Skip to tool
MyToolPantry

Career & Salary

Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

Estimate a freelance hourly rate from a pre-tax owner-pay target, business expenses, contingency, collection risk, and billable time.

MyToolPantry.comFreelance Hourly Rate Calculator

Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator result

ToolEnter your information below
1 Set assumptions2 Review result3 Compare or save
Scenario AAll assumptions are visible.
Primary result$89.65Minimum hourly freelance rate
Minimum hourly freelance rate$89.65Annual billed-revenue target$123,711.34Billable hours per year1,380Monthly billed-revenue target$10,309.28Weekly target during billable weeks$2,689.38Allowance for uncollected revenue$3,711.34

What this means: 1,380 billable hours must support owner pay, expenses, contingency, and collection risk, producing $89.65.

Use the project controls below to save, print, download, or share the complete result.
Formula, assumptions & limitations

Inputs used: Desired annual pre-tax owner pay ($); Annual business expenses ($); Annual contingency or profit target ($); Billable weeks per year; Billable hours per week; Uncollectible revenue allowance (%).

Method: Required collected revenue = owner pay + business expenses + contingency/profit target. Required billed revenue grossed up for noncollection = collected revenue ÷ (1 − uncollectible rate). Hourly rate divides billed revenue by billable weeks × billable hours.

Owner pay is entered before personal income tax; add a tax-specific target if needed. Billable weeks and hours must exclude sales, administration, leave, revisions, and unpaid work. Market pricing, scope risk, insurance, fees, and late payment can require a different quote.

More
Save or exportOptional

No project folder exists yet. Create a project folder first.

Save to projectKeep this result with related tools and data.
My Projects

How this tool works

Required collected revenue adds owner pay, business expenses, and contingency. The tool grosses that up for the entered noncollection allowance, then divides by billable weeks × billable hours.

Assumptions

The owner-pay target is pre-tax. Business expenses and contingency are added, billed revenue is grossed up for collection risk, and the result divides by billable weeks and hours.

Limits to know

The rate assumes the entered utilization, costs, unpaid time, and target pay. Taxes, payment delays, scope changes, market demand, and unbillable work can change the required quoted rate.