This calculator helps you compute the minimum hourly rate you must charge on the job to pay your overhead, pay yourself, and still hit your profit goals. It accounts for real expenses (insurance, vehicle, software, tools, marketing) and also the reality that for every hour on the job, you spend time off the job doing admin, driving, and shopping.
Inputs: Hours-on-job target, desired salary, overhead line items, profit %, PTO %, warranty/refunds %
Outputs: Baseline minimum hourly rate + assumptions you can revisit as the business changes
Your "on-the-job" hours are the billable hours with tools in hand. Total business hours also include driving, shopping, admin, client communication, and prep. A realistic plan assumes you'll spend significant time off the job supporting each billable hour, so your rate must cover both.
Include recurring costs that keep the business alive: insurance, vehicle costs, software, marketing, phone, tools/equipment replacement, accounting, and any subscriptions. If you don't include it, you'll still pay it — so your pricing has to fund it.
Profit is what remains after paying overhead and salary. A practical target is a modest percentage you can actually maintain consistently. The key is choosing profit intentionally, not "whatever is left," so you can reinvest, survive slow months, and grow.
Employees get paid time off built into compensation. As the owner, you must bake that into pricing or you'll only earn money when you physically work. PTO% helps you charge slightly more so you can take time off without crushing your finances.
Treat the output as a minimum baseline, not a single universal price. Complex or high-risk work should price above baseline. Low-skill tasks still should not drop below baseline if you want to meet your goals.
Update whenever your major costs change (insurance, vehicle, software, workload) and at least quarterly. Pricing should follow reality, not last year's assumptions.
Try it free — create an account to save your calculations and export to PDF.