Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

What this tool can do

Include annual income and business expenses. Reserve a percentage for tax. Account for vacation and non-billable time. Calculate hourly and eight-hour day rates.

Formula and methodology

Hourly rate = ((income goal + expenses) ÷ (1 − tax reserve)) ÷ annual billable hours.

Worked example

A €60,000 income goal plus €12,000 expenses, 25% tax reserve, and 960 billable hours requires a €100 hourly rate.

Not every working hour is billable

Sales, administration, learning, and gaps between projects reduce the hours available to invoice. Use a realistic billable percentage.

Treat tax as a planning reserve

The selected reserve is not tax advice. Actual obligations depend on entity, location, deductions, and personal circumstances.

Privacy

Calculations and draft documents run in your browser. Entered values are not included in FollowIncome analytics events.

Next step

Use the result as a planning aid, then track actual invoices, payments, expenses and projects in FollowIncome.

Frequently asked questions

How many billable hours should I use?

Start with working weeks times weekly hours, then apply a realistic billable percentage based on your actual workload.

Does this include vacation?

Yes, indirectly. Enter only the weeks you expect to work during the year.

Is the tax reserve a tax calculation?

No. It is a planning allowance and does not calculate jurisdiction-specific liability.

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