Practice management & economics
In short: The percentage of a person's available hours spent on chargeable client work.
Utilisation shows how much of the working week reaches client work. Low utilisation may mean admin load, unclear priorities or too little work allocated; very high utilisation is often a warning sign rather than a success.
It should be read with recoverability. Busy hours that are not recovered do not help the practice.
Utilisation used alone drives burnout; used with recoverability it drives better allocation.
General information for UK practices, not legal, tax or regulatory advice. Rules change — check current GOV.UK guidance and your professional body before acting.
Start with the workflows that cause the most chasing, then bring leads, AML, proposals and clients into the same calm operating system.
Time is the main cost in every accounting firm. Without recorded time you are guessing whether a fixed fee is profitable, whether a client is taking more work than agreed, or whether a team member is overloaded.
Comparing recorded time with the fee for a year-end, VAT return or payroll run shows which clients and services are under-priced before renewal.
When time on a client keeps rising, you can raise it with the client or send an updated proposal rather than absorbing the cost.
Estimated time against actual time tells managers how much work a person can really take in a busy January or accounts season.
Time linked to tasks and clients gives an objective view of workload, rather than relying on who seems busiest.
Written and reviewed by Waqas Sagar ACA FCCA FMAAT, Chartered Accountant with 18+ years in practice. Founder and MD of Accotax, an ICAEW, ACCA and AAT regulated London practice that has served over 5,000 clients, and founder of Remindoo. Guidance is general; check current GOV.UK and professional body guidance for your firm.
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