Agency capacity planning template (free, copyable)
An agency capacity planning template shows how much client work your team can actually deliver each week, and how much more it could take. You list each person, the accounts they carry, and the hours each account costs. The template then shows the headroom: how many more accounts each person could carry before something breaks. Copy the grid below or the CSV.
The template
| Person / role | Accounts now | Avg hours per account per week | Delivery hours used per week | Weekly capacity ceiling (hours) | Headroom (hours) | Accounts the headroom covers | Repeatable share of the work | Target accounts with capacity installed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Account manager A | 6 | 5 | 30 | 32 | 2 | 0.4 | 70% | 18 |
| Account manager B | 4 | 7 | 28 | 32 | 4 | 0.6 | 65% | 18 |
| Account manager C | 8 | 4 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 75% | 20 |
| Team total | 18 | n/a | 90 | 96 | 6 | 1 | 70% | 56 |
The numbers above are a worked example, not a benchmark. Replace them with your own.
The 4 formulas
- Delivery hours used = accounts now x avg hours per account per week.
- Headroom = weekly capacity ceiling minus delivery hours used.
- Accounts the headroom covers = headroom divided by avg hours per account.
- Repeatable share = your estimate of how much of each account's weekly work is the same steps every time (onboarding, reporting, production). That share is the first candidate to move to an AI operator.
How to use it
- List every person who carries client accounts. One row each.
- Fill accounts now and avg hours per account per week. Be honest about the hours.
- Read the headroom column. A row at 0 is maxed. A row with headroom can take more today.
- Fill the repeatable share. The higher it is, the more capacity you free by moving that work to an AI operator instead of hiring.
- Set a target accounts number. Most agencies move from 4 to 8 accounts per person toward 18 to 25 once the repeatable work is carried by AI operators that hold each account's context.
What the template tells you that headcount planning does not
A staffing plan answers "who do I hire next." A capacity plan answers "how much more can the team I already have carry." Past 15 clients the second question is the one that protects margin, because hiring adds cost in a straight line and takes months to train to standard. The repeatable-share column is where the capacity comes from: that is the work an AI operator can carry so one person runs more accounts at the same quality.
How Agile Growth Labs uses it
AGL ran this on its own agency first. 1 AI operator now does the work a 25-person marketing team used to carry, and 80% of that work was sharing information and context, which is exactly the repeatable share this template measures. AGL does not guarantee financial performance; results depend on the agency and its accounts.
Copy the CSV
Person / role,Accounts now,Avg hours per account per week,Delivery hours used per week,Weekly capacity ceiling (hours),Headroom (hours),Accounts the headroom covers,Repeatable share of the work,Target accounts with capacity installed
Account manager A,6,5,=B2*C2,32,=E2-D2,=F2/C2,70%,18
Account manager B,4,7,=B3*C3,32,=E3-D3,=F3/C3,65%,18
Account manager C,8,4,=B4*C4,32,=E4-D4,=F4/C4,75%,20
Team total,=SUM(B2:B4),,=SUM(D2:D4),=SUM(E2:E4),=SUM(F2:F4),=SUM(G2:G4),,=SUM(I2:I4)FAQ
What is an agency capacity planning template?
A grid that shows how much client work your team can deliver each week and how much more it could take. You list each person, the accounts they carry, and the hours per account; it returns the headroom and the accounts that headroom covers.
How do you calculate agency capacity?
For each person: delivery hours used equals accounts times average hours per account. Headroom equals the weekly capacity ceiling minus hours used. Accounts the headroom covers equals headroom divided by average hours per account.
How many client accounts can one person handle?
Most carry 4 to 8 well. Once the repeatable work is carried by AI operators that hold each account's context, the per-operator target is 18 to 25 at the same quality.
Is capacity planning the same as resource planning?
Resource planning schedules who does what this week. Capacity planning answers how much more the team could carry before quality slips, which is the question that decides whether you hire or raise capacity.
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