billability

Meanings

1. 1noununcountablebusinessfinance

   The quality of being chargeable to a client; the proportion of working time that can be billed.

   Grammar: Uncountable, so it takes a singular verb and no plural: high billability, the firm's billability. Do not say 'a billability' or 'billabilities'.

   Patterns

   • billability rate
   • high/low billability
   • improve billability
   • measure billability

   The consulting firm tracks each employee's billability to see how much of their week goes to client work.

   High billability is good for revenue, but managers also need to leave time for training and business development.

   After the merger, the partners discussed how to improve billability without overworking the junior staff.

2. 2noununcountablebusinessfinance

   The extent to which a particular task, cost, or item can be charged to a client.

   Grammar: Also uncountable; often followed by 'of': the billability of travel expenses.

   Patterns

   • the billability of something
   • question the billability of something

   Before approving the invoice, the client questioned the billability of the research phase.

   The team reviewed the billability of each expense to make sure only client-related costs were included.

Common combinations

billability rate

The department's billability rate fell during the slow summer months.

high billability

High billability can lead to burnout if no one monitors working hours.

improve billability

The new software was introduced to help lawyers improve billability by recording time more accurately.

billability target

Each associate has a yearly billability target of 1,800 hours.

Synonyms and how they differ

chargeability

Chargeability is a close synonym but is used more broadly in accounting and project management; billability is the usual term in law and consulting.

utilization

Utilization often means the same thing in business, but it can also refer to using resources or equipment, so it is less specific than billability.

Opposites

Word family

billable adjective

Able to be charged to a client: billable hours.

bill verb

To send someone an invoice for goods or services.

billing noun

The process of preparing and sending invoices.

Commonly confused: billability or bilingual?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “billability”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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