Business calculators
Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator
Turn an annual income goal into a rate that accounts for time off, administration and business costs.
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How to use this tool
1. Enter your own figures below, or choose Load example to try the worked example. Check the units beside each field.
2. Select Calculate to see the result and its breakdown. If you change an input, calculate again before copying or printing.
3. Use Copy summary or Print / save PDF to keep your assumptions and results together. Reset clears the form.
How the calculation works
Annual billable hours = working weeks × weekly working hours × billable percentage. Revenue target = (owner income goal + overheads) ÷ (1 − profit reserve percentage). The hourly rate divides that revenue by billable hours and rounds up to a cent. The day rate multiplies the rounded hourly rate by your entered day length.
Worked example
An $80,000 owner income goal, $16,000 overheads and 20% reserve require $120,000 annual revenue. Working 48 weeks at 40 hours with 50% billable time gives 960 billable hours. The required rate is $125 an hour, or $1,000 for eight billable hours.
Questions and assumptions
What this estimate includes
The reserve is a share of revenue, not a markup on expenses. Include insurance, equipment, professional services and your own retirement provision in the budget as appropriate. Owner income is before personal tax. The tool does not determine employment status, market demand, compulsory contributions or an appropriate market price.
Can I save or share my result?
Copy summary includes the current inputs and results. Print / save PDF creates a local report with the calculation scope and source links. Your figures are not added to the page URL or stored by this tool. Refreshing clears the form.
Sources and further reading
Built and maintained by Custom Logic. Page updated .