Client Profitability Analyzer
Tracks revenue, time invested, and direct costs per client to compute effective hourly rate and profit margin for each engagement. Ranks clients by profitability so you can prioritize high-margin work and renegotiate or drop unprofitable accounts.
Freelance - Client Profitability Analyzer.xlsx
Excel (.xlsx) — No macros — Works in Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice
What This Spreadsheet Solves
- Not knowing which clients are actually profitable after accounting for all time spent
- High-revenue clients masking low margins due to excessive revision cycles
- Inability to justify rate increases with concrete profitability data
- Spending disproportionate time on low-value clients
- Lack of data to decide which clients to keep, renegotiate, or fire
Who This Is For
- Freelancers managing multiple concurrent clients
- Solo consultants reviewing their client portfolio quarterly
- Freelance project managers tracking team profitability per account
- Accountants advising freelance clients on business optimization
Inputs
- textClient name
- $Total revenue from client
- #Total hours spent (including non-billable)
- $Direct costs (tools, subcontractors)
- dateBilling period start date
- dateBilling period end date
Outputs
- Effective hourly rate per client
- Profit margin percentage per client
- Client profitability ranking
- Revenue per hour comparison chart
- Cumulative profit contribution
How Calculations Work
For each client, the analyzer subtracts direct costs from total revenue to get gross profit, then divides by total hours (billable and non-billable) to compute the effective hourly rate. Clients are ranked by margin percentage and effective rate. A Pareto chart highlights which clients generate the most profit relative to time invested.
Example Use Case
Scenario: A copywriter has three clients: Client A ($8,000 revenue, 60 hours, $200 costs), Client B ($12,000 revenue, 140 hours, $500 costs), Client C ($3,000 revenue, 18 hours, $0 costs).
Result: Client A: $130/hr effective, 97.5% margin. Client B: $82/hr effective, 95.8% margin. Client C: $167/hr effective, 100% margin. Ranking: C > A > B by effective rate.
What You Get — 5 Sheets
Technical Details
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I include time spent on emails and calls?
Yes. Include all time attributable to the client: calls, emails, revisions, admin. This is what makes effective rate different from billed rate.
How do I handle a client with multiple projects?
Enter each project as a separate line item or aggregate per billing period. The calculator supports both approaches.
What is a healthy margin for freelance work?
Above 60% after direct costs. Below 40% usually signals underpricing, scope creep, or excessive non-billable time.
How often should I run this analysis?
Quarterly at minimum. Monthly if you have high client turnover or are actively repricing.
Does this include overhead like rent and software?
Direct costs only by default. Use the CONFIG sheet to add an overhead allocation percentage if you want a fully loaded cost view.
Download Client Profitability Analyzer
Ready to use immediately. Enter your data in the INPUT sheet, see results in OUTPUT.