Hourly rate calculator
What should you charge per hour?
Plug in your income goal, overheads and billable hours. We'll work out the charge-out rate that actually covers it all, tax, super, downtime, the lot.
Your numbers
Default values work for most solo trades, adjust to your reality.
What you want to actually put in your pocket for the year.
Van, fuel, insurance, phone, software, tools, accountant, marketing.
52 – holiday – sick. Typical is 44–48.
Total hours you're available to work, not just billable.
Most tradies bill 60–70%. The rest is quotes, admin, travel, parts pick-up.
Extra on top for growth, equipment, slow weeks. 10–20% is healthy.
12% from 1 July 2025 (ATO). Sole traders can skip if not paying self.
Changes how tax is calculated on gross income.
Your hourly rate should be
$0
Charge this much per billable hour to hit your goal.
Breakdown
| Component | Annual $ | Per billable hour |
|---|
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How this works
Your charge-out rate has to cover four things, not one:
- What you want to take home, after tax, after everything.
- The tax you'll pay to get to that take-home (ATO brackets for 2025–26).
- Running the business, the van, insurance, phone, software, accountant.
- Super + a profit buffer, for slow weeks, new tools, growth.
We add those up, then divide by your billable hours, not every hour you're awake. A 45-hour week at 65% billable is really about 29 paid hours. That's why the number often looks higher than a PAYG wage.
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