Freelance & contracting · day rate

Freelance day rate calculator

Q: Is my day rate before or after tax?

The rate you invoice is turnover, before Income Tax and National Insurance. Set the rate from the pre-tax income you want, then check your take-home separately with a tax calculator.

Most rate calculators start with a salary and add a bit on top. This one works the other way round: it starts with what you actually want to keep, adds the cost of running the business, and divides by the days you can really bill — so the number that comes out is the rate you genuinely need to charge.

Your numbers

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Income you want to earn the pre-tax profit you want the business to pay you over a year — think of it as your salary equivalent, before Income Tax and National Insurance

Annual business costs software, insurance, equipment, accountant, phone, travel, pension — everything the work costs you in a year

Billable days a year There are about 253 weekdays once you take out weekends and bank holidays. After holiday, the odd sick day, admin, invoicing and finding the next piece of work, many freelancers actually bill 200 or fewer.

Hours in a billable day optional — used only to show an equivalent hourly rate

Why "add a bit to your old salary" gets it wrong

When you were employed, your employer quietly covered a lot: paid holiday, sick pay, a pension contribution, employer's National Insurance, equipment, software and training. As a freelancer that all comes out of your rate — and you only get paid on the days you actually bill, not the 52 weeks a year an employee is paid for.

So the honest way round is to decide what you want the business to pay you, add what it costs to run, and spread that over the days you can realistically sell. That is your floor — the rate below which the year doesn't add up. What you charge above it is down to your market and your value.

This is turnover, not take-home

The day rate here is what you invoice, before Income Tax and National Insurance. To see what actually lands in your account, run the total through the tax bill calculator — a sole trader keeps roughly two-thirds of profit at these levels once tax and NIC are paid.

Common questions

How do I work out my freelance day rate?

Add the income you want to earn to your annual business costs, then divide by the number of days you can actually bill in a year. That gives the day rate your year needs to work — a floor to price up from, not down.

How many billable days are there in a year?

There are roughly 253 weekdays in a year once weekends and bank holidays are removed. After holiday, sick days, admin, invoicing and time spent winning the next contract, most full-time freelancers bill somewhere between 180 and 220 days — using 200 is a sensible starting point.

Should my day rate cover holidays and sick pay?

Yes. No one pays a freelancer to take a holiday or a sick day, so the cost of that time has to sit inside the rate you charge on the days you do work. That is exactly why you divide by billable days rather than by 260.

Is my day rate before or after tax?

The rate you invoice is turnover — before Income Tax and National Insurance. Set the rate from the pre-tax income you want, then check your take-home separately with the tax calculator.

More free tools

Tax bill calculator →Turn your day-rate income into an actual take-home figure. Payment on account →The 31 July bill that catches out first-year freelancers. MTD deadlines →When freelancers over £50k must send HMRC quarterly updates.

From "what rate?" to "am I actually making money?"

Knowing your floor is step one. The paid Day-Rate & Profit calculator goes further — model different rates and utilisation side by side, split your take-home from your costs, and see the profit each scenario really leaves you.

Freelance Day-Rate & Profit Calculator — rate, billable days and costs in, take-home and annual profit out, with scenarios you can compare at a glance.
Self Assessment Tax Estimator 2026/27 — what you'll owe HMRC on that income, before January.
Invoice Tracker & Chase List — paid, outstanding and overdue at a glance, so you get paid.
Rental Property ROI & Yield Calculator — for the freelancers who invest on the side too.

Excel and Google Sheets. Working formulas, not just formatting. Built and checked by us, with AI assistance, and every calculation verified.

Get the Day-Rate & Profit calculator — £9 →

£9 on its own, or all four tools for £19, with a 14-day money-back guarantee.