Free tool · pricing
What day rate should I charge?
I've spent over 20 years in UK construction, and I still count the days I can actually invoice before I put a day rate on a quote.
The day rate has to pay the van, the quiet weeks, and the tax, and still leave the wage you wrote down. This page does that sum from the figures you type. It is an estimate, not advice. It does not know what a customer will pay, and the figures stay in the browser.
There is no HMRC day rate here. The share for tax is yours. If you want the tax on a profit, that estimate is the self-employed tax calculator. How to write the rate onto a sheet is in the price list guide, and how it sits on a quote is in the quoting guide.
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What is on the sheet is on the Self Assessment checklist.
How the sum is built
Chargeable days are the weekdays, minus holidays, bank holidays, rain or quiet days, and admin days. The year you need to invoice is the take-home, plus the van, tools, insurance and other costs, stretched so that the percentage you typed is left aside from every pound invoiced. Divide that year by the chargeable days. That is the day rate. Divide the day rate by the hours in a day. That is the hourly figure.
The starting days are 260 weekdays, 20 holiday days, 8 bank holidays, 10 rain or quiet days, and 12 admin days, which is 210 days on the tools. Change them. Eight hours is only there so the hourly line has a length of day. Materials for one job are not a yearly cost unless you put them in the other box, and a quote usually prices those separately.
Other free tools are on the tools page.
Common questions
Is this a rate HMRC has set?
No. There is no HMRC day rate on this page. The percentage is the share of what you invoice that you chose to set aside. The tax calculator on this site estimates income tax and Class 4 on a profit. That is a different sum, and it does not produce this percentage.
What does the percentage come off?
What you invoice. If you want £40,000 left after costs and after that share, the day rate has to cover the costs and the set-aside as well as the £40,000. It is not a percentage of profit, and it is not VAT.
Why is the day rate rounded up?
So a full year of chargeable days still covers the take-home, the costs, and the set-aside. Rounding up to the penny can leave the year a few pounds over the target. It will not leave it short.
Do the starting days apply to me?
Only as a place to start. 260 weekdays, 20 holiday days, 8 bank holidays, 10 rain or quiet days, and 12 admin days leave 210 chargeable days. A roofer and a plumber will not lose the same days. Change the boxes.
Does this include materials or VAT?
No. Materials for a job are not in the yearly cost boxes unless you typed them there, and you usually should not, because the customer pays for those materials on that job. VAT is not added. If you are VAT registered, VAT on the invoice is a separate amount.