Agency profitability for every client and project
Sumhour shows client profitability and project margin from each person’s cost rate on the date of each entry. It measures each person’s billable utilization rate against their weekly hours, and warns you when a budget passes 80 percent.
In every plan. 30 days free, no card.
| Client | Revenue | Cost | Margin | Invoiced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harbor HealthRetainer | 6,000 | 3,120 | 48.0% | 6,000 |
| FieldworkHourly | 4,500 | 2,700 | 40.0% | 0 |
| Cedar WorksFixed fee | 1,500 | 1,380 | 8.0%below 30% | 1,500 |
| Total | 12,000 | 7,200 | 40.0% | 7,500 |
Fieldwork in October: 40% margin
INV-1042 billed 36 hours at 125.00. The delivery cost comes from each person’s cost rate on the day of each entry.
Hourly work counts as revenue once it is logged, invoiced or not. On fixed fee and retainer projects, revenue is what you invoiced.
| Revenue36:00 × 125.00 | 4,500.00 |
|---|---|
| Sam Ortiz, design24:00 × 70.00 cost | −1,680.00 |
| Rina Akter, development12:00 × 85.00 cost | −1,020.00 |
| Contribution4,500.00 − 2,700.00 | 1,800.00 |
| Margin | 40.0% |
Demo workspace: Birch & Row Studio, USD
Profitability in Sumhour, step by step
- 01
Set each cost rate
On the People page, press “Edit” next to a person, enter a “New rate” and a “From” date, and press “Set rate”.
- 02
Track time as usual
Every entry keeps the billable rate and the cost rate in force when it was logged. Changing a rate later never rewrites a past report.
- 03
Open Profitability
Group by project, client or month. Each row shows revenue, cost, delivery margin and what was invoiced, with rows under your margin target marked.
- 04
Save it and send it
Save the view, share a read-only link that hides costs, or have it emailed every week or month with the CSV attached.
Client profitability from cost rates with start dates
A cost rate is what a person costs the agency per hour. Each one has a start date. When a new rate starts, the previous one closes the day before, and the drawer lists every rate with its dates. So a raise in October leaves September’s margin as it was.
Profitability uses the rate in force on each entry’s date. Only owners and admins see cost rates, and public share links never show them.
Set cost rates with dates| Rate (USD) | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| 52.00 / h | 1 Oct 2026 | |
| 45.00 / h | 1 Jan 2026 | 30 Sep 2026 |
Cost of Maya’s time on Monthly design support
Billable utilization rate for each person
Utilization compares billable hours with each person’s capacity. Capacity is a person’s weekly hours divided by five for each Monday to Friday in the range. Holidays from the workspace calendar don’t count, and capacity stops at today, so “This month” does not count days that have not happened yet.
- Utilization is billable hours ÷ capacity; workload is all logged hours ÷ capacity
- Anyone under the target (80 percent unless you change it) gets a label and an amber bar
Utilization · October 2026
| Person | Utilization | Billable | Capacity | Logged |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Ortiz | 85.0% | 149:36 | 176:00 | 168:00 |
| Rina Akter | 80.0% | 140:48 | 176:00 | 160:00 |
| Maya Lind32 h a week | 70.0%below 80% | 98:30 | 140:48 | 120:00 |
| Team | 78.9% | 388:54 | 492:48 | 448:00 |
Save the report once and let it arrive every month
“Save view” keeps the report, range, grouping and filters under a name. Saved views belong to the workspace, so everyone who can open reports sees the same list. A preset range like “Last month” moves with the calendar.
Set “Email it” to every week or every month and add recipients. Weekly views go out on Mondays and monthly views on the 1st, with the CSV attached and a link to the report.
How scheduled emails workCreate a public read-only link (no costs shown)
Email itEvery monthRecipientsMaya Lind, Accounts teamBudget alerts at 80 percent and when the budget is used up
A project budget can be total hours, a total amount, hours per task or hours per person, and it can reset every month. The Projects list shows what is spent and what remains.
When a budget passes 80 percent (or the share you set), and again when it is used up, owners, admins, accountants and the project’s managers get a notification, and an email unless they turned it off. Each alert goes out once.
Then close the monthProjects · budget
| Project | Budget | Spent | Remaining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field appFieldwork | 100:00 | 84:00 | 16:00 |
| Launch siteCedar Works | 65:00 | 48:45 | 16:15 |
| Brand site rebuildLinden & Co | 360:00 | 222:30 | 137:30 |
Profitability: limits to know about
- There is no PDF export for reports. “CSV” downloads the report you are looking at, every row included.
- Fixed fee hours have no hourly price in the Profitability report. A fixed fee project’s revenue is what you invoiced for it in the range, so a month with no invoice shows no revenue.
- A scheduled email needs a preset range such as “Last month”. Custom dates cannot be scheduled.
Missing something you need? Write to [email protected]. The person who builds Sumhour reads every message.
Profitability: Sumhour and other tools
Checked against each tool’s own pricing and help pages on November 5, 2026; the sources are under the table. Plans change, so check before you rely on a line.
| Feature | Sumhour | Harvest | Toggl Track | Kimai | solidtime | Invoice Ninja |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profitability per client and project from cost rates | Every plan | Enterprise plan ($14 a seat yearly, $17.50 monthly) | Premium plan ($16 a seat yearly, $24 monthly) | Not documented | Not documented | No cost rates: margin is invoiced income minus expenses |
| Open-source code | Yes, AGPL-3.0; the code is public from launch day | No | No | Yes, AGPL-3.0 | Yes, AGPL-3.0 (self-hosted invoicing needs a paid licence) | Source-available (Elastic License 2.0), not OSI |
Sources: Harvest pricing; Toggl Track pricing; Kimai store; Kimai invoices; Kimai on GitHub; solidtime invoicing; solidtime on GitHub; Invoice Ninja projects; Invoice Ninja on GitHub.
Full comparison: Sumhour vs Harvest.
Profitability: common questions
How do I see profitability per client?
Open Reports, pick the Profitability tab and group by Client. Revenue is billable time at the rates saved on each entry, plus fixed fee and retainer invoice lines issued in the range. Cost comes from each person’s cost rate on the date of the entry. Delivery margin is revenue minus cost as a percentage.
How is billable utilization calculated?
Utilization is billable hours divided by capacity. Capacity is the person’s weekly hours divided by five for each Monday to Friday in the range, without workspace holidays, and it stops at today. Workload is all logged hours divided by the same capacity.
Does changing a cost rate change past reports?
No. A new cost rate starts on its “From” date and the previous one closes the day before. Profitability uses the rate in force on each entry’s date, so an October raise leaves September’s margins as they were.
Cost rate history in the guideCan I share a report without showing our costs?
Yes. Save the view and tick “Create a public read-only link (no costs shown)”. The link opens a read-only page with live figures. It never shows cost or margin columns, and search engines are told not to index it. Turn the link off and the old address stops working.
Is profitability reporting included in every Sumhour plan?
Yes. Cost rates, margin targets, budget alerts and all five reports are part of Solo, the smallest plan. Saved views, share links and scheduled emails are there too. Larger plans only add room for more people.
See pricing
