This glossary will help you understand the key metrics and terminology used in ActivTrak for BI - Headcount Planning. Use this reference to interpret dashboard data and effectively communicate findings on capacity and cost to your finance and HR teams.
Definition
A parameter representing the share of available weekdays in the
period
a user is realistically expected to be working, accounting for
PTO,
holidays, and part-time schedules.
Example
March 2026 has 21 weekdays. At the default 85% setting, a typical
user is expected to work about 18 of those days, with the remaining
3 days accounted for by holidays, occasional sick time, or PTO
built
into the average.
Where to find it
Parameter Setting
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The percentage of expected productive hours a user actually logged.
This is the core comparison metric behind every other capacity
calculation
in the report.
Calculation
(Total Productive Hrs / Expected
Total Productive Hrs) x 100%
Example
Zoe T. logged 4 productive hours against an Expected Total Productive
Hrs of about 116 for March, putting her % of Productivity Goal
Achieved
around 3% - far below the configured 90% floor of the At Capacity
range. That
gap is exactly why she shows up with a 0.97 Available Capacity
FTE
and $17,005 in Available Capacity Cost.
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
A calculation that identifies users performing within their expected
productivity range: neither significantly under- nor overutilized.
This logic excludes
these users from the Available Capacity FTE calculation, since
a
user already at their expected output has no available capacity
to
report.
Calculation
1 - (Available Capacity Buffer) ≤ (% of Productivity Goal Achieved)
≤ 1 + (Available Capacity Buffer)
At the default 10% buffer: 90%-110%.
Example
A Professional-level user with 116 Expected Total Productive
Hrs
who logs 112 actual hours is at roughly 97% of goal - squarely
inside
the 90%-110% At Capacity range. This user contributes to headcount
totals and payroll cost but is excluded from the Available Capacity
FTE calculation and won't appear in the High/Medium/Low Available
Capacity breakdown, since they're already fully utilized at their
current staffing level.
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
A tolerance parameter that creates a band around 100% productivity
goal achievement, within which a user is treated as At Capacity
rather
than over- or underutilized.
Example
With the default 10% buffer, any user achieving between 90% and
110%
of their productivity goal is treated as fully staffed at their
current
level - no available capacity to reallocate.
Where to find it
Parameter Setting
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The dollar value of unused productive capacity for a user, team,
or the organization - the portion of paid salary tied to time
that
isn't being converted into expected productive output.
Example
In the Headcount Planning Summary report, Available Capacity
Cost
for March 2026 totals
$43.7K, annualized to $523.9K. Broken out by team, Engineering
accounts
for $29.8K of that (the largest single share), followed by Marketing
at $5.3K, Sales at $4.5K, and Solutions and Customer Success
each
at $2.1K.
Where to find it
Headcount Planning Summary:
Analysis by Team & Level
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
Available Capacity Cost expressed as a percentage of Total Paid
Salary
- the share of payroll spend currently tied up in unused capacity
rather than expected productive output.
Calculation
(Available Capacity Cost / [Total
Paid Salary) x 100%
Example
With Total Paid Salary at $1.2M and Available Capacity Cost at
$43.7K
for March 2026, the org-wide Available Capacity Cost Ratio comes
out to
roughly 3.6% - meaning about 3.6 cents of every payroll dollar
that
month is tied to underutilized time.
Where to find it
Analysis by Team & Level
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The amount of unused productive capacity a user has, expressed
as
a fraction of a full-time equivalent (FTE). Represents how much
additional
work a user could realistically absorb without exceeding their
current
expectations.
Calculation
IF a user is not classified as Over Capacity or At Capacity,
THEN:
[(Expected Total Productive Hrs) - (Total
Productive Hrs)] / (Expected Total Productive Hrs) = 1 - (% of
Productivity
Goal Achieved]
Example
Zoe T. shows an Available Capacity FTE of 0.97 in the Analysis
by
Team & Level report - meaning she's using only about 3% of
her expected
productive capacity, which reads as having nearly a full FTE's
worth
of bandwidth free. Contrast that with Oscar B. at 0.27 Available
Capacity FTE - he's
using about 73% of expected capacity, leaving roughly a quarter
of
an FTE free.
Where to find it
Headcount Planning Summary:
Analysis by Team & Level
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
Available Capacity FTE aggregated across a team, level, or the
whole
organization and expressed as a percentage of total FTE - the
share
of your total workforce capacity that's currently sitting unused.
Calculation
Sum of Available Capacity FTE / Total FTE
Example
In the Headcount Planning Summary report, Available Capacity
FTE
shows 4.1 with a 4% FTE
Ratio out of 112 total users for March 2026.
Where to find it
Headcount Planning Summary:
Analysis by Team & Level
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
A filter and breakdown dimension that groups users by role level
- for example, VP, Director, Manager, Professional, or Associate.
Where to find it
Headcount Planning Summary:
Analysis by Team & Level
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The total number of productive hours a user is expected to log
across
the reporting period, based on their working days and productivity
goal. This is the benchmark every user's actual output is measured
against.
Calculation
Total Weekdays x % of Expected
Days Worked x Productivity Goal
Example
For March 2026 (21 weekdays), with % of Expected Days Worked
at 85%
and a Productivity Goal of 6.5 hours/day: 21 × 0.85 × 6.5 ≈ 116
Expected
Total Productive Hrs for that user for the month.
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The tier of the User Available Capacity classification assigned
to
users with the most unused productive capacity.
