B/Billable Toolkit
Free calculators for freelancers & small businesses
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Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

Start from the income you want to take home. The calculator adds tax and business costs, then spreads them over the hours you can actually bill.

$
$
Software, equipment, insurance, coworking
%
weeks
Holidays, sick days, public holidays
hrs
%
Admin, sales and email are not billable

Your rate

How it’s calculated

Your take-home target is grossed up for tax, business expenses are added, and the total is divided by the hours you can realistically bill in a year. Most freelancers bill 50–70% of their working hours.

revenue needed = income ÷ (1 − tax rate) + expenses billable hours = (52 − weeks off) × hours/week × billable % hourly rate = revenue needed ÷ billable hours

Worked example

To take home $60,000 with $6,000 of business costs at a 22% tax rate, you need about $82,923 of revenue. Working 46 weeks of 40 hours and billing 65% of that time gives 1,196 billable hours, so your minimum rate is $69.33 an hour.

Related tools

Project Quote CalculatorTurn an hours estimate into a fixed project price with contingency, expense markup and a deposit split. Copy a ready-to-send quote.Retainer Pricing CalculatorPrice a monthly retainer from hours and hourly rate, with an optional discount for commitment, and see the full contract value.Salary to Contract Rate CalculatorConvert a full-time salary into the hourly contract rate that earns the same once benefits, leave and unbillable time are included.Hourly to Salary CalculatorConvert an hourly rate into annual, monthly, weekly and daily pay, or turn a salary back into an hourly rate.

Questions

Why is my rate higher than my old salary per hour?

As a freelancer you pay for your own tax, equipment, time off and unpaid admin hours. Your rate has to cover all of it.

What billable percentage is realistic?

New freelancers often bill 50–60% of their time. Established freelancers with steady clients reach 70–75%.

Doing these numbers every month? Accounting software can automate invoices, reminders and tax reports.

See options

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