Hourly Rate Calculator for Sole Traders & Freelancers
Build a rate from the income you need and the hours you can actually invoice. Adjust time off and unpaid admin to see their effect on your pricing floor.
An example is loaded. Replace it with your figures. All amounts are AUD.
- Annual billable hours
- 1,048.8
- Annual revenue needed
- $110,000.00
- Hourly rate before GST
- $104.89
- With 10% GST, if applicable
- $115.38
($80,000.00 owner income + $20,000.00 overheads + $10,000.00 reserve) ÷ 1,048.8 billable hours. Hourly rate rounded up to the next cent.
A planning floor, not a market rate or take-home pay estimate. Owner income is before personal tax. Include retirement savings and a business buffer in the reserve; only add GST where it applies.
No sign-up. Your numbers stay in this page and reset on refresh.
Start with billable hours
Forty hours at work rarely means forty hours invoiced. A freelancer working 38 hours for 46 weeks at 60% billable utilisation has 1,048.8 billable hours a year. The other time still matters, but it must be funded by paid work.
The starting example needs $110,000 revenue to cover $80,000 owner income, $20,000 overheads and a $10,000 reserve. Dividing by 1,048.8 hours gives an hourly floor of $104.89 after rounding up. That is not an industry benchmark.
Use the floor to evaluate a quote
Multiply your floor by the realistic total delivery hours for a job, then add direct project costs and allowances for risk that are not already in the annual budget. A fixed fee may sit above that cost floor when the value to the customer justifies it.
Treat owner income as a before-tax planning amount. This tool does not calculate take-home pay, deductions or an employer's obligations. For a company with an employed director, payroll on-costs need to be included correctly in the budget.
Stress-test your assumptions
Try 40% billable utilisation instead of 60%. The same revenue target has fewer paid hours to carry it. Then reduce working weeks to allow for holidays, illness and training. A sustainable quote should survive an ordinary quiet month.
The GST-inclusive figure is shown only as a conditional comparison. Add GST only when it applies. Separate agreed scope, revisions, payment dates and GST treatment in the quote so a good hourly rate does not turn into an unprofitable fixed-price job.
Common questions
Is this the rate I should charge every customer?
It is a cost-based planning floor. Demand, specialisation, risk and the value of the result also influence the rate you can charge.
Does the calculator save my income figures?
No. These calculations run in your browser. We do not upload or store the numbers you enter; refreshing resets the example.
Put the result to work
Sources and assumptions
Formula notes checked 5 September 2026. Examples are illustrative; these tools provide general information.