Money · 4 min · 1 November 2026
Unbilled hours: the leak nobody reports
For agencies, consultants and law firms the largest quiet cost is the hour that was worked and never billed. Count yours.
Nobody decides to give hours away. They leak: a call that was not logged, a quick fix between two meetings, a retainer that was forgotten on the monthly invoice.
Hours worked but never billed, a year
€66,240
8 × 1.5 h × 120 € × 46Where the hours go
- Time tracked in a spreadsheet, late, from memory.
- Work done outside the task, so nothing reminds anyone to log it.
- Money with no hour behind it – retainers, milestones, licences – kept in someone's head.
In Schedule Operator the timer runs against the task, hours are signed off, rates and rounding are set once, and retainers and fixed-price milestones go on the same invoice – each period once and no more. The estimate stands next to what was tracked – so that next month's quote starts from facts.
The calculator above counts only the hours. In the price-from-value calculator they are one line next to your own hours and the team's.
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