Price your work
What should you charge per hour?
Start from the take-home pay you want. This works backwards through tax, expenses and time off.
Your minimum hourly rate
—
- Day rate (8 billable hours)
- —
- Revenue needed per month
- —
- Revenue needed per year
- —
- Billable hours per year
- —
- Estimated tax per year
- —
How this rate is worked out
Your take-home pay is grossed up for tax, business expenses are added, and the total is divided by the hours you can bill: (take-home ÷ (1 − tax rate) + expenses) ÷ billable hours.
How many hours can I bill?
Fewer than you work. Admin, emailing, pitching and gaps between projects go unpaid, so many freelancers plan around 20 to 30 billable hours a week rather than 40. Lower the hours above and watch the rate climb.
Is this the rate I should quote?
Treat it as a floor: the rate below which you lose money. Quote above it to leave room for discounts, late payers and slow months.