What hourly rate should a consultant charge?

Take your desired annual income, add business expenses, multiply by your margin, then divide by your billable hours per year. Most consultants only bill 20–30 hours of a 40-hour week — non-billable time is real.

How many hours can I actually bill per week?

Most independent consultants bill 20–30 hours of a 40-hour week. The rest is sales, admin, learning, and rest. Plan for 25 unless you have a strong pipeline.

Should I use a daily or weekly rate?

For projects longer than two weeks, quote a weekly or monthly retainer at a small discount. It's easier for the client to budget and for you to predict income.

Consultant Hourly Rate Calculator

For consultants and freelancers. Reverse-engineer the hourly rate you need from the income you want, with realistic billable hours.

Quick answerTo find your hourly rate, take your target annual income plus business expenses, multiply by (1 + margin), then divide by billable hours per year (typically 25 hours/week × 48 weeks = 1,200 hours).

Your numbers

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Desired annual income

Business expenses per year

Billable hours / week

hrs

Weeks worked / year

weeks

Profit margin on top

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Your hourly rate

$97.75/hr

Based on 1200 billable hours per year and $117,300.00 needed.

Daily (8 hrs)

$782.00

Weekly (40 hrs)

$3,910.00

Monthly retainer

$13,294.00

Where this comes from

($90,000.00 income + $12,000.00 expenses) × 1.15 = $117,300.00 ÷ 1200 billable hours = $97.75/hr

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How this calculator works

Hourly = (income + expenses) × (1 + margin) ÷ (billable hours/week × weeks/year). Daily = hourly × 8. Weekly = hourly × 40. Monthly retainer = weekly × 4 × 0.85 (a 15% discount that's standard for committed monthly engagements).