Billing Rate (Bill Rate)

A billing rate, or bill rate, is the amount you charge a client per unit of work - usually per hour. It is what appears on the invoice, before any discounts or write-downs.

How it works

  • Multiply billable hours by the billing rate to get billable value.
  • The billing rate is distinct from the cost rate, what the work costs you; the gap is your margin.
  • Rates can vary by role, project, or client, and may change over time.

Why it matters

Set the billing rate too low and profitable-looking projects lose money; the honest picture only appears when you compare it to cost and to your effective rate after non-billable time.

How Sandtime.io fits

Sandtime.io records billable time with per-role and temporal rates, so billable value and revenue reflect what was actually worked.

The billing rate sets billable value from billable hours, contrasts with the cost rate, and can be modelled as a temporal rate that changes over time.

Related Terms

Explore other time tracking and workforce management definitions.

Cost Rate

What an hour of work actually costs you - salary plus taxes, benefits, and overhead divided by working hours - the internal counterpart to the billing rate.

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Billable Hours

Work hours that can be charged to a client or project. Essential for professional services firms to track revenue.

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Temporal Rate

Rates that change over time with preserved history. Allows accurate retrospective reporting when rates are updated.

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Revenue

Income generated from billable work. Calculated by multiplying billable hours by revenue rates.

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