Accounting firm capacity calculator

See whether this week’s client work fits both preparation and review hours.

Updated

The short answer

Available role hours = (people × weekly hours − team leave − team administration) × (1 − buffer%). Compare each role with client count × hours per client. Spare preparer time cannot remove a review bottleneck.

Try your own numbers

Work this week
Preparation
Review
Preparation available / required
61.2 / 60 h
Preparation headroom
1.2 h
Review available / required
10.8 / 15 h
Review headroom
-4.2 h
Client limit at this effort
21
Additional clients that fit
0

Work exceeds available hours in at least one role. Adjust work or role capacity before adding clients.

Numbers stay in this browser. The example is illustrative.

Use the same week and scope for every input

People are a headcount within each role; weekly hours are per person. Leave and administration are total hours across that role’s team. Enter the client work due this week and each client’s average preparation and review effort for that same work. If people perform both roles, allocate their hours between the two groups so you do not count the same hour twice.

Read the bottleneck, not just the total

A negative headroom means that role needs more hours or less work. The client limit is the smaller of the two role limits, rounded down. Extra clients assume the same average effort; they are not a commitment to accept new work. A 100% buffer leaves no available hours. Leave and administration cannot exceed gross role hours.

Worked example and limits

The example has 61.2 preparation hours for 60 hours of work, but only 10.8 review hours for 15 hours of work. The review deficit is 4.2 hours and no additional clients fit. The tool uses average effort, not individual schedules or task dependencies. All inputs stay in your browser; the calculation does not change a workspace or send client information.

Organize the work in Claister

Use this estimate to decide how to organize the client work. In Claister, assign tasks, schedule recurring work and track saved time by client to compare your assumptions with actual effort.

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