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What should you
charge?

Calculate your ideal freelance rate based on target income, billable hours, business expenses, and taxes. So you stop undercharging.

Set your rate

Tell us about your business

What you want to keep, after federal, state, and SE tax.
Most freelancers bill 20-30 of 40 hours. Rest is admin, sales, training.
52 minus vacation, sick, holidays. Most freelancers: 46-50.
Software, office, equipment, contractors, etc.
Pricing reality

Why most freelancers undercharge.

The math you forget

If your "target salary" is $80,000, the actual hourly rate to hit that take-home is much higher than $80,000 ÷ 2,000 = $40. You also need to cover:

The realistic multiplier from "W-2 salary equivalent" to freelance hourly rate is roughly 2-3x. So $80k W-2 = $80-$120/hr freelance, not $40/hr.

The 25-hour rule

A 40-hour work week doesn't mean 40 billable hours. Realistic billable hours for most freelancers: 20-28 per week. Plan around 25 to leave buffer for sales, admin, training.

The vacation rule

Freelancers don't get paid time off. If you take 4 weeks vacation + 1 week sick + holidays, you have ~46 working weeks. That's already 12% less revenue than 52 weeks.

Related tools

More freelancer math.