How to Set a Sustainable Freelance Rate

Price work to cover tax, downtime, tools and non-billable business activity.

Your freelance rate must pay for more than the hours spent delivering client work. It also has to cover administration, sales, unpaid leave, software, equipment and tax.

Start with annual revenue required

Add desired personal income, business costs and a sensible tax reserve.

Use billable hours

Do not divide by every hour you work. Only part of your week can usually be invoiced.

Add a margin for uncertainty

Projects expand, invoices are delayed and quiet periods happen. Sustainable pricing includes room for those realities.

Put it into practice

Use the connected calculator, save the result to your dashboard and review the figure during your next monthly check-in.