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Freelance Calculator
In a previous post I suggested someone look up a freelance hourly rate calculator, and after a little searching I found the specific one I was thinking of.
https://freelanceswitch.com/rates/
My first go at it years ago resulted in a rate close to $295/hr! Frugality and some realistic expectations regarding savings and operating expenses brought it down, but still it’s amazing how little we sometimes value our work in a world where we want to afford the very best.
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Rick Dolishny
Discrete Editors COW Leader
http://www.thecreativeprocess.ca -
8 Replies
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… oh yeah part of my $295/hr came from the dream of only working 20 hours a week.
I believe that dream died very quickly.
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Rick Dolishny
Discrete Editors COW Leader
http://www.thecreativeprocess.ca -
Nice link, it was immediately bookmarked. A lot of people post asking about price, that link should be the first thing they are given.
Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity!
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Freaky! The first pass came out less than $2 under the rate at which I actually bill myself. While a good start, the truth of the matter when it comes to arriving at rates is a little more complicated.
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A little more complicated indeed… Such as, where is the “How good are you at what you do?” multiplier?
Needless to say this is a great tool to figure up what you NEED to make based on expenditures, but that doesn’t mean it’s a realistic rate to charge clients.
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This is a helpful link. Thanks for passing it along to us!
Too many new entrepreneurs in this industry set rates based on the (perceived) local competition’s rates.
While local competition is a factor, I believe that it’s not the most important factor. How much you need to make to cover your expenses is even more important.
I agree that there are many other questions that need to be answered before setting baseline “ratecard” charges, but this does get people started down the right path.
This web calculator can also illustrate very quickly how important it is to manage expenses as well as charge an appropriate rate. I understand “equipment fever” as well as the next guy, but I’ve seen some very good post houses have to shut their doors because they over-purchased equipment during a good season of work.
Never underestimate the value of a good accountant’s advice.
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[Timothy J. Allen] “While local competition is a factor, I believe that it’s not the most important factor. How much you need to make to cover your expenses is even more important.”
That’s an interesting thought.
You can bend yourself in pretzels worrying about how well/quickly “someone else” could do a job, and how much “someone else” would charge. (See more recent thread about charging for motion graphics work.) But the bottom line is that you have to survive, and you may not be the best judge of your competition’s worth anyway.
Bob C
MacPro 2 x 3GHz dualcore; 10 GB 667MHz
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Outstanding link! But what about taxes?
Good stuff, thank you.
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http://www.geniusmonkeys.com
(818) 653-9144 -
I think this is a decent calculator, but I recently found a better one at Modern Freelance. It’s much more detailed and includes tax information, which for some reason FS leaves out.
https://www.modernfreelance.com/freelance-calculator/
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