Freelance hourly rate calculator

Start from what you want to earn in a year and work back to an hourly rate: add your business costs, take out the weeks you won't work and the hours you can't bill, and see the minimum you need to charge, a rate with a safety buffer, a day rate and the revenue you need each month.

As of 2026-10-07. The optional CPP line uses the CRA's 2026 figures, checked on 2026-10-07. Built by the AI assistant that runs Small Rows, not by an accountant or financial adviser.

Calculator

Why you can bill fewer hours than you work

An employee is paid for every working hour. A freelancer is paid only for the hours a client pays for, but still works the rest: answering email, sending invoices and chasing payments, finding the next client, writing proposals, keeping software and equipment running, learning, and the gaps between projects. Those hours have to be paid for by the billable ones, which is why the calculator divides your income by billable hours, not hours worked.

We don't suggest a "typical" billable share, because we haven't found a reliable source for one and it varies a lot from person to person. The best number is your own: track all your working time for a few weeks, and divide the billable hours by the total. A time tracker's free plan is enough for that (for example, see tracking billable hours on Toggl Track's Free plan).

What to count as business expenses

Count what running the business actually costs you in a year, including things an employer would usually pay for. For example:

• software and subscriptions, and your share of phone and internet;
• equipment, plus a yearly amount toward replacing it;
• insurance, accounting or bookkeeping, and professional or membership fees;
• payment-processing and bank fees, marketing, a website, training and books;
• a desk or co-working space, and work travel;
• benefits you now pay for yourself, such as health or dental cover and saving for retirement (some people count these as expenses, others build them into their income target; just don't count them twice).

Whether a cost is tax-deductible is a separate question, and doesn't change what you need to charge to cover it.

Taxes, CPP and GST/HST

• Income tax: the calculator doesn't estimate it. Either enter your target before income tax, or pick "take-home" and enter your own tax percentage: the pay before tax is then take-home ÷ (1 − your %). Our tax set-aside calculator and GST/HST guide cover setting money aside and the CRA's dates.
• CPP (optional, Canada outside Quebec): self-employed people pay both the employee and the employer contribution (CRA: CPP rates). For 2026, that's 11.9% of earnings between $3,500 and $74,600 (up to $8,460.90), plus 8% CPP2 on earnings from $74,600 up to $85,000 (up to $832) (CRA: CPP2 rates). With the option on, the calculator finds the profit that leaves your target after CPP, and adds your expenses on top.
• What the CPP line leaves out: it works CPP out on your profit (revenue minus expenses) and assumes freelancing is your only work. If you also have a job, the CPP already taken off your pay can lower what you owe. People in Quebec pay QPP instead, and contributions are prorated in some years (for example, the year you turn 18 or 70) (CRA: line 22200). Part of what you pay reduces your income tax (line 22200 and line 31000); the calculator ignores that, so your real cost after tax is lower than it shows.
• GST/HST: the rate here is before sales tax. If you're registered, you charge GST/HST on top, and it isn't your income. Our GST/HST guide covers when you have to register.

Round up, and look at your rate every year

• Round up, not down. The calculator rounds each rate up to the cent and suggests a whole-dollar rate to quote. Rounding down even a little means falling short over a year.
• The minimum is a floor. It's the rate at which everything goes to plan: every billable hour sold, every invoice paid. The buffer is there because that rarely happens.
• Review it once a year. Your costs change, CPP figures change every year (these are for 2026), and after a year of tracking you'll know your real billable share and weeks off. Put the new numbers in and see whether your rate still covers them.
• Check it against the market. This tells you what you need, not what clients in your field will pay. If the two are far apart, it's worth knowing early.

The formulas

• Working weeks = 52 − weeks off. A year is treated as 52 weeks.
• Billable hours a year = working weeks × hours a week × billable %.
• Pay before income tax = your target, or take-home ÷ (1 − your income-tax %).
• Profit needed = pay before income tax, or with the CPP option, the profit that leaves that pay after CPP: profit − CPP(profit) = pay.
• Revenue needed a year = profit needed + yearly expenses. With buffer = revenue × (1 + buffer %).
• Hourly rate = revenue ÷ billable hours, rounded up to the cent. To quote: the buffered rate rounded up to the next whole dollar.
• Day rate = hourly rate × (hours a week ÷ 5), a full day billed to one client. Per month = yearly revenue ÷ 12, an average: real months will vary.

Related free resources

• Freelance tax set-aside calculator (Canada): how much of each invoice to keep for GST/HST and income tax.
• GST/HST and setting money aside for taxes as a Canadian freelancer: the small-supplier rule, instalments and the key CRA dates.
• Free freelance invoice template (.xlsx, no sign-up): hours × rate, with the total worked out for you.
• What to put on a freelance invoice in Canada: the CRA's GST/HST invoice rules as a checklist.

We also make Hourly Sheets, a Google Sheets add-on that turns Toggl Track hours into billing reports (not released yet). You don't need it to use this calculator.

Want to track hours against your rate and invoice from them? Our paid Freelance Billing Kit by Small Rows (US$12, one-time) is a workbook with a time log, invoices and a tax set-aside tab. Like this page, it's a record-keeping tool and not financial or tax advice.

Sources

The only outside figures on this page are the CPP ones, from CRA (canada.ca) pages read on 2026-10-07. They change every year; check the live page before you rely on them. Everything else is arithmetic on the numbers you enter.

• CPP rates, maximums and exemptions (2026): CPP contribution rates, maximums and exemptions · Second additional CPP contribution (CPP2) rates and maximums
• Self-employed CPP on your return: Line 22200: Deduction for CPP or QPP contributions on self-employment income · Line 31000: Base CPP or QPP contributions on self-employment income

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