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Business Resource HubPractical guides for small businesses

Hourly Rate Calculator

Set a defensible hourly rate from your target income, overheads, realistic billable hours and a profit buffer.

Insurance, software, tools, vehicle, accountant, training.

For bad debt, equipment failure and quiet months.

Be honest — 22 to 28 is normal for a full-time independent.

Hourly rate you need

£54.00

Equivalent day rate

7.5 billable hours

£405

Revenue required

£62,100

Annual billable hours

1150

Utilisation

63%

Earnings per hour actually worked

The number that reflects your real week

£33.75

If the required rate is far above local norms, change what you sell rather than working more hours at an unsustainable price.

This calculator runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to us or stored, and results are illustrative guidance rather than accounting or financial advice.

The thinking behind it

How to Set an Hourly Rate You Can Defend — The billable-hours arithmetic most freelancers get wrong, and how to price from target income instead of guesswork.