rates, measured separately
Low utilization means too much unbillable work. Low realization means write-downs. Low collection means unpaid invoices. Different fixes entirely.
Increments and rounding made explicit
Six-minute units are a convention, not a rule. The calculator shows what your rounding rule is actually worth against the minutes worked.
Targets that reflect a real year
Fifty-two weeks is not available and a working day is not a billable day. Honest inputs produce a target that can actually be met.
Rate setting from arithmetic
Work backwards from a revenue target to the rate it requires, and see exactly what leakage adds to every hour you bill.
How it works
- Pull real figures from your practice management system rather than estimating them.
- Measure all three rates from the same period so the overall yield is meaningful.
- Identify the weakest of the three - that is where the largest gain is.
- Test whether a rate change or a collection improvement gets you further.
Frequently asked questions
Is this legal advice?
No. This website provides general informational and productivity tools and does not provide legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship.
What is the difference between utilization and realization?
Utilization is how much of the available working day becomes recorded billable time. Realization is how much of that recorded time survives to an invoice. They measure different problems.
Is rounding time up allowed?
Rounding conventions are normal and should be stated in the engagement letter alongside the rate. Undisclosed rounding rules are where fee disputes come from.
How many billable hours a day is realistic?
Considerably fewer than the hours worked. Administration, supervision, business development and matter switching all consume time no client pays for. Use what your time records actually show.
Do you store my firm’s figures?
No. Everything runs in your browser. No hours, rates or revenue figures are transmitted or saved anywhere.