About this calculator
Work backwards from the income you want, your overheads and your realistic billable hours to the rate you need to charge.
How it’s calculated
Break-even = (pay + overhead) ÷ (billable hours per week × working weeks). Rate = break-even × (1 + profit).
Worked example
With these inputs:
- Pay you want per year
- $75000
- Business overhead per year
- $20000
- Billable hours per week
- 30
- Working weeks per year
- 46
- Profit on top
- 10%
- Hours in a day
- 8
the result is:
- Hourly rate to charge
- $75.72
- Break-even hourly
- $68.84
- Billable hours per year
- 1,380
- Revenue needed
- $104,500.00
Tips from the trade
- Billable hours are far fewer than hours worked. Quoting, travel, buying and admin all eat into the week.
- Rework this every year as costs move.
- As a sole proprietor you pay both halves of CPP on your own earnings and fund your own holidays and benefits, so set the pay figure high enough.
Results are estimates for planning and pricing. Check quantities against your drawings, the manufacturer’s data and the building code adopted in your province before ordering.