Consulting Rate Calculator

For your freelance dev / automation consulting stream. Set your numbers below — the tool blends what you need to charge (cost-of-doing-business floor) with what the market pays for your tier and stack, so you never quote from a guess.

1Income & Business Costs

Target annual take-home (after tax, after expenses) $40,000 Annual business expenses $6,000

Software subscriptions, hosting, insurance, equipment, contractor help, etc. — this stream's share only.

Combined tax load (self-employment + income tax) 32%

Rough default: ~15.3% self-employment tax + effective federal/state income tax. Adjust to match your actual bracket.

2Realistic Capacity

Weeks worked/yr 48

Hours/week available 15

Hours you can realistically give this stream around EdgeDMS, Cutco, and everything else on your plate.

Billable ratio 55%

% of those hours that are actually billable client work — the rest goes to proposals, admin, scoping, follow-up. Most solo consultants land at 40-65%, not 100%.

3Skill Tier & Stack

Experience tier Stack / specialty Market positioning

Where you sit in the market band for your tier. Be honest — you can move up as proof stacks up.

4Your Recommended Rate

Recommended hourly rate

$0/hr

—

$0 Market band for your tier + stack $0

⚠ Your cost-of-doing-business floor ($0/hr) is above the top of your market band. Either raise your positioning/tier, cut expenses, extend your timeline, or accept slower progress toward your income target at this rate.

ℹ Your cost floor is driving this number, not your market positioning — you need $0/hr just to hit your income target at this capacity, which is higher than a "—" rate for your tier. We used the floor so you never charge below what you actually need. Raise positioning over time, or trim capacity/expenses to lower the floor.

✓ Your market position already covers your cost floor comfortably — you have room to price confidently inside the band.

Floor rate (CODB)

Day rate (6 hrs)

Billable hrs/yr

5Project Quote Builder

Estimated hours for project

Scope-creep buffer 20%

Estimated $ value/savings this delivers the client (optional)

If you know the value you're creating, price against that too — never just against your hours.

Pricing approach	Suggested quote
Hourly × estimated hours + buffer	$0
Value-based (15% of value delivered)	—
Quote this project at	$0

6What This Stream Adds Toward $100K

At your recommended rate, here's projected annual revenue from this stream alone, at a few weekly-hour commitments — on top of EdgeDMS MRR and Cutco commissions.