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Hourly rate calculator

What should you charge an hour?

Most rates are a guess, or a copy of the bloke down the road. Put in your team, your vehicles and everything the business pays for, and this gives you the rate you need to break even and the rate you need to make money.

The figures below are examples. Change every one to your own, and add or remove lines to match your business. Your numbers stay on this device unless you ask us to email them to you.

Your team

Everyone on the payroll, you included. Office staff go in at 0% billable.

$214,001 a year

Billable % is the share of time at work you can put on an invoice. The rest is travel, pick-ups, quoting and call-backs.

Vehicles

One line per ute, van or trailer.

$21,040 a year

Rent and leases

Workshop, office, storage, equipment leases.

$18,000 a year

Insurance

Public liability, tools, income protection. Vehicle insurance goes under vehicles.

$2,700 a year

Software and subscriptions

Job management, accounting, take off, anything billed monthly.

$3,240 a year

Phones and internet

One line per plan, or one line for the lot.

$2,520 a year

Everything else

Accountant, licences, tools, uniforms, marketing, bank fees.

$8,200 a year

Profit

What you want left after every cost above, as a share of what you charge.

Your charge-out rate

$144.02

an hour, ex GST

Break-even rate$115.22 /hr
Total cost a year$269,701
Wages, super and on-costs$214,001
Vehicles$21,040
Rent and leases$18,000
Insurance$2,700
Software and subscriptions$3,240
Phones and internet$2,520
Everything else$8,200
Hours paid a year3,952
Hours you can bill a year2,341

Every hour billed under $115.22 costs you money. You pay for 3,952 hours and can bill 2,341 of them.

Each person
You$112,632
1,003 billable hours a year
Electrician$101,369
1,338 billable hours a year

See your jobs priced at $144 an hour

We email you these numbers and open five real builds, free, with your rate already in.

Free, no card. Reply “stop” any time and you won’t hear from us again.

Your charge-out rate$144.02 /hr