Work backwards from the income you want to the hourly rate you need to charge — accounting for the hours you can never bill.
48 wks × 40 h = 1,920 h × 60% billable = 1,152 billable h → 80,000 ÷ 1,152 = 69.44/hThat rate covers your time only — not business costs. Add software, insurance, equipment and any accounting fees on top before you quote, or subtract them from the target income first.
This is a pricing input, not tax advice. Income tax, social contributions and pension obligations are not modelled here; work with an accountant to translate the figure into what you should actually charge.
The mistake nearly every new freelancer makes is dividing a salary by 2,080 hours. That treats every working hour as billable, which it is not. Admin, invoicing, chasing payment, sales, learning and unbilled calls all consume the week, and none of them appear on an invoice.
Realistic billable ratios land between 50% and 70% for most solo service businesses. At 60%, a 40-hour week produces 24 billable hours — so hitting an 80,000 target needs roughly 54 per hour, not the 38 that the naive calculation suggests.
Working weeks matter just as much. A 48-week year already accounts for a month off; if you take more, or get ill, the hours fall and the required rate rises. This is why freelancers need a visibly higher rate than an employee with an equivalent salary.
The rate still has to survive the market. If the calculated figure cannot be charged in your field, the honest options are to raise the target by specialising, reduce non-billable overhead, or bill a percentage of the value delivered rather than hours. Quietly charging less than the calculation produces the same outcome as a pay cut.
Divide target income by the hours you can actually bill. If 48 weeks × 40 hours = 1,920 total hours and 60% are billable, that is 1,152 billable hours — so 80,000 needs about 70 per hour before business costs.
Most solo freelancers and consultants bill 50% to 70% of working time. The rest goes to administration, sales, marketing, invoicing and non-billable calls. Being at the low end of that range pushes your required rate up sharply.
Not necessarily — rates can vary by project complexity, urgency and volume. But the calculated number is your floor for sustaining the business, so any discount needs to be a deliberate decision you can afford, not a default.
Around 46 to 48 is realistic once public holidays, personal time off and sick days are removed from 52. Budgeting for a full 52 weeks means you are pricing in income you will never actually earn.