Retainer Burn & Capacity Planner (Excel 365)

See whether a retainer's hours will last the month, and whether the team can take on more.

30-day money-back guarantee. No questions asked.

One-time purchase. No subscription. No macros.

Will this retainer's hours run out before the month does?

For small agencies, studios and consultancies that sell monthly retainers with an hours allowance.

Three questions, answered every month

• Which retainers will run out of hours before month end, and when? Projected hours left and a run-out date for every active retainer, at the pace so far, counted in working days.

• How much overage is there to bill, or to absorb? Hours over the allowance at month end, and for hourly retainers the amount at your overage rate. Value retainers show the hours you would absorb.

• Who is overbooked next month? Client-work hours for each person after time off and public holidays, against the retainer and project hours already planned for them.

Seven sheets, one job

• Start Here: setup in 5 steps, your settings in one place (business name, currency, first month, the date the hours are counted up to, theme) and the workbook's overall status.

• Dashboard: six key figures, the checks, the retainers with the least hours left, term end dates coming up, and two charts: hours left by retainer and next month's capacity by person.

• Retainers: one row per retainer, with included hours, start and term end dates, status, who delivers it and the rollover rule. The rest of the row works out this month's burn and next month's hours.

• Hours Log: hours used, hours added or rolled over, time off and project work, one row at a time, by month. Its first four columns match the Client Profitability Tracker's Work Log.

• Summary: this month's totals for the retainers and next month's totals for the team, then every person sorted by headroom and every retainer sorted by hours left.

• Team: each person's hours per week and the share that can go to client work, plus your public holidays. Next month's capacity is worked out beside each name.

• Guide: every input, calculation and check explained, plus adding capacity, clearing the sample data and the changelog.

Built to be checked

Yellow cells: you type. Leave every other cell to the workbook.

Yellow: you type here · White: calculated, don't type here · Grey: lists and reference values

Rows with a missing detail, an unknown retainer or a date outside the retainer's term are marked Review, stay visible and are left out of the totals until you fix them. Ten named checks give one status on every sheet: OK, CHECK (n) or SAMPLE.

Sheets are protected without a password, so formulas aren't overwritten by accident. No macros, no external links, no hidden sheets.

Setup

List your team, add your retainers, log this month's hours: about 10 minutes, plus about 1 minute per retainer. A studio with 5 people and 10 retainers takes about 25 minutes the first time, then about 10 minutes a month.

The worked example is a fictional five-person studio on 14 Aug 2026: six retainers, 158.5 hours available and 84.5 used. Clear it in four steps and it matches the blank file.

Light or Dark theme for Start Here and the Dashboard. Print setup for US Letter, checked on A4.

Tested in Excel 365 for Windows desktop: 37 of 41 checks passed, 4 not yet run, workbook 1.0.0, Excel build 16.0.20430.20182 on Windows Server 2025 Standard 10.0.26100, Oct 20, 2026. Not applicable, so not counted: 3.17 (the exchange-rate check; this planner uses one currency). Excel for Mac, Excel for the web and Google Sheets are not yet tested.

What's in the download

One ZIP file:

• retainer-burn-capacity-planner-v1.0.0-blank.xlsx: the planner for your own retainers

• retainer-burn-capacity-planner-v1.0.0-worked-example.xlsx: the same planner filled with a fictional five-person studio

• START-HERE.html: open this first. It lists every file and where to begin.

• quick-start.md: setup steps and how to read the Dashboard

• metric-dictionary.md: every field and calculation defined

• support-and-compatibility.md: where it's tested, and how to get help

• license.md: the license terms

• release-notes-v1.0.0.md: what is in this version

• money-back-guarantee.md: the 30-day money-back guarantee

• MANIFEST-retainer-burn-capacity-planner-v1.0.0.sha256: checksums, so you can check every file arrived intact

Not for you if

• You need time tracking. This planner takes hours you have already tracked; it does not record time.

• You need invoicing, billing or accounting. It shows overage to bill but does not bill it.

• You schedule people by day or by task. It plans by month.

• You want hours to arrive automatically from time-tracking or project software.

• You need several people editing at once with permissions or change history.

Known limitations

• Retainer periods are calendar months. A retainer that runs from the 15th to the 14th is not supported.

• Projections assume the rest of the month continues at the pace so far, counted in working days (Monday to Friday, minus the public holidays you list).

• Rolled-over hours are logged by you. The planner suggests the figure from your rollover rule but never carries hours forward on its own.

• Capacity spreads each person's weekly hours evenly over Monday to Friday, and public holidays apply to everyone, so part-time days and regional holidays are approximate.

• Overage rates use one currency per file. There is no currency conversion.

• Tested in Excel 365 for Windows desktop. Excel for Mac, Excel for the web and Google Sheets are not yet tested.

• Excel mobile and the Google Sheets mobile apps are for viewing only, not data entry.

• Capacity is 1,000 Hours Log rows, 200 retainers, 50 people and 30 public holidays; more needs the steps in the Guide.

License

Single-business, US$29

For one business or sole trader, and everyone who works in it: staff and contractors.

Allowed: edit and extend the workbook, keep backups, share reports and results with your team, clients, advisers and board.

Not allowed: using it for a second business, giving an editable copy to a client or anyone outside the business, reselling it or posting it online.

Agency/Team is store-wide

If your business holds the Client Profitability Tracker's Agency/Team license (US$99), it covers this planner too, with working copies for up to 5 client businesses you manage. This planner has no Agency/Team price of its own. Agency/Team is bought with the tracker: https://payhip.com/b/jq87M

The full terms are in license.md in your download and at https://metricvalley.com/license/

30-day money-back guarantee

If the planner isn't right for your business, email support@metricvalley.com within 30 days of purchase with your order number. You'll get a full refund to your original payment method. No questions asked and no forms to fill in. We reply within 1 business day and start the refund then. Downloading the files doesn't affect the guarantee. We only ask that you delete your copies.

This guarantee is in addition to your rights under the Australian Consumer Law and any other consumer law that applies to you.

Updates: free updates to the 1.x line, delivered through your Payhip download link.

Google Sheets edition: included free for every buyer when it ships. It isn't available yet.

Support: email support@metricvalley.com. We reply within 1 business day, Monday to Friday, Australian Eastern time. Included: help getting the workbook working as described, and fixes for anything that doesn't. Not included: custom setup, importing your data, redesigning formulas, or accounting and tax advice.

Prices are in US dollars. Any sales tax or VAT that applies is shown at checkout before you pay.

Metricvalley is independent of Microsoft and Google.