Koc.so Tools

Independent work, priced clearly.

Freelance planning utility

Find the rate that makes the work work.

Turn your income goal, overhead, and real billable capacity into a sustainable hourly floor—before a client asks for your number.

01 — Your target

What you want available personally after the modeled reserves.

02 — Business realities

Software, equipment, insurance, workspace, and other deductible costs.

Effective rate on revenue after expenses.

Reserve kept in the business as a share of revenue.

03 — Billable capacity

Exclude sales, admin, and unpaid work.

Allow for holidays, sick time, and breaks.

Your sustainable floor

$108.36 / hour

Quote at least $110/hour for a clean, memorable starting point.

Revenue target
$124,615 / year
Monthly pace
$10,385 / month
Billable capacity
1,150 hours / year

Where the annual revenue goes

  • Take-home goal$72,000
    $72,000 of $124,615
  • Business expenses$12,000
    $12,000 of $124,615
  • Tax reserve$28,154
    $28,154 of $124,615
  • Profit buffer$12,462
    $12,462 of $124,615

The method

A rate built from capacity, not guesswork.

01

Define the life

Start with the annual amount you want to take home and the costs required to run your business.

02

Protect the business

Set aside an effective tax reserve and a profit buffer before treating revenue as personal income.

03

Respect the calendar

Divide the revenue target only by hours you can actually bill—not every hour you expect to work.

Formula

Revenue = [Take-home + Expenses × (1 − Tax rate)] ÷ (1 − Tax rate − Profit margin)

Hourly floor = Revenue ÷ (Billable hours/week × Working weeks/year)

The tax reserve is applied to revenue after business expenses. The profit buffer is a percentage of gross revenue. The displayed floor keeps two decimal places; the suggested quote rounds up to the next multiple of five.

Worked example

Why “divide salary by 2,000” falls short.

A freelancer targeting $72,000 take-home, with $12,000 in expenses, a 25% tax reserve, and a 10% profit buffer needs about $124,615 in annual revenue. At 25 billable hours for 46 weeks, the floor is $108.36/hour—not $36.

Useful context

Before you send the proposal

Is the suggested quote my final client rate?

It is a practical floor, rounded up for easy quoting. Scarcity, specialization, urgency, risk, and value may justify a higher rate. Discounting below it means changing your income, reserve, expense, or capacity assumptions.

What belongs in billable hours?

Count only hours a client can be charged for. Proposals, marketing, bookkeeping, training, and gaps between projects belong outside billable capacity.

Does this calculate my actual taxes?

No. It uses the effective reserve percentage you provide and does not model a jurisdiction, brackets, deductions, sales taxes, or business structure. Review that rate when your tax situation changes.