When you’re contemplating leaving a job and freelancing part-time or full-time, a regular income is an important goal. Generally, you start with what hourly rate to charge… based on what dollars you are putting into the business, your skill level, and what your normal salary would be in corporate land.

To add value for readers of How to Start a Freelance Business (in Australia), Jennifer has designed a freelancer income calculation tool to work out what to charge as an hourly rate or daily rate. You’ll need Excel or something akin to it to open it.

You don’t need to share this hourly rate with clients, but you can use it for fixed fee proposals that require a (time and expenses) x hourly rate analysis. It also has a space for totalling overheads and including these in your hourly rate calculation.

You should also find out what your industry association recommends freelancers or consultants charge as well (except for the MEAA, who are inaccurate when it comes to rates: $259 per hour for book editing – unlikely!) Also steer clear of the AWAI copywriting rate sheet, in the USA.

The Clever Copywriter School provides better estimates for Australian copywriter rates. It also has a section for different income and a simple ‘add’ tool.

We remind you that any money you put into the business, and overheads, must also be returned eventually. This is termed contingency costs…

Access the Freelancer Hourly Rate Calculator below – an Excel template.