Most freelance rate advice starts from your old salary and adds a bit. This starts from what you actually want to keep, works forward through tax, super and business costs, and lands on the rate that gets you there — accounting for the hours you won't be billing anyone for.
Target annual take-home pay
What you want left in your pocket after tax — not your rate, not your revenue, the number you actually want to bank.
What has to come out before it's yours
Software, insurance, coworking, equipment, accountant.
Of your take-home target. 12% matches the current employer super guarantee rate — no one pays it for you as a sole trader.
Not every hour is billable
Admin, invoicing, marketing, quoting and slow weeks all eat into hours you can actually charge for.
Most freelancers bill 60–75% of available hours once admin and marketing are accounted for.
Use the sole trader tax calculator to double-check the tax side once real invoices start coming in, or a tool like Hnry to have tax and super set aside automatically as you get paid.
See a tool that automates this →