# Hourly rate calculator for freelancers > Your hourly rate is the money you need to bring in each year divided by the hours you can actually bill. Enter the income you want, your yearly business costs, a tax set-aside you choose, your billable hours a week and your weeks off. You get an hourly rate, a day rate and a monthly target. Page: https://pdfinish.com/hourly-rate-calculator Last updated: November 1, 2026 ## The formulas in words - Income before the tax set-aside = take-home income divided by (1 minus your tax set-aside). - Money to bring in = that amount plus your yearly business costs. - Billable hours a year = billable hours a week times (52 minus weeks off). - Hourly rate = money to bring in divided by billable hours a year. - Day rate = hourly rate times billable hours a week, divided by billable days a week (5 if left empty). - Monthly target = money to bring in divided by 12. ## Worked example You want $60,000 to take home, expect $6,000 of business costs, set aside 20% for tax, bill 25 hours a week and take 6 weeks off. Income before the set-aside is $60,000 divided by 0.8, which is $75,000. Add $6,000 of costs to get $81,000. You bill 25 times 46, or 1,150 hours, so the hourly rate is $81,000 divided by 1,150, about $70.43. The day rate is about $352.17 and the monthly target is $6,750. ## Why count billable hours and not hours worked? Finding clients, writing proposals, sending invoices, answering email and learning new tools all take time that no client pays for. If you divide by every hour you work, the rate comes out too low. Enter the hours you expect to bill, which will usually be fewer than the hours you work. ## What should I count as business costs? Count what you pay to run the work: software, equipment you replace, a coworking desk, insurance, accounting, marketing, and the business share of your phone and internet. Enter one yearly total. Leave out your own pay and your tax set-aside, because the calculator adds those separately. Ask an accountant what counts for you. ## How do I choose a tax set-aside percentage? You type the percentage yourself, because the right figure depends on where you live, how you are set up and how much you earn. We do not supply tax rates. Ask a local accountant or your tax authority, or look at last year's return, and enter the share of each payment you plan to put aside. ## How many weeks off should I enter? Enter the weeks you will not bill: holidays, sick days, public holidays and slow weeks between projects. Each week off removes a week of billable hours, which raises the hourly rate you need. Start with the time you want away, then add a cushion for illness and gaps in work. ## Put the numbers on paper - [Freelance invoice template](https://pdfinish.com/templates/invoice-freelance): bill clients at the rate you worked out. - [Contractor agreement template](https://pdfinish.com/templates/contractor-agreement): put the rate and terms in writing before work starts. - [Quote template](https://pdfinish.com/templates/project-quote): price a project before you begin. - [PDF tools and templates for freelancers](https://pdfinish.com/for-freelancers): everything for invoices, quotes and agreements in one place. - [Profit margin calculator](https://pdfinish.com/profit-margin-calculator): check the margin if you sell products as well as time. - [Invoice due date calculator](https://pdfinish.com/invoice-due-date-calculator): find when the invoice at that rate is due. - [Mileage reimbursement calculator](https://pdfinish.com/mileage-reimbursement-calculator): work out the mileage to bill on top of your time. - [All business calculators](https://pdfinish.com/calculators): the full list of free calculators. ## Key facts - Privacy: We don't sell your data. This tool runs in your browser, so your files stay on your device and are never uploaded. - Ads: none. No third-party ads and no ad cookies. - Limits: working out a result is free, needs no account and is never counted. Saving the result as a PDF counts as one of your free uses. Emailing it to yourself is optional. Pro has no limit on uses with Pro. - Price: free to start. The editable Excel version with live formulas is part of Pro, $2.99 a month or $24 a year. Pro cancels in one click. - Results are estimates for planning, not financial, tax or investment advice. ## Common questions ### Is the hourly rate calculator free? Yes. Working out a result is free, needs no account and is never counted. Saving the result as a PDF counts like any other PDFinish file under the free allowance shown on this page. The editable Excel version is part of Pro. ### Are my numbers uploaded? No. The maths runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent to our servers. If you choose Email it to me, only the finished PDF is sent, to the address you give, and we delete it after 7 days. ### What does the Excel download include? Pro members can download a spreadsheet with your inputs in cells and live formulas for the hourly rate, day rate, monthly target and the lines that show how each input moves the rate. Change a number in Excel or Google Sheets and every result updates. ### Does it include health cover, retirement or a pension? Not by itself. If you want to pay for health cover or retirement savings out of your business income, add that money to the income you want or to your yearly costs, so the rate covers it. ### Is this financial or tax advice? No. The results are estimates for planning. They are not financial, tax or investment advice, and the tax set-aside is a number you choose, not a rate we supply. Ask a qualified adviser about your own situation.