How to forecast agency capacity
Match committed work to available hours so you avoid both burnout and idle time.
How do you forecast agency capacity?
Forecast agency capacity by totalling each person's available billable hours, subtracting hours already committed to live and pipeline work, and reviewing the gap weekly, so you can sell into spare capacity and avoid over-committing the team.
Know your true available hours
Start from realistic billable hours per person after meetings, admin and time off, not a theoretical 40-hour week.
Subtract committed and likely work
Lay committed project hours and weighted pipeline against availability to see where you're over- or under-booked in the coming weeks.
Act on the gap early
Spare capacity is a prompt to push pipeline; a shortfall is a prompt to reprioritise or hire. Reviewing weekly keeps the team out of both burnout and idle time.
FAQ
What is agency capacity planning?+
Forecasting how much work the team can deliver by comparing available billable hours against committed and pipeline work, so you neither over-commit nor sit idle.
How often should you review capacity?+
Weekly is ideal for most agencies, so you can act on a shortfall or spare capacity before it affects delivery or revenue.
How do you calculate agency capacity?+
Start from each person's realistic billable hours after meetings, admin and time off, then subtract the hours already committed to live and pipeline work. The remainder is your sellable capacity for the period.
What is a good utilisation rate for an agency?+
Most healthy agencies target 70-85% billable utilisation on delivery roles. Above that risks burnout and quality, below that leaves margin on the table, so the right number depends on the role and the buffer the team needs.
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