How to use it
- Enter your target annual income.
- Add annual business expenses and all time‑off days (vacation, holidays, sick, admin).
- Set your working hours per day.
- Click Calculate to see your required rates.
What it does – The Daily Rate Calculator takes your target annual income, business expenses and all non‑working days (vacation, holidays, sick leave, admin) to tell you the exact daily price you must charge. Why it matters – Knowing your required daily and hourly rates lets you price projects confidently, avoid under‑billing, and hit profit goals without guessing. How to read the results – Required Daily Rate is the minimum you need to earn each billable day. Equivalent Hourly Rate breaks that down to an hourly figure based on your working hours. Total Billable Days shows how many days you can actually charge. Weekly Equivalent and Target Monthly Gross translate the daily figure into weekly and monthly revenue targets. Example: $120k income + $30k expenses, 15 vacation days, 10 holidays, 5 sick days, 10 admin days, 8 hours/day → 220 billable days, $682/day, $85/hr, $3,410/week, $12,500/month.
Pro tips
- Add a 5‑10% buffer to cover unexpected downtime.
- Round rates to the nearest whole dollar for client proposals.
- List days off first, then subtract from 260 to avoid double‑counting.
- Check that your hourly rate aligns with market expectations before publishing.
Real-life examples
- A freelance developer wants to know the daily price needed to fund a new laptop and still take two weeks vacation.
- A consulting agency calculates billable rates to ensure each contract covers overhead and profit after accounting for holidays.
- An independent contractor determines the hourly fee required to meet a $150k annual goal while working 30 billable days per month.
Case study
A freelance graphic designer targeting $80k profit with $20k overhead and 20 vacation days used the calculator, discovered a $600 daily rate, raised her proposals, and hit a $100k gross revenue in three months.