Freelance Rate Calculator
Work backwards from the income you want to the rate you need to charge, taking into account expenses, taxes, holidays and the hours you cannot bill.
What you need to earn
Time you can bill
Results
- Target take-home income
- € 0.00
- Business expenses
- + € 0.00
- Safety buffer (10%)
- + € 0.00
- Revenue needed per year
- € 0.00
- Billable hours per year46 weeks × 40 h × 60%
- 1,104 h
- Daily rate8 h day
- € 0.00
- Monthly at full utilisation
- € 0.00
How it was calculated
- 1Income before tax=€ 0.00
- 2(€ 0.00 + € 0.00) × (1 + 10/100)=€ 0.00revenue needed
- 3(52 − 6) × 40 h × 60%=1,104billable hours
- 4€ 0.00 ÷ 1,104 h=€ 0.00per hour× 8=€ 0.00per day
Calculation
Freelance rate
Inputs
| Target take-home income | € 0.00 |
| Business expenses | € 0.00 |
| Tax and contributions | 0% |
| Safety buffer | 10% |
| Hours per week | 40 |
| Billable share | 60% |
| Weeks off | 6 |
Results
| Target take-home income | € 0.00 |
| Business expenses | + € 0.00 |
| Safety buffer (10%) | + € 0.00 |
| Revenue needed per year | € 0.00 |
| Billable hours per year46 weeks × 40 h × 60% | 1,104 h |
| Daily rate8 h day | € 0.00 |
| Monthly at full utilisation | € 0.00 |
How it was calculated
- 1Income before tax=€ 0.00
- 2(€ 0.00 + € 0.00) × (1 + 10/100)=€ 0.00revenue needed
- 3(52 − 6) × 40 h × 60%=1,104billable hours
- 4€ 0.00 ÷ 1,104 h=€ 0.00per hour× 8=€ 0.00per day
This calculator is provided for informational purposes only. Salary, tax, employment and accounting rules may vary by country, company and individual circumstances.
How this calculator works
The calculator grosses up your take-home target by the tax rate, adds business expenses, and adds a safety buffer for slow months. That is the revenue you need in a year. It then counts billable hours: working weeks times hours per week times the billable share. Revenue divided by billable hours is the hourly rate; multiplied by the hours in a billable day it is the day rate.
Frequently asked questions
What is a realistic billable share?+
Around 60 percent for most freelancers. The rest goes on finding clients, admin, invoicing and learning.
Should I include tax?+
If you enter your combined tax and contribution rate, the calculator raises the income target so that what remains after tax matches your goal. Leave it at zero to work with gross figures.
Why add a safety buffer?+
Clients pay late, projects get cancelled and some months are quiet. A 10 to 20 percent buffer keeps the rate realistic.
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