💼 Self-Employment Pricing & Billable Rate Solver
Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator
Determine the exact hourly rate, day rate, and retainer needed to hit your take-home income goals after taxes and business expenses.
$
$
%
wks
hrs / week
Remaining hours spent on marketing, admin, client proposals, and invoicing.
Presets:
Junior Consultant
Senior Specialist
Executive / Agency Principal
Target Hourly Rate
$108.33 / hr
1,200 billable hrs/yr
Standard Day Rate (8h)
$866.64 / day
Daily consulting
Weekly Retainer
$2,708.25 / wk
Based on 25h week
Gross Annual Revenue
$130,000.00
Est. Taxes: $33,000
The Standard Freelance Pricing Formula
To ensure a sustainable contracting business, calculate your billable hourly rate by working backwards from your net take-home requirement:
Required Gross Revenue = (Target Take-Home / (1 − Tax Rate)) + Annual Business Expenses
Hourly Rate = Required Gross Revenue / (Working Weeks × Billable Hours Per Week)
Hourly Rate = Required Gross Revenue / (Working Weeks × Billable Hours Per Week)
Most experienced freelancers bill between 20 and 28 hours per week, as non-billable business administration, lead generation, and client meetings consume the remaining 15 to 20 hours.