{
  "slug": "consulting-day-rate",
  "title": "Consulting Day Rate Calculator",
  "heading": "Consulting Day Rate Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/consulting-day-rate",
  "summary": "What to charge per day to hit your income target.",
  "description": "Consultants don't bill 250 days a year. Back out holidays, admin, and sales time, then add overhead and profit to get a rate that actually works.",
  "formula": "Day rate = (target income + costs) ÷ billable days",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=consulting-day-rate",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "target",
      "label": "Target annual income",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 150000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "costs",
      "label": "Annual business costs",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 25000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "weeks",
      "label": "Working weeks per year",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 46,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": 52
    },
    {
      "id": "billable",
      "label": "Billable days per week",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 3,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0.5,
      "max": 7
    },
    {
      "id": "buffer",
      "label": "Profit buffer",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 15,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 0,
      "max": 60
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "rate",
      "label": "Day rate to charge",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "hourly",
      "label": "Equivalent hourly rate",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "days",
      "label": "Billable days per year",
      "format": "decimal",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "weekly",
      "label": "Weekly billing",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "annual",
      "label": "Annual gross billings",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Target annual income: 150000 $",
      "Annual business costs: 25000 $",
      "Working weeks per year: 46",
      "Billable days per week: 3",
      "Profit buffer: 15 %"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Day rate to charge: $1,458",
      "Equivalent hourly rate: $182",
      "Billable days per year: 138",
      "Weekly billing: $4,375",
      "Annual gross billings: $201,250"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter target annual income ($).",
      "Enter annual business costs ($).",
      "Enter working weeks per year.",
      "Enter billable days per week.",
      "Enter profit buffer (%).",
      "Read your day rate to charge on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "target": 90000,
        "costs": 15000,
        "weeks": 28,
        "billable": 1.7999999999999998,
        "buffer": 10
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "target": 150000,
        "costs": 25000,
        "weeks": 46,
        "billable": 3,
        "buffer": 15
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "target": 240000,
        "costs": 40000,
        "weeks": 52,
        "billable": 4.800000000000001,
        "buffer": 25
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "How does the consulting day rate calculator work?",
      "a": "Consultants don't bill 250 days a year. Back out holidays, admin, and sales time, then add overhead and profit to get a rate that actually works. The underlying maths is: Day rate = (target income + costs) ÷ billable days"
    },
    {
      "q": "What do I need to enter?",
      "a": "5 values: target annual income, annual business costs, working weeks per year, billable days per week, and profit buffer. Each field starts with a sensible default, so you can change one number at a time and watch the result move."
    },
    {
      "q": "What does the day rate to charge result mean?",
      "a": "It is returned as a money amount in US dollars and updates live as you edit the inputs, so you can compare two or three versions of a scenario in a few seconds."
    },
    {
      "q": "Is this calculator free, and do I need an account?",
      "a": "Yes, it's free, and no account is required. Nothing you type is stored on our servers — the maths runs entirely in your browser."
    },
    {
      "q": "How accurate is the result?",
      "a": "It applies the standard formula exactly, so the arithmetic is precise. Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them."
    },
    {
      "q": "Who is this tool for?",
      "a": "It's built for anyone comparing money scenarios before committing — budgeting a payment, sanity-checking a quote, or seeing what a change in rate or term actually costs."
    }
  ],
  "related": [],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Consulting Day Rate Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/consulting-day-rate)"
}