Calculation
Available Capacity FTE > High Available Capacity Threshold
Example
In the Headcount Planning Summary report, the High Available
Capacity
card shows 2 Users,
2% of total for March 2026. In the Analysis by Team & Level
report,
the User
Capacity Summary table shows those two users are Zoe T. (0.97
Available
Capacity FTE) and Michelle P. (0.99 Available Capacity FTE).
Where to find it
Headcount Planning Summary:
Analysis by Team & Level
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
A parameter that sets the cutoff between the Medium and High
Available
Capacity tiers.
Example
At the default 50% setting, a user needs to have more than half
of
their expected productive capacity going unused to land in the
High
tier.
Where to find it
Parameter Setting
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The tier of the User Available Capacity classification assigned
to
users with the least unused productive capacity.
Calculation
Available Capacity FTE < Low Available Capacity Threshold
Example
In Headcount Planning Summary report, the Low Available Capacity
card shows 7 Users,
6% of total for March 2026. In the Analysis by Team & Level
report, the User
Capacity Summary table shows those users include Oscar B. (0.27),
Joe
O. (0.16), Allison E. (0.23), Jackson Y. (0.22), Mary E. (0.15),
and George V. (0.20).
Where to find it
Headcount Planning Summary:
Analysis by Team & Level
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
A parameter that sets the cutoff between the Low and Medium Available
Capacity tiers.
Example
At the default 30% setting, a user needs to have less than 30%
of their expected productive capacity going unused to land in
the Low tier.
Where to find it
Parameter Setting
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The tier of the User Available Capacity classification assigned
to
users with a moderate amount of unused productive capacity.
Calculation
Low Available Capacity Threshold ≤ Available Capacity FTE ≤ High
Available Capacity Threshold
Example
In the Headcount Planning Summary report, the Medium Available
Capacity card shows 2 Users, 2% of total for March 2026. In the
Analysis by Team & Level report, the User Capacity Summary
table shows those two users are Angela Y. (0.42 Available
Capacity FTE) and Alicia F. (0.39 Available Capacity FTE).
Where to find it
Headcount Planning Summary:
Analysis by Team & Level
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
A calculation that identifies users whose actual productivity
exceeds
their expected productivity by more than the Available Capacity
Buffer
allows. This logic
that excludes these users from the Available Capacity FTE calculation,
since a user working beyond expectations has no available capacity
to report.
Calculation
% of Productivity Goal Achieved > 1 + Available Capacity Buffer
At the default 10% buffer: greater than 110%.
Example
A Manager-level user on the Engineering team with an Expected
Total
Productive Hrs of 116 for the month who logs 135 hours is at
about
116% of goal - past the 110% Over Capacity line. Because the
Available
Capacity FTE formula only applies to users who are not over or
at
capacity, this user is excluded from the calculation and won't
appear
in the High/Medium/Low Available Capacity breakdown.
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The expected number of productive hours a user should log per
weekday.
This baseline drives every other capacity calculation in the
report.
See Set Productivity Goals to learn more about each goal type and how to configure them.
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
An
organizational unit in ActivTrak
that groups users together based on shared characteristics such
as department, function, reporting structure, or project assignment.
Teams (also known as
Groups)
serve as a primary filter for analyzing schedule adherence data
and enable comparative analysis across different groups within
an organization.
Teams in ActivTrak:
- Created and managed by administrators
- Allow for hierarchical structures (teams within teams)
- Serve as filters for dashboards and reports
- Enable team-level goal setting and benchmarking
- Provide context for productivity comparisons
Where to find it
Headcount Planning Summary:
Analysis by Team & Level
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The total compensation paid to all users in scope for the selected
period, annualized to support budget and workforce planning conversations.
Calculation
Sum of paid salary across all users in scope for the selected
Year Month; Annualized figure projects that monthly total across
a full year.
Example
The Summary page shows Total Paid Salary at $1.2M for March 2026,
with an Annualized figure of $14M. That annualized number is
what finance typically anchors to when framing the scale of an
Available Capacity Cost finding: $523.9K in annualized Available
Capacity Cost against a $14M annualized payroll base means roughly
3.6% of total compensation spend is tied to underutilized time.
Where to find it
Headcount Planning Summary:
Analysis by Team & Level
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Individual employees or contractors whose digital activity is being tracked through the ActivTrak agent software. In ActivTrak, a "user" typically corresponds to a specific person whose work habits, productivity, and application usage are monitored and analyzed within the platform.
Key aspects of users in ActivTrak:
- Each user typically requires one license in the ActivTrak system
- Users are organized into teams for analysis and reporting
- User data forms the foundation for all productivity metrics
- Users can be assigned specific productivity benchmarks and goals
- User privacy settings can be configured according to organizational policies
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
A three-tier classification (High, Medium, or Low) assigned to
each
user based on their Available Capacity FTE, used to prioritize
where
meaningful bench strength exists across the organization.
Example
In the Analysis by Team & Level report's User Capacity Summary
table,
Zoe T. and Michelle P. are High Available Capacity, Angela Y.
and
Alicia F. are Medium, and the remaining seven users - including
Oscar
B. and Joe O. - are Low. These three tiers are what the Headcount
Planning Summary page's
High/Medium/Low Available Capacity cards count directly.
Where to find it
Headcount Planning Summary:
Analysis by Team & Level
Package availability*
All packages
*Requires
ActivConnect API (Add-on)