The formula, on a stated day
Occupancy rate = occupied desks ÷ available desks × 100.
Available desks are the desks you can actually sell that day: your total desks minus the blocked ones. Occupied desks are the ones a member holds under an agreement.
An occupancy rate without a date cannot be compared with anything: "72%" means nothing until you say whether it is a snapshot, an average or a peak. Most of this post is about that choice, and about the rules for what goes in the numerator and the denominator.
A branch has 110 desks. 10 are blocked, so 100 are available. In November, which has 30 days, 80 desks are occupied on days 1 to 10, 70 on days 11 to 20 and 60 on days 21 to 30. On 30 November, 60 desks are occupied, and 10 of those 60 members are on notice. Occupancy on 30 November is 60 ÷ 100 = 60%.
Three ways to measure it
The same branch can honestly report three different numbers for the same month. Pick the one that matches the decision you are making, and name it every time you quote it.
| Method | How | Right when | Weak when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Month-end snapshot | Occupied desks on the last day ÷ available desks. | You compare months, or want one number that matches what you invoice. | Members join and leave inside the month; the snapshot ignores them. |
| Daily average | Add up the occupied desks on every day, divide by the days in the month, then divide by available desks. | You forecast revenue, or want to see churn within a month. | You do not have a daily count. By hand, nobody keeps one for long. |
| Peak | The highest occupied count on any day ÷ available desks. | You plan capacity: are you about to run out of desks? | It says nothing about a typical day. |
Month-end snapshot: 60 ÷ 100 = 60%. Daily average: (10 × 80 + 10 × 70 + 10 × 60) ÷ 30 = 70 desks, so 70 ÷ 100 = 70%. Peak: 80 ÷ 100 = 80%. None of the three is wrong. Together they show a branch whose occupied desks fell by a quarter in a month, which no single one of them says on its own.
What counts as occupied
A desk is occupied when a member holds it under an agreement, whether or not the person is in the building that day. Presence is a different measure, and it comes below. Four rules cover almost every argument about the count:
- Agreement held means occupied. The member company has a live agreement that names the desk. One desk sits under one agreement; a desk that appears under two is a data error to fix, not a number to count twice.
- Desks on notice. A member who has served notice still holds the desk and still pays until the notice ends. Our suggestion is to count it as occupied until the agreement ends, and to report on-notice desks as a separate line so that next month's vacancy is visible. Whatever you choose, apply it every month and write the rule next to the number.
- Blocked desks leave the denominator. A desk under repair, or held back from sale for a fit-out, cannot be sold, so it is not available. Keep a reason against each blocked desk and review the list monthly: a blocked list that only grows is a way of hiding vacancy.
- Agreement not started yet. A desk reserved for a member whose agreement starts next month is not occupied today. Decide once, and say so.
Of the 60 occupied desks on 30 November, 10 are on notice. Counting them, occupancy is 60%. Without them, the committed occupancy is 50 ÷ 100 = 50%. That second number is the one to plan December on.
Cabins: by seat, or by cabin
A private cabin can be counted as one unit or as the seats inside it. In a space that sells both open desks and cabins, count by seat. Otherwise a twelve-seat cabin weighs the same as a single desk, and the denominator mixes things of very different sizes.
Let whole to one company, all six seats are off the market, so count six occupied seats. Let by the seat to four people, four seats are occupied and two are still available.
Hot desks and day passes measure utilisation, not occupancy
Occupancy asks who holds a desk. Utilisation asks how much of the capacity was actually used: desk-days used ÷ desk-days available in a period.
A hot-desk member does not hold a particular desk; they have a monthly allowance of days. A day or night pass covers one day. Neither fits the occupancy formula, so keep them out of it, and take the hot-desk zone's desks out of the available count too, or occupancy will look lower than it is. Track them separately instead: for hot desks, the days used against each membership's allowance; for passes, how many were sold on each day.
100 available desks × 22 working days = 2,200 desk-days. If members are actually present for 1,320 of them, utilisation is 1,320 ÷ 2,200 = 60%, even though occupancy, by agreements, is 70%.
Revenue per available desk
Occupancy alone ignores price. Revenue per available desk divides the month's desk revenue by available desks, not occupied ones. It is the same as occupancy × the average revenue per occupied desk, so it moves when either fill or price moves.
The branch earns ₹5,60,000 from desks in November, which is 70 average occupied desks at ₹8,000 each. Over 100 available desks, that is ₹5,60,000 ÷ 100 = ₹5,600 per available desk, which is 70% × ₹8,000.
