Free Calculator · Updated 18 May 2026
Work backwards from the take-home you actually want. Plug in utilisation, overheads, super and GST — get a defensible hourly rate, day rate, half-day rate, and project bands in seconds.
% of working hours that are billable (rest = sales, admin, ops)
SG minimum is 11.5% from Jul 2024; rises to 12% by 2025.
Buffer for income tax + non-billable risk (bad debts, scope creep)
52 − annual leave − public holidays − sick/training days
Project rate ranges
±15% band on hourly rate × estimated hours. Use for fixed-fee quoting.
Small (10 hr)
$1,446 – $1,956
Mid $1,701
Medium (50 hr)
$7,228 – $9,779
Mid $8,504
Large (200 hr)
$28,912 – $39,117
Mid $34,015
How To Use It
Step 1
Not your old salary — the post-tax income that supports your life. Add the salary you'd earn doing the same work as an employee, then adjust for what consulting gives back (autonomy) and takes away (sick leave, predictability).
Step 2
Solo operators average 50–65% billable. The rest is sales, admin, learning, and downtime between contracts. Year-one consultants almost always overestimate — start at 50% and prove you can do better before you price like a 75%-er.
Step 3
Software, co-working/rent, insurance, marketing, accounting, training — these add up fast. Super (11.5% from Jul 2024, stepping to 12%) is not optional once you're drawing a wage. If you pay yourself through a company, it's a cost line.
Step 4
The default 25% covers income tax buffer plus non-billable risk (bad debts, scope creep, surprise expenses). For higher-risk work — long-cycle projects, novel scope, single-client revenue — push the margin to 35–40%.
Practical Tips
A 60% utilisation target on paper is closer to 45% in practice once you account for sales conversations that don't convert, meetings that should have been emails, and the first hour of every morning. Audit a real month before trusting the number.
Quoting, scoping, invoicing, BAS, follow-ups, GST returns — this is 8–12% of a solo consultant's week and zero of it is billable. Bake it into utilisation rather than pretending it's admin you'll do "in the evenings".
The number from this calculator is your floor. When the client outcome is high-value (revenue uplift, regulatory unblock, key hire) — switch to fixed-fee tied to the outcome. The same 40 hours can be $8k or $40k depending on how you frame it.
Mandatory once you hit $75k turnover in any rolling 12 months. Many consultants register voluntarily from day one — you get input credits on software and gear, and your B2B clients don't care because they claim it back. B2C consultants should hold off if their clients can't.
Work backwards from the take-home you need, not from what competitors charge. Plug your target annual income, expected utilisation (start conservative — 50–60% in year one), overheads, and super into the calculator. The output is your floor — the rate you need just to clear your target salary. Market rates may be higher; never go lower than your floor or you're paying clients to work with you.
Hourly is easiest to defend and easiest to lose money on (clients haggle the rate, you absorb scope creep). Value-based pricing — quoting a fixed fee tied to the client's outcome — almost always earns more per hour delivered but requires you to scope tightly and walk away from poorly-defined briefs. Most consultants run a hybrid: fixed-fee projects for new clients, hourly retainers for trusted ones.
Three signals: (1) you're consistently fully booked 6+ weeks ahead, (2) your win rate on quotes is above 70% (suggests you're under-priced), (3) your annual cost base has grown but your rate hasn't moved in 12+ months. Re-run this calculator each January with updated overheads and super — the SG rate has stepped up steadily and it eats your effective rate if you don't repass it.
Most rate objections aren't about the rate — they're about perceived value or scope clarity. Before negotiating down, ask 'what would need to be different in scope for this to fit your budget?'. Offer a reduced scope at the same rate rather than discounting. Discounting your rate trains the client to expect it on every renewal.
Take your hourly rate, multiply by committed monthly hours, then apply a 5–15% discount for the commitment and predictability. Cap the carry-over (e.g. unused hours expire after one month) or you'll end up doing a year's worth of work in December. Bill in advance, not in arrears — retainers in arrears are just deferred invoices.
Project (fixed-fee) when scope is clear, deliverables are concrete, and the client cares about the outcome more than how you got there — e.g. a brand identity, a defined integration, an audit. Hourly when scope is genuinely uncertain (ongoing advisory, evolving software work) or when the client values your time directly. If you're quoting fixed-fee on fuzzy scope, you're underwriting the client's indecision — don't.
OneBookPlus is the all-in-one platform for Australian service businesses — proposals, time tracking, retainer invoicing, BAS- ready GST. Free to start, no card required.
Last reviewed and updated: by Bishal Shrestha
About the author
Founder & CEO, OneBookPlus
Bishal has over a decade of experience in digital marketing, web development, and small business consulting across Australia. Bishal has reviewed consulting hourly-rate economics with AU service-business founders.
More in this guide
8-step founder guide — ABN, GST, PI, engagement letters, pricing, first 10 clients for consultants, agencies, and freelancers.
Read →Operator GuideHourly vs fixed-fee vs retainer vs value-based — when each model wins, AU benchmarks, and how to phase fees.
Read →ReferenceDrafting a tight SOW — deliverables, acceptance criteria, scope creep clauses, change-request workflow.
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