A sustainable freelance rate covers income, expenses, taxes, non-billable time and time off. Enter your real capacity to calculate an hourly rate, day rate, project quote and additional revision fee—then download a client-ready scope pack.
Free, no registration and no email. Your calculation stays on this device; the file is generated in your browser.
Find the revenue your business must produce, then divide it by hours you can actually invoice—not every hour on your calendar.
Live result
Based on annual revenue divided by realistic billable hours.
Formula: ((income goal + expenses) ÷ (1 − tax rate)) × (1 + buffer) ÷ annual billable hours.
Both files include the current inputs, results and calculation assumptions. If you have not edited the form, the sample values are used as a ready-to-customize template.
A rate protects your time only when the proposal defines deliverables, revision limits, additional fees and approval. These details are added to the downloadable HTML pack.
Use one deliverable per line so the downloaded pack is easy to review.
The project fee includes 2 revision rounds for the deliverables listed above. Requests outside those deliverables or beyond the included rounds require written approval and are billed at the calculated hourly rate or the displayed per-round fee. Additional work begins only after approval of the revised estimate.
The calculator connects three decisions that are often separated: annual revenue, realistic invoice capacity and project scope.
See how income, operating costs, tax provision, time off and non-billable work change the minimum rate your business needs.
Review the formulaConvert the hourly baseline into a fixed project quote while reserving capacity for feedback instead of absorbing revisions for free.
Build a project priceDefine included revision rounds, calculate a per-round fee and place a written approval step around out-of-scope requests.
Set revision boundariesUse the rate as a decision baseline, then translate it into terms a client can understand and approve.
Add your desired personal income and annual business costs. Gross that amount up for your estimated tax provision, add a business buffer, and divide by realistic billable hours.
((income + expenses) ÷ (1 − tax rate)) × (1 + buffer) ÷ billable hours
An $80,000 income goal plus $12,000 expenses, a 25% tax provision and a 10% buffer requires about $134,933 in annual revenue. At 46 working weeks, 5 days, 8 hours and 60% utilization, that is 1,104 billable hours and roughly $122 per billable hour.
Estimate the work by deliverable, include communication and project management, then add revision capacity. A fixed quote should not be a guess—it should be a documented capacity purchase.
| Pricing method | Useful when | Protect it with |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly | The scope is uncertain or work is ongoing. | Time reporting, minimum increments and an approval cap. |
| Project | Deliverables and acceptance criteria are defined. | Estimated hours, revision reserve and scope-change terms. |
| Day rate | A client reserves focused access for a defined day. | Day length, agenda, rescheduling and overtime terms. |
hourly rate × estimated hours × (1 + revision reserve). Using the default inputs, 40 hours with a 15% revision reserve produces a project quote of about $5,622.
Define what counts as one revision round, who consolidates feedback and when a request becomes a change in scope. State the price before additional work starts.
“The project fee includes [number] revision rounds for the listed deliverables. Requests beyond the included rounds or outside those deliverables require written approval and are billed at [hourly rate] or [per-round fee]. Additional work begins after approval of the revised estimate.”
Specify the feedback deadline, require one consolidated response per round, distinguish correction from new direction, quote additional hours, and record approval before continuing.
Short answers to the decisions freelancers commonly face before sending a quote.
Add your income goal and business expenses, gross the amount up for estimated taxes, add a safety buffer, then divide by annual billable hours. Billable hours should exclude time spent on sales, administration, bookkeeping and other work you cannot invoice. See the full formula and example.
There is no universal percentage. For planning, 50% to 70% may be more realistic than 100% because client acquisition, calls, proposals, finance and learning consume working time. Use your last 8–12 weeks of tracked time when available and replace the sample percentage with your own evidence.
Use hourly pricing when the scope is uncertain or changes frequently. Project pricing can work better when deliverables, review rounds and acceptance are clear. Even for a fixed fee, calculate an internal hourly baseline so you can test whether the quote covers the expected capacity. Compare the options in the project pricing guide.
State the number of included rounds and estimate the hours required for one additional round. Multiply those hours by your calculated rate, or provide an hourly range if the request is not yet defined. Obtain written approval before starting. The calculator displays a per-round amount and the scope builder supplies an approval clause.
Yes. It includes annual business expenses and grosses the income-plus-expense target up using the tax percentage you enter. Tax rules vary, so treat this as a business-planning estimate and confirm your actual obligations with a qualified local professional.
Yes. Start with the sample values, then replace them with known costs and a conservative utilization assumption. The result is a sustainability baseline, not proof that every client will accept that rate. Compare it with relevant budgets, the value of the work and evidence from your specific service market.
Include the client and project name, deliverables, exclusions, schedule, fee, payment timing, included revision rounds, additional-work price, approval method and ownership or usage terms where relevant. The downloadable rate pack covers the pricing and scope fields but is not a substitute for a complete contract.
No. The calculations and downloadable files are created in your browser. This page does not require an account or email address. Avoid entering confidential client information when using any shared or public device.
Get a printable HTML summary containing your assumptions, hourly and project rates, deliverables, revision fee, payment schedule and scope-change clause.
Free · no registration · no email · generated locally on this device