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THE COMMUNITY WORKSHOP / USEFUL BY DESIGN

Your day rate. Built from your numbers.

A planning calculator for tradespeople, not a price list. Work out what your billable time needs to cover before you quote.

Build my rate
Free to useNo email neededMade for UK trades
Community workshop / draft preview
Not financial advice. This is not a tax return, salary comparison or recommendation about what anyone should charge.

Start with the year ahead

Example inputs are editable assumptions. Replace them with your own figures. This is a one-person labour-only model; add job materials, subcontractors and job-specific costs separately.

Your personal target after your chosen tax reserve. Example only, not a salary benchmark.
An editable planning assumption, not a tax calculation. Actual liabilities depend on your circumstances.
Only days you expect to invoice. Allow separately for holidays, admin, sickness and gaps.
Used to express the same day rate as an hourly figure.
Office, phone, software, training and other overheads. Exclude categories listed separately.
Include your chosen vehicle, fuel, maintenance and other running costs once only.
Business insurance you pay. Do not count cover already included elsewhere.
An annual replacement, maintenance or hire budget, without double counting.
Illustrative standard-rate comparison only. Actual treatment depends on the work. VAT is not take-home pay.
Enter costs net of recoverable VAT if registered; otherwise enter what you actually pay. This does not determine registration obligations.

The maths, without the mystery

Required annual revenue = target take-home / (1 − reserve percentage / 100) + other costs + van + insurance + tools.

Day rate = required annual revenue / billable days. Hourly rate = day rate / billable hours per day. VAT, when applicable, is shown separately and is not earnings.

This simplified reserve treats all of the personal income requirement as subject to your selected percentage. It does not model allowances, bands, company structure, dividends, pensions, student loans or actual tax relief on expenses. It excludes a separate profit margin and any costs you have not entered. Round and stress-test your own figures with an accountant.

Explore trade terminology in the encyclopedia.

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