What should your day rate be?
How to use it
Put in what you want to take home in a year, your costs, your tax and the days you can really bill. The result is the lowest day rate that pays for your life. Quote above it.
How the number is worked out
The revenue you need is your yearly costs plus what you want to take home, grossed up for tax: what you take home, divided by one minus your tax rate.
Your billable days are the weeks you work in a year times the days you can bill each week. Finding clients, proposals, invoices and learning all take days you cannot bill, which is why the default is three and a half.
Your day rate is the revenue you need divided by your billable days. Your hourly rate is the day rate divided by the hours you bill in a day.
This is a floor, not a price. Price each project on what the work is worth to the client, check it against the days it will take, and never say your floor out loud. With Yume, this is the number you keep private: your agent quotes from your range and never states your lowest price.
What people ask about day rates
Is the day rate before or after tax?
Before. The day rate is what you charge. What you take home is the figure you entered, after your costs and your tax.
Why not bill five days a week?
Because a freelance week holds unpaid work: finding clients, writing proposals, sending invoices, learning. Planning on fewer billable days keeps your rate honest.
Should I charge by the day or by the project?
Use the day rate to check a project price: estimate the days, multiply, then price the project on its value to the client. Many clients prefer a fixed project price.
Is anything I type saved?
No. The calculator works in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored.