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Keeping $50,000 after tax and expenses means charging about $85 an hour — 1,104 hours of billable time a year, not 1,840 hours.
To actually keep $50,000 a year, you have to bill $93,368 — that gap is $18,333 of tax, $9,000 of business expenses and a 10% profit buffer. Spread across the hours you can genuinely sell, the rate works out at $85 an hour, or roughly $507 for a full day.
The part employees underestimate is the hours. A 40-hour week over 46 weeks is 1,840 hours a year, but admin, pitching and unpaid revisions take a slice, and at 75% utilisation only 1,104 hours of it is billable. The calculator below is set to this scenario — change your tax rate, expenses or how much of the week you actually sell, and watch the rate move.
Hourly, Day Rate & Retainer Pricing
Client-Ready Hourly Rate
Baseline Rate: $97.43 · Healthy utilization
Day Rate
$643
6.0 hrs / day
Monthly Retainer
$4,287
40 hrs / mo
Billable Hours / Year
1,104
60.0% Effective Billable Share
Projected Surplus
+$14,325
After target income, expenses and taxes
Annual Revenue Allocation
Rate Stack
Rate Summary
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Working 46 weeks a year at 40 hours, with 8 hours a week of admin, $9,000 of expenses and 25% tax.
| Billable share | Billable hours | Hourly rate | Day rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50% | 736 hours | $127 | $761 |
| 60% | 883 hours | $106 | $634 |
| 75% | 1,104 hours | $85 | $507 |
| 85% | 1,251 hours | $75 | $448 |
| 95% | 1,398 hours | $67 | $401 |
Target incomes