HelloBean.

Free tool

Day rate calculator for Australian freelancers

Find the day rate that covers your pay, super, costs and the days you can't bill. The answer updates as you type.

Hello Bean · hellobean.com.au

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What you want to earn

What you want to earn for yourself, before income tax.

The rate an employer would pay. Nobody pays it for you when you freelance.

Software, insurance, equipment, accountant, phone.

Break your costs down

Fill in any of these and they add up to your yearly costs.

Your year

Count the ones in your state.

Your day

Quotes, admin, chasing invoices and finding work all take days you can't bill.

Used for your hourly rate.

Shows your rates with GST added.

Your day rate

$820

a day · $110 an hour · $410 a half day

  • Working days225
  • Billable days150
  • What the year has to earn$122,000
  • Exact rate, before rounding up$813.33

Where each billable day goes

  • Your profit $666.67
  • Super $80.00
  • Costs $66.67

Once your rate is set, Hello Bean shows what each job really pays you per day, from the time you log and the invoices you send.

What do others in your field earn?

A reference point, from employee pay. It is not a freelance rate.

How to work out your day rate as a sole trader

A common shortcut is to divide what you want to earn by every working day. That leaves out the days you can't bill, so the rate comes out too low. Here is the method the calculator uses, with its example.

  1. Add up what the year has to earn. Start with the profit you want. Add super, because nobody pays it for you. Add your business costs. $100,000 + $12,000 super + $10,000 costs = $122,000.
  2. Count the days you can work. 52 weeks of 5 days is 260. Take off 4 weeks of leave, 10 public holidays and 5 sick days. That leaves 225 working days.
  3. Count the days you can bill. Quotes, admin, chasing invoices and finding work all take days. At 67% billable, 225 days becomes 150. The calculator rounds billable days down, so it never counts a day you won't bill.
  4. Divide, then round up. $122,000 ÷ 150 = $813.33. The calculator rounds up to the next $10, so $820 a day.
  5. Check the gap. Divide by all 225 working days instead and you get $542.22, about a third too low. The difference is the days you can't bill.

Hourly rates and half days

Your hourly rate is the day rate divided by the hours in your billable day, rounded up to the whole dollar. $820 ÷ 7.5 hours is $109.33, so $110 an hour.

Half a day at $820 is $410. Decide what counts as a full day for you, and say so in your quote. That way a long half day doesn't turn into a free full one.

If you're registered for GST

Add 10% on top of your rate. $820 ex GST is $902 inc GST. The extra $82 is GST you collect and report on your BAS, so it isn't part of your income.

Source: ATO, Super guarantee percentage, 2026–27 · checked 25 Oct 2026

General information only, not financial or tax advice. Check with your accountant or BAS agent.