How to calculate your freelance day rate, step by step
Work out the day, half-day and hourly rate your studio needs from take-home pay, costs, tax and the days you can bill, in one worked US example in dollars.
Better rates, better clients and less admin for creatives who work alone
Monday9–5
Tuesday9–5
Wednesday9–5
Creative SoftwareAdobe Creative Cloud alternatives for a one-person studio
Thursday9–5
Pricing & MoneyHow to ask a client for payment when an invoice is late
FridayClosed to clients
The paperwork is done.FreelancingHow to plan paid time off as a freelancer
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- MonHow to write a freelance proposal clients say yes to
- TueHow to handle scope creep without losing the client
- WedAdobe Creative Cloud alternatives for a one-person studio
- ThuHow to ask a client for payment when an invoice is late
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Articles on pricing, clients, software and marketing for freelance designers, illustrators, photographers and writers who work alone on purpose, and The Studio Kit: a proposal, contract, invoice and day-rate calculator, ready to use.
From the notes
The day rate in one line
Your day rate is what the studio has to bring in over a year, divided by the days you can actually bill.
From How to calculate your freelance day rate, step by step, by Corinne Halvorsen
(Take-home pay + studio costs + tax) ÷ billable days = day rate
| Line | How it’s worked out | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Income to take home | What you want to keep after tax | $63,000 |
| Studio costs | A year of overheads | $12,000 |
| Tax | 30% of profit, set aside | $27,000 |
| What the studio must bring in | The three added together | $102,000 |
| Days you can bill | 260 weekdays, less time off and admin | 179 |
| Day rate | $102,000 ÷ 179, rounded up | $570 |
$570a day
Round up, never down, because rounding down takes the difference out of your take-home pay.
The day-rate calculator in The Studio Kit runs the same sum with your own numbers.
The calculatorThe Studio Kit
The paperwork a one-person studio sends, ready to use
Six documents that take a project from the first call to the final invoice, in Notion, Google Docs and PDF, and a calculator that sets your day rate from the income and the time off you want.
Day-rate calculator
Creative brief
Proposal
Contract with plain-English notes
Onboarding questionnaire
Change-request form
Invoice
Notes
One question per piece, answered with the numbers in it: the rate, the deposit, the payment terms, the price of a single seat.
What to include in a freelance contract, clause by clause
The clauses a creative freelance contract needs, from deposit and kill fee to usage rights and portfolio use, the laws requiring one and when to see a lawyer.
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What one person pays for proposals, contracts and invoices in each app, from the makers’ own pages, with exports, where each works and the free route.
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A small email newsletter that brings in work: who to send it to, what goes in each issue, how often, a free plan to send it on and the email rules to follow.
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Three copies of your client work, one off site: an automatic desk backup, a cloud backup, the files people forget and a restore test, priced for one computer.
Sections
Start where the business is costing you most: what you charge, who you work for, or the hours that go on admin.
Freelancing
Going freelance and staying freelance: the decisions, structures and habits of working for yourself, for creatives leaving a job or years into it.
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What to charge and how to get paid: rates, quotes, invoices, taxes and an irregular income, for creatives who send their own invoices.
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Finding the right clients and working with them, from the first inquiry to the final file, for studios that want fewer, better clients.
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The software a creative studio works in, compared for a single seat and a small budget, for designers, illustrators, photographers and writers.
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How a studio presents itself: its name, identity, website and the case studies that win the next client, for creatives selling their own work.
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Getting found by the right clients without becoming a full-time marketer: email, social, search and referrals for a studio of one.
Studio Setup
The room, the hardware and the apps that keep a one-person studio running, from the desk and the screen to backups and time tracking.
Tools for a studio of one
A tool earns a place here by charging fairly for a single seat, never forcing a team plan, and every group has a free or cheap pick.
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