Electrical
Electrician Utilization Calculator
Check how much of an electrician team's paid capacity is committed to billable work before changing staffing.
Result
Not all unbilled time is waste. Travel, restocking, training and warranty calls are necessary and will never be zero. The useful question is whether the share is drifting, not whether it reaches 100%.
Get a Free Business AuditWhat moves the number
- Use paid hours that include the nonbillable commitments being assessed.
- Billed-hour records should use the same definition across technicians.
- Working days and headcount determine the monthly capacity represented.
Where this one goes wrong
A team can be fully occupied but poorly utilized when travel, waiting and administration consume the day. Equally, spare capacity may be deliberate cover for emergencies. Interpret the ratio against the service promise rather than chasing an arbitrary maximum.
Questions
About this calculator
How is this different from measuring output?
It measures the share of paid time reaching billing. It does not count circuits installed, faults resolved or first-visit completion.
Can low utilization justify cutting a position?
Not alone. Review booking variability, skills coverage and the lead time customers expect before assuming the average idle hours are removable.
What is a useful staffing comparison?
Run the existing roster and a proposed roster against credible billed hours. Do not assume a smaller team can carry every peak simply because the monthly average fits.
The formula
utilisation = billed hours / paid hours
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How to use this calculator
- Paid hours per day. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 8.
- Hours that reach an invoice. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 5.2.
- Number of technicians. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 3.
- Rate charged per hour ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $130.
- Cost per paid hour ($). Wage plus burden.
- Working days per month. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 22.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to billable share of the day, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Paid hours per day | 8 |
| Hours that reach an invoice | 5.2 |
| Number of technicians | 3 |
| Rate charged per hour | $130 |
| Cost per paid hour | $34 |
| Working days per month | 22 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Billable share of the day main result | 65.0% |
| Unbilled hours per month | 185 |
| Revenue those hours would have carried | $24,024 |
| What the unbilled hours cost in wages | $6,283 |
65.0% of the paid day reaches an invoice. The rest is 185 hours a month, costing $6,283 in wages and carrying $24,024 of revenue that never happened.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only rate charged per hour, this is what happens to billable share of the day. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Rate charged per hour ($) | Billable share of the day |
|---|---|
| $65 | 65.0% |
| $98 | 65.0% |
| $130 example above | 65.0% |
| $195 | 65.0% |
| $260 | 65.0% |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Paid hours per day
- A number, between 0 and 24, starting at 8.
- Hours that reach an invoice
- A number, between 0 and 24, starting at 5.2.
- Number of technicians
- A number, between 0 and 500, starting at 3.
- Rate charged per hour ($)
- A money amount, starting at $130.
- Cost per paid hour ($)
- Wage plus burden.
- Working days per month
- A number, between 0 and 31, starting at 22.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Billable share of the day | The headline result. A percentage. |
| Unbilled hours per month | A number. |
| Revenue those hours would have carried | A money figure. |
| What the unbilled hours cost in wages | A money figure. |
Before you rely on this number
Conductor sizing, voltage drop and load figures are governed by code, and the code takes precedence over any calculator. Ambient temperature, conduit fill, continuous load factors and the specific installation all change the answer. Treat this as a first pass, not a design.
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.