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Check Contracted Hours and Team Capacity

Overview​

Ask the AI Assistant how a client's contracted hours compare with the time your team has available. It shows the hours sold to the client for the period, how many have been recorded and how many are left, by typology group. You can then ask whether the team has enough free time to deliver what is left, see where capacity falls short, and find who is free to cover the gap.

The agency, client, people and hours in this example are illustrative. The estimates and people you see depend on your access and on the data your agency makes available to the assistant.

An example conversation between a project manager and the AI Assistant.

AI Assistant Chat
You

I have a quarterly review with Northwind Coffee next week. How many of the hours we contracted with them for this quarter are still left?

Skilio

Northwind Coffee has 1,280 contracted hours for October to December 2026. 395 have been recorded so far, leaving 885 hours (69%) to deliver:

Typology groupContractedRecordedLeft
Creative480h150h (31%)330h
Design360h70h (19%)290h
Copywriting240h90h (38%)150h
Accounts200h85h (43%)115h

Design is the furthest behind: 19% used with almost two and a half months left.

How I read your question

  • Included: approved Northwind Coffee estimates from 1 October to 31 December 2026.
  • Assumed: “left” means contracted hours minus the hours recorded on timesheets.
  • Not included: estimates that are not approved.
You

Do we have enough people available to deliver those hours by the end of December?

Skilio

Three of the four typology groups can cover what is left. Design is 74 hours short:

Typology groupStill to planFree timeGap
Creative130h210h—
Design170h96h74h short
Copywriting50h60h—
Accounts0h40h—

Copywriting has only 10 hours to spare. One copywriter has 24 hours of leave awaiting approval in December. If it is approved, Copywriting would also be short.

How I read your question

  • Included: active, plannable people in each typology group, from 14 October to 31 December 2026.
  • Assumed: “still to plan” is the remaining hours not yet booked on Northwind Coffee work.
  • Assumed: free time is working time minus approved leave and all existing bookings, on any client.
  • Assumed: each typology group is covered only by people in that typology group.
You

Which designers have free time between now and December?

Skilio

Three people in the Design typology group have free time, 96 hours in total:

PersonDepartmentFree time
Rita AlmeidaDigital48h
Ben CarterDigital32h
Chloe MartinDigital16h

Even with all three booked, Design would still be 74 hours short. You could plan the remaining hours into January, agree a new date with the client, or bring in a freelancer.

You

Where can I follow this every month without asking?

Skilio

Open the client's fee and select the Burn and Utilization Per Role - Fee tab. It compares contracted, planned and actual hours by typology group for the projects mapped to the fee.

For capacity, open the FTE workspace from the Workspaces menu. Its Hired section compares the hours sold with each team's capacity.

AI capability

From contracted hours to delivery

The assistant compares the hours sold to a client with the hours recorded and with your team's free time, so you know before the client review where delivery is at risk.

What happens in Skills Workflow

  • Name the client and the period you want to review.
  • Read the contracted, recorded and remaining hours for each typology group.
  • Check How I read your question to see which estimates were included.
  • Ask whether the team has enough free time to deliver the remaining hours.
  • Ask who in the short typology group is free to cover the gap.
  • Use the Burn and Utilization Per Role - Fee tab and the FTE workspace to follow it every month.

Other ways to ask

“How many hours are left on our approved Northwind Coffee estimates this quarter?”

“Show it by typology group, with the percentage used.”

“Do we have enough people to deliver those hours by the end of October?”

“Explain the limitations to me.”

Good to know

  • Contracted hours come from the staff plan of the client’s approved estimates. Estimates that are not approved are left out.
  • If you ask from inside an estimate, the assistant may answer for that estimate only. Ask for all the client’s approved estimates in the period to include every one.
  • Recorded hours are counted through the projects mapped to the fee. When an estimate is not linked to a project or job, the assistant cannot attribute recorded time to it and says so.
  • Hours not yet recorded on timesheets are not counted, so remaining hours can read higher than they really are.
  • Each typology group is matched exactly. One typology group is not used to cover another unless you ask.
  • Leave awaiting approval is not deducted from available capacity. The assistant flags it separately.
  • Asking by department or by typology group can return different people.