Laden...
Sales & Revenue
Projects & Team
AI & Communication
Automation & Integrations
Projects & Work
Finance & Invoicing
ERP Alternatives
Scheduling
Laden...
What do you really need to charge per hour? Calculate your minimum rate from target income, costs, vacation and billable ratio — honest math instead of gut feeling.
The most common miscalculation: dividing the desired salary by 1,700 annual hours. In reality, self-employed professionals can bill only 50–70% of their working time — the rest goes to sales, admin and training. This calculator accounts for that, plus business costs, vacation, sick days and public holidays.
Calculation: 260 workdays − 11 public holidays (German average) − vacation − sick days. Business costs: insurances (health, pension), software, office, hardware, tax advisory. No warranty.
Your rate must earn your target income AND all business costs from the hours you can actually bill — not from all the hours you work.
Example: €75,000 target income + €12,000 costs, 30 vacation days, 10 sick days, 40-hour week, 60% billable → 209 workdays × 8 h × 0.6 ≈ 1,003 billable hours → €86.70/h minimum, ~€100/h recommended with buffer. Naively dividing €87,000 by 1,672 total hours yields €52 — effectively working for less than half the target salary.
Target income plus all business costs, divided by billable hours: workdays (260 minus public holidays, vacation, sick days) × daily hours × billable ratio. The ratio is crucial — nobody can bill 100% of their working time.
Typically 50–70% for solo freelancers: the rest goes to sales, quoting, bookkeeping, e-mail and training. Agencies with good utilization management reach 65–80%. If you don't know your ratio, measure it with time tracking — it's the biggest lever in your rate.
Highly field- and seniority-dependent: IT freelancers often €90–130/h, designers €70–110/h, copywriters €60–100/h, consultants €100–180/h. What matters is not the market average but that your rate covers your math — calculate first, position second.
The minimum rate is the break-even line: it only covers target income and costs at planned utilization. Order gaps, payment defaults, unplanned rework and negotiation room need reserve — 15–20% on top is the usual recommendation.
All values here are net, i.e. plus VAT (usually 19%). VAT is passed through — it's not income. Also remember: income tax and social contributions still come out of the net income.
With cashwerk you track time per project and client, see your real billable ratio on the dashboard, and turn tracked hours into invoices with one click.