Ideally, the decisions you make in your business should be based on empirical evidence.
I hope that, based on previous columns about constructing balance sheets and P&L statements, you now are convinced that clear and concise information is as important as getting a handle on how many actual productive, or billable, hours your business generates. You can establish an accurate dollar-per-billable-hour overhead figure, which in turn is the only thing that allows you to calculate a reasonable selling price for your labor. You better be sitting down when you figure out how much it really costs you to operate your business.