How capacity is calculated
Capacity is the number of working hours a person has in a period, minus the hours already planned for them. This guide explains each part of that sum, from working hours and holidays to time off and task estimates, and what does not count. Use it to understand why a person shows as free or over capacity, and what to change to fix it.
Capacity on the Timeline is a person’s working hours for a period, minus time off and public holidays, compared with the estimates on the tasks planned for them. What is left is their free time. If planned work is higher than their working hours, they are over capacity. It uses planned estimates, not logged time.
The formula
Working hours (from their schedule) − public holidays − time off = available hours
Available hours − planned hours (task estimates and planned calendar events) = free hours, or over capacity if the result is below zero
On the Timeline, the capacity cell for each person shows the free hours. Over-capacity cells show a + in front of the hours and turn red.
1. Working hours
Each person’s working hours set how much time they can take on each day. Toggl reads them from the person’s Availability settings. See Availability settings.
| Their setting | What Toggl uses |
|---|---|
| Nothing set | 40 hours a week: 8 hours on each day from Monday to Friday. |
| A weekly total only | The total divided by five, Monday to Friday. |
| A custom schedule | The hours set for each weekday. A day with no hours is not a working day. Weekends count only if you give them hours. |
Each working day starts at 09:00 in the person’s time zone, unless a start time is set. Time zones matter because time off is matched against those hours.
2. Public holidays
A public holiday takes that day’s working hours to zero for that person. Holidays come from your organization’s holiday calendar, so two people in different countries can have different days off. See Organizational Holiday Calendar. Holidays do not appear as time off entries.
3. Time off
Time off reduces the person’s working hours by the hours it overlaps. Half a day off removes half of that day’s hours.
- Approved and Pending time off both count. Pending time off is shown as ~Nh pending approval on the Timeline.
- Rejected and Canceled time off does not count.
- Only hours that fall inside the person’s working hours are removed. Time off on a day they do not work changes nothing.
See Managing time off.
4. Planned work
Planned work is the estimate on each task the person is assigned to. A task counts only when it has a start date, an end date and an assignee, and it is not archived or deleted. Tasks without dates wait in the Unplanned tasks panel and do not count. Tasks with no estimate add zero hours.
How an estimate is placed on days depends on the estimate type:
| Estimate type | How it is spread |
|---|---|
| Total estimate | Divided evenly across the task’s working days for that person, then divided by the number of assignees. |
| Daily estimate | Applied to each working day of the task, divided by the number of assignees. |
| Custom split | Each assignee gets their own share, in hours or a percentage. Assignees with no share get none. See Daily task estimates. |
A person’s working days for a task are the days in its date range that fall on their working weekdays, minus public holidays. Time off does not remove a day from that spread. A task planned across someone’s holiday week still places its hours on their days off, so they can show as over capacity. Move the task or change its assignee to fix it. A Time-Off Conflict message appears when you schedule a task over time off.
Other planned work that counts:
- Planned calendar events. When Calendar events is on in the Timeline display preferences, events from a connected Google or Outlook calendar count as planned hours. An event already linked to a task is counted once, through the task.
- Recurring projects. Upcoming periods of a recurring project count in the same way as other scheduled tasks.
- Draft projects. Drafts count only when Show drafts is on and you have access to drafts, which needs the Capacity Management add-on. See Draft projects.
What does not change capacity
- Logged time. Tracking time on a task does not free up capacity. Only estimates, scheduled dates and availability do.
- Weekends. They are not counted unless the person has a custom schedule with weekend hours.
Worked example
Sam works 8 hours a day, Monday to Friday. In a week with a public holiday on Monday and approved time off all day Friday:
- Working hours: 5 days × 8 h = 40 h
- Public holiday (Monday): −8 h
- Time off (Friday): −8 h
- Available: 24 h
Sam has two tasks. One is a total estimate of 12 h running Monday to Friday. Monday is a holiday, so the 12 h is spread over Tuesday to Friday at 3 h a day. The other is a daily estimate of 2 h for the same dates, which adds 2 h on each working day: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
- Planned on Tuesday to Thursday: 3 h + 2 h on each day
- Planned on Friday: 3 h + 2 h, even though Sam is off
Planned hours for the week: 20 h. Available hours: 24 h. Sam shows 4h free for the week. The Friday estimates still land on a day off, which is a sign to move that work.
Which periods you can see
The Capacity control on the Timeline sets the period. Free workspaces see their own capacity. Starter and above see everyone’s capacity for this week and this month. Other periods need the Capacity Management add-on. See Capacity Management Add-on.
Common questions
Why does someone show no capacity at all?
Their available hours for the period are zero. This happens when all their working days are public holidays or time off, or when their schedule has no hours on the days in the period. Check Settings → Availability for that person.
Why is a person over capacity when they are on leave?
Estimates stay on their task dates when time off is added. Reschedule the task, shorten its dates or reassign it.
Why did capacity not change after I tracked time?
Capacity is based on estimates and availability. Logged time does not reduce planned hours. Use the Workload and Utilization reports to compare planned and logged time. See Utilization and Workload Reports.
Do the reports use the same working hours?
Yes. The Workload and Utilization reports also exclude public holidays and subtract time off from working hours.
How do I change someone’s capacity?
Change their working hours, add time off, or change the holiday calendar. Organization admins can set working hours from the Members page, one person at a time or for many at once. See Overview of the Members page.
Next step: Open the Timeline, set Capacity to This week, and check any red cells.