How much should I charge as a freelancer?
A freelance rate should usually cover more than the salary equivalent. Work backward from the income you want, realistic billable hours and business costs instead of dividing an annual goal by every hour in the year.
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- Not every working hour is billable.
- Business expenses need to be funded by the rate.
- Time for sales, admin and unpaid leave reduces billable capacity.
- The calculated rate is a planning baseline, not a market guarantee.
Use realistic billable hours
Freelancers spend time on proposals, admin, learning, invoicing and other work that clients may not pay for directly. Dividing an annual goal by 2,080 hours can therefore understate the required rate.
A better model uses the hours you realistically expect to bill and adds the business costs the rate needs to support.
Then compare the number with the market
The arithmetic tells you what the rate needs to support. Demand, specialization, client value, competition and project risk determine whether the market will accept that rate.
Quick questions.
Should taxes be included in the rate?
If taxes are part of the costs you need the business to cover, include an appropriate allowance in your planning inputs.
What if I charge per project?
You can still use an hourly planning rate internally to check whether a project price covers the expected effort.
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