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Like all creatures on Earth, you have 365 days in a calendar year (except a leap year). These 365 days yield 260 weekdays and 52 weekends. In the United States we have zero days paid leave required by law. Here’s a list of what other countries require as mandatory days paid off for employees. A typical workday in the United States is 9:00am to 5:0pm, giving you eight hours to “work.”
If you do the math, 260 days x 8 hours per day = 2080 billable hours in a year.
But the reality is you’re probably not billing a full 8 hours per day. We surveyed 100 companies and found that most service-based companies that bill hourly require employees to bill at least 31 hours per week.
52 weeks x 31 hours = 1612 required billable hours by most companies in one year.
But the reality is you’re probably not working on many holidays. You probably take off two weeks per year for vacation and you probably lose another week’s time with Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Christmas, etc.
49 weeks x 31 hours = 1519 hours you’re probably required to bill clients in a year.
As someone who bills hours to clients your job is to make money for the company you work for. Do some simple math and figure out if you’re making enough revenue to cover your salary.
1519 x (the hourly rate you bill at) = Is this less or more money than you cost your employer?