Freelance hourly rate calculator

How the calculation works

Starting rate = (annual earnings target + annual business costs) × (1 + reserve %) ÷ (working weeks × billable hours per week).

For example, a $60,000 annual target, $10,000 in business costs and a 10% reserve need $77,000 in revenue. At 46 working weeks and 25 billable hours a week, that is 1,150 billable hours and about $66.96 per hour.

Make the inputs realistic

• Deduct holidays, illness and planned time off from working weeks.
• Exclude admin, sales calls, unpaid learning and marketing from billable time.
• Include recurring software, equipment replacement and other business overhead in annual costs.
• Compare the result against the value of your service and what clients will pay.

This is a planning tool, not a recommendation about tax or your final selling price. It assumes all entered billable hours are sold and paid. Revisit the calculation as you learn your actual utilisation and costs.