The same inputs give you a break-even occupancy: monthly costs ÷ (available desks × average price per occupied desk).
If the branch costs ₹4,00,000 a month to run, break-even is ₹4,00,000 ÷ (100 × ₹8,000) = 50%. Against that line, the 60% month-end figure looks comfortable, and the 50% committed figure from the notice example does not.
The worked example in one table
| Example: one branch, November | Number |
|---|---|
| Total desks, less 10 blocked = available desks | 110 − 10 = 100 |
| Month-end occupancy (60 occupied on 30 November) | 60% |
| Committed occupancy (10 of the 60 are on notice) | 50% |
| Daily-average occupancy (70 desks on average) | 70% |
| Peak occupancy (80 desks) | 80% |
| Revenue per available desk (₹5,60,000 ÷ 100) | ₹5,600 |
| Break-even occupancy (₹4,00,000 ÷ ₹8,00,000) | 50% |
The level matters less than the direction: the branch started November at 80% and ended it at 60%, and only 50 of its 100 available desks are held by members who have not given notice.
A spreadsheet formula to copy
Excel and Google Sheets both accept these. Put one desk on each row of a sheet called Desks, with the desk name in column A and its status in column B: Occupied, On notice, Available or Blocked. The ranges below assume 110 desks, in rows 2 to 111.
Available desks =COUNTA(B2:B111)-COUNTIF(B2:B111,"Blocked") Occupancy, with on-notice desks counted as occupied =(COUNTIF(B2:B111,"Occupied")+COUNTIF(B2:B111,"On notice"))/(COUNTA(B2:B111)-COUNTIF(B2:B111,"Blocked")) Committed occupancy, with on-notice desks taken out =COUNTIF(B2:B111,"Occupied")/(COUNTA(B2:B111)-COUNTIF(B2:B111,"Blocked"))
For the daily average and the peak, add a second sheet called Daily: the date in column A and that day's occupied-desk count in column B, rows 2 to 32 (up to 31 days), with the available-desk figure in cell D1.
Daily-average occupancy for the month =AVERAGE(B2:B32)/D1 Peak occupancy for the month =MAX(B2:B32)/D1
Format the results as percentages. This works for as long as somebody updates the status column and the daily count every day. That upkeep is where most spreadsheets stop being the source of truth.
How Atrium shows it
Atrium (by Sehsaa) keeps these numbers on the same records as the rest of the space, so they do not need a person to update them.
- A live floor map. Every desk, cabin and room on a floor shows as occupied, on notice, available or blocked: the same four statuses used above. See how the floor map works.
- A dashboard. Occupancy, active members, money outstanding and collections sit on one screen.
- Cabins as real seats. A private cabin is made of real seats, and it can be let whole or by the seat.
- The month-end count Atrium bills on. A desk counts when a member holds it under an agreement, as a confirmed or checked-in contract booking, at 23:50 IST on the last day of the month. An empty desk costs nothing, in a cabin only the let seats count, and a seat used on a day pass is charged as a pass. That is the month-end snapshot method above, used for billing. The price per occupied desk is on the pricing page.
Occupancy questions
How do you calculate coworking occupancy?
Divide the number of occupied desks by the number of available desks and multiply by 100. A desk is occupied when a member holds it under an agreement, and available desks are all your desks minus the blocked ones. Always state the day. Example: 60 occupied desks out of 100 available on 30 November is 60%.
Should desks on notice count as occupied?
Usually yes, until the agreement ends, because the member still holds the desk and still pays. Report on-notice desks as a separate line so that next month's vacancy is visible, and apply the same rule every month. Example: 10 desks on notice out of 60 occupied turn 60% occupancy into 50% committed occupancy.
Do hot desks count towards occupancy?
No. A hot-desk member does not hold a particular desk, so hot desks measure utilisation, not occupancy. Keep them out of the occupancy figure, take the hot-desk zone's desks out of the available count as well, and track hot-desk days used against each membership's monthly allowance instead.
What is the difference between occupancy and utilisation?
Occupancy asks who holds a desk. Utilisation asks how much of the capacity was actually used, as desk-days used divided by desk-days available. Example: a branch can have 70% occupancy and 60% utilisation if some members hold desks they rarely use.
Count it on your own floor plan.
See your desks as occupied, on notice, available or blocked on a live floor map. 30 days free, no card, up to 50 desks. Atrium is priced per occupied desk: see the price list.