Utilization / Billability rate?
Utilization / Billability rate?
(OP)
The ratio of billable hours to worked hours required by your company?
Also include your title and industry.
Me:
81%, Civil Engineer Project Manager, Consulting Engineering Company
Also include your title and industry.
Me:
81%, Civil Engineer Project Manager, Consulting Engineering Company





RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
Peter Stockhausen
Senior Design Analyst (Checker)
Infotech Aerospace Services
www.infotechpr.net
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
That is why we don't have updated specifications, standards, procedures, or properly trained and mentored junior / intermediate engineers.
It's good for business, though - at least, so I have been told. We may be incompetent, but at least we're profitable.
Regards,
SNORGY.
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
Our utilization is defined as billable hours divided by 40, so I'm expected to have 34 or more billable hours per week, on average. Vacations and holidays count as non-billable.
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
- Steve
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
David
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
There is no required figure that I know of. Although, even though last I heard they don't track it we do fill in a time card against projects.
However, unless theres some kinds of all hands meetings or office move or similar all my time gets booked to a project number of some kind.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
I've argued my case for actually tracking hours. It's even more absurd since we typically look up billed hours for previous similar projects when creating an estimate. So marking down 80% of the hours means next similar project you will still only have 80% of what's actually needed. However, it's been done this way for so long that our rates reflect it to some degree in increased overhead. So to change it now would require reducing rates and increasing estimated hours. You could still make them balance, but reducing rates is frowned upon by management and accountants. So we work with it, and just try to be consistant.
-- MechEng2005
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
Folks are still partying like it's 2006 - or at least trying to.
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
True, except for the part about lack of credentials or remarkable experience / skill sets meaning you will soon be out of business. This market is more like:
"As long as you manage to stay billable, you will always be in business, even if you are a complete idiot."
In other words, what's good for business isn't always good for engineering, and what's bad for engineering isn't always bad for business.
I suppose at some point it will catch up to you...until then, those who mange the "business" are too preoccupied with the "cost" of engineering.
Regards,
SNORGY.
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
Even our group leader (lots of administrative work) has an 80% goal.
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
It is "expected" that we work at 100%, but when we work on large proposals, hours put towards other projects will slip, whether the boss likes it or not.
Mechanical Engineer, Robotics
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
When I was in a corporate environment, 75 to 80 percent utilization was required of all engineers except department managers and Chief Engineers (50 to 60% for those). Corporate level in-house consultants (my last job there) were expected to be in the 65 to 80 percent range. I understand all have gone up since I left.
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
Mechanical Engineer, Consulting Engineering
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
There-in lies the rub. The whole group of which I speak is less than 30% billable. And - surprise surprise, no new contracts coming in.
Oddly enough - there is increasing work out there, it's just going to the competition. go figure?
you think personnel has anything to do with it?
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
So, in a sense, it's a personnel issue to some degree. However, it starts with allowing the "engineering" to take a back-seat to "making money", and it really starts coming off the rails when you task the engineering managers with having to stay 90%+ billable so that they can no longer mentor or train their junior / intermediate staff, plus task them with doing most of the management of the "business" instead of the "engineering".
You can't fix "engineering" with MBA's and accountants until everyone buys into the fact that engineering does, to some minimum critical level, require some "cost", and we are too far on the wrong side of the line.
Regards,
SNORGY.
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
- Adding value to our product(s)
- Assisting existing and future customers
It's currently about 50/50 - neither is directly billable in the usual sense. I hide the time spent training/assisting colleagues.
- Steve
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
my goal is 78%, Civil Engineer Project Manager, large consulting Engineering Company.
Our drafters should be 95%.
I think my boss is about 25%.
The accountants are 0%
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
My present employer has no stated targets but I keep my time out of habit and am running as follows:
57% billable
12% marketing and proposals
31% overhead
And these numbers are off of a 32 hour work week which has been mandatory for most of this year.
Senior Structural Engineer / Project Manager
37 years experience
GJC
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
You are probably right. The funny thing (not ha ha funny) is that there are a lot of people here with far lower utilization rates than mine. We are amazed that there were no layoffs after the contract people were let go. So far the reduced hours has been the only sacrifice.
The two previous calendar years I was at 96 and 97%.
I do bring in some work from 3 clients who specifically request my involvment. That has certainly helped me.
GJC
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
Only supervise structural project teams
Sometimes I make it drizzle
GJC
RE: Utilization / Billability rate?
Reality is that I work 10 hours per day to allow non-billable marketing and technical updates, and often work one day per weekend to make deadlines. Much of how much I bill depends on the individual contract allowances and including the 'extra time' I put in to run the business I bill from 100% to as low as about 72%. I enjoy what I am doing, and have made concessions (extra hours) to keep the family budget okay.