Day Rate Calculator for Tradespeople
Enter the income you want, what it costs to keep the van on the road and how many days a week you are paid for. The calculator returns a day rate, an hourly rate, a half-day price and a minimum charge.
Your numbers
What you want left for yourself after tax and business costs.
Van and fuel, tools, insurance, accreditations, accountancy, phone, software, marketing. Leave out materials you charge on to the customer.
Your overall rate, including any social security or national insurance. Ask your accountant if unsure.
Your work
Days on a job. Leave out the time spent quoting, buying materials and doing paperwork.
Take off holidays, bank holidays and a week or two for illness and bad weather.
Optional. Shows what your current price really pays you.
Result
Charge per day
$400
$400 covers it exactly. Rounded up to a figure you can quote.
- Turnover you need in a year
- $72,000
- Days sold in a year
- 180
- Your time is billed at
- $50 an hour
- Half day
- $200
- Minimum charge, first hour
- $50
The hourly figure counts all the time a day takes, including the work nobody sees. It is an estimate to plan with, not tax advice.
Show your rates and take bookings online
BookingMachine prices a job from your call-out fee, hourly and day rates, lets the customer pick a slot and takes a deposit before you travel.
How the day rate is worked out
The calculator adds the take-home pay you want, the tax on it and your yearly running costs. It divides that by the number of days you are paid for in a year: paid days per week times the weeks you work.
The day rate that comes out is the least you can charge and still take home that income. It is rounded up to a figure you can quote. The hourly rate, half-day price and minimum charge all follow from it.
Paid days are not working days
The number that moves the result most is paid days per week. Nobody bills five days out of five. Quoting, collecting materials, travelling between jobs, chasing invoices and doing the books all take time that no customer pays for directly.
If you work five days and one of them goes on that, enter four. Do the same with weeks: take off holidays, public holidays and an allowance for illness and weather. A day rate worked out from fifty-two full weeks will leave you short every year.
Leave materials out of your costs if you charge them on to the customer. Include them only when your price is all-in.
Questions
How do I work out my hourly rate from a day rate?
Divide the day rate by the hours you spend on site in a day. The calculator shows it, along with a minimum charge for the first hour so that a short job still covers the trip.
Should a half day be half the day rate?
Many tradespeople charge a little more than half, because a half-day job often makes the rest of the day hard to sell. The calculator shows the straight half as a floor. Price above it when the other half is unlikely to be filled.
Should I charge a call-out fee?
For small jobs and fault finding, yes. A call-out fee covering the first hour pays for the travel and the diagnosis whether or not the customer goes ahead. Use the minimum charge in the result as a starting point.
What costs should I include?
Van finance, fuel and servicing, tools and their replacement, public liability insurance, trade body and accreditation fees, accountancy, phone, software and marketing. Leave out materials you pass on at cost or with a mark-up.
Is it better to charge a day rate or a fixed price?
A fixed price is easier for a customer to accept and rewards you for working efficiently. A day rate protects you when the scope is unclear. Either way, use your day rate to build the fixed price: estimate the days, multiply, and add materials.
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Show your rates and take bookings online
BookingMachine prices a job from your call-out fee, hourly and day rates, lets the customer pick a slot and takes a deposit before you travel.