Hourly Rate Calculator
Calculate what hourly rate you should charge to hit your income goals. Factor in expenses, holidays, and billable hours.
For UK freelancers, contractors, and consultants
Set Your Rate with Confidence
Account for holidays, admin time, and non-billable work to set a sustainable rate
Your Goals
What you want to take home before tax
52 weeks minus holidays and sick days (typically 46-48)
Total hours you plan to work each week
Time spent on billable work vs admin, sales, learning (typically 60-80%)
Your Rates
Hourly Rate
£37.2
per billable hour
Daily Rate
£297.62
8-hour day
Monthly
£4,166.67
equivalent
Breakdown
Track Your Income Automatically
AccountsOS helps UK freelancers and contractors track income, manage expenses, and stay on top of taxes.
Get Started FreeNote: This is your gross income target. Remember to account for taxes, National Insurance, pension contributions, and business expenses when setting your final rate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about calculating your hourly rate
To calculate your hourly rate, start with your desired annual income, add your business costs (insurance, software, equipment, etc.), then divide by your billable hours. A common formula is: (Target Income + Business Expenses) / Billable Hours = Hourly Rate. Remember that as a freelancer or contractor, you typically only bill 60-70% of your working hours - the rest goes to admin, marketing, and business development.
Billable time refers to the hours you can actually charge clients for. This excludes time spent on admin tasks, invoicing, marketing, meetings, professional development, and holidays. Most freelancers and contractors find that only 50-70% of their working week is truly billable. For example, if you work 40 hours per week but only 25 are billable, your rate needs to account for those 15 unbillable hours.
Yes, contractors should typically charge 40-60% more than an equivalent employee salary. This is because as a contractor you don't receive employee benefits like pension contributions, holiday pay, sick pay, employer NI contributions, training, or equipment. You also have additional costs like professional indemnity insurance, accountancy fees, and unpaid time between contracts. A general rule is to multiply an equivalent day rate by 1.4-1.6 to cover these costs.
When calculating your hourly rate, deduct holidays and potential sick days from your available working days. In the UK, employees get 28 days minimum holiday. As a contractor, you should budget for at least 25-30 days off per year. If you work 5 days a week, that's 260 working days minus 30 days off = 230 billable days. Always build in a buffer for unexpected illness or gaps between contracts.
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Track expenses, manage invoices, and optimise your tax - all in one place. Built for UK limited company directors.
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