Managing the Billable Hour

It's a new month.

That means: time to take control of the billable hour.

If you (a) have to bill your time and (b) have an annual billing requirement, you do not have to be at the whims of the billable hour.

You can manage it.

How?

Spend some time planning your month.

❓ How many months left in your billing/associate year?

❓ How many hours left to bill this year (either under your required total or your personal goal)?

👉 Divide the goal by the number of months left in your billing cycle.

✔ This is your billing goal for May.

❓ How many days in May will you bill a full day?

❓ How many days in May will you bill a half day?

❓ Are there any days you'll be out of office and won't bill anything?

👉 Divide your monthly goal by the number of days you'll bill in May.

✔ This is your daily billing goal for May (if you have half days, divide that number by 2).

👉 You can use the daily goal to chart out the weekly totals for each week.

👉 At the end of each day, you can adjust the next day's (or few days') goals accordingly (adding to them if you billed less than the goal, subtracting time if you're ahead).

👉 At the end of each week, you can do the same for the next week.

👉 At the end of the month, repeat for the upcoming month.

Implementing this system has been a major component of improving my attitude towards and mental health around the billable hour.

Knowing where I stand gives me power.

It helps me feel a sense of control over my destiny.

But, I also know:

If you're a first year or experiencing a slow period, you might ask:

What if I don't have work to fill those goals?

Find non-billable or billable-equivalent things to work on:

💡 Are there any pro bono cases you can assist with?

💡 Are there any treatises you can help edit?

💡 Are there any articles you can help write?

💡 What about working on your personal and professional brand?

💡 How about reaching out to folks in your network to keep relationships growing?

💡 Are there any topics related to your practice that you can deepen your knowledge of (through research or CLEs)?

And, of course, I'd me remiss if I left out:

❤ What about taking a break?

❤ Any errands you need to run?

❤ Family things that need attention?

There will be slow times, but more often than not, the work will return.

Learn to take advantage of the slow times, without guilt, to build a career and a life that sustains you during the more intense periods.

Check in with yourself and your billable goals/requirements as often as makes sense for you.

Build a habit around the billable hour that puts you in the driver's seat.

Spending that time now will save you time (and sanity) later.


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