Tradie charge-out rate calculator
Free calculator for Australian tradies and sole traders: work out the hourly charge-out rate that covers your wage, super, overheads and unbillable hours, plus profit, with or without GST. Runs in your browser.
How a charge-out rate is worked out
A common mistake is to take the wage you want and divide it by the hours you work. That leaves out three things that a business has to pay for: super, overheads, and all the hours nobody pays you for. The calculator works it out in four steps:
- Add up a year of costs. That's the wage you'd want as an employee, super on top if you want it (the ATO's super guarantee rate for employees is 12%), and your overheads, such as the ute, fuel, insurance, tools, phone, software and the accountant. Leave out materials you charge to jobs.
- Work out your billable hours for a year. Start with 52 weeks, take off holidays, public holidays, and sick, rain and slow days, then multiply by the hours a week that actually end up on an invoice. Quoting, driving, picking up gear and paperwork are work, but you usually can't bill them.
- Break-even rate = yearly costs ÷ billable hours. Charge less than this and you're paying to go to work.
- Add profit as a margin. Divide the break-even rate by (1 − margin), not times (1 + margin). A 15% margin means 15% of the price is profit, which is a markup of about 17.6%.
Example: $120,800 a year of wage, super and overheads, spread over 1,320 billable hours (30 a week for 44 weeks), gives a break-even of $91.52 an hour. Dividing by 0.85 for a 15% margin gives a charge-out rate of $107.66 an hour.
GST: registered or not
- Registered for GST: enter your overheads without GST, because you claim the GST back. The rate the calculator shows is ex GST, so add 10% when you quote prices that include GST.
- Not registered: leave the box unticked. Enter what you actually pay, including GST, because you can't claim it back, and don't add GST to your rate. If the sales you need come to $75,000 a year or more, you'd have to register, and the calculator warns you. See Do I need to register for GST?
Privacy: the calculator runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us or anyone else, and the page loads no trackers, analytics or third-party scripts. So your figures are still there next time, they're saved in this browser's local storage on your device only. To remove them, clear this site's data in your browser settings.
The calculator
Change the yellow boxes. The example figures aren't industry averages, so replace them with your own.
1Your pay
2Business overheads
These are example figures, so replace them with yours. If you're registered for GST, enter costs without GST. If you're not, enter what you actually pay, including GST. Don't include materials you charge to jobs.
3Your time
4Profit and GST
Your figures are saved in this browser only, on this device.
Where each billed hour goes
What if you bill more or fewer hours?
| Billable hours / week | Rate needed (ex GST) |
|---|
The number of hours you can bill changes your rate more than any single cost does.
Make sure every job hits this rate
- Tradie Job Costing & Profit Tracker: compares what you quoted with what each job actually cost, so you can see the profit and margin on every job.
- Quote Follow-up & Payment Chaser: lists the quotes to follow up and the invoices to chase, with ready-made reminder messages.
- Tradie Business Tools Bundle: Job Costing, Payment Chaser and Tool Register together.
- Also: Subbie Register + TPAR Tracker, Site Diary + EOT Log, Tool Register + Test & Tag.
Excel & Google Sheets, no macros, one-off purchase. All tools: payhip.com/Andwatco
Notes
- This is a planning estimate from the figures you enter. It doesn't include income tax, payroll tax, workers comp for staff or award minimums, and it isn't financial or tax advice.
- Super guarantee 12% for 2025–26 onwards (ATO). GST is 10%, and the registration turnover threshold is $75,000 (ATO). Checked 25 October 2026.
- Calculator built by Andwat Co. Free to use. Andwat Co template store.
Sources
Related guides
- How to quote a job with GST (Australia)
- Do I need to register for GST? The $75,000 rule
- Simpler BAS: what goes in G1, 1A and 1B
- QBCC licence, the $3,300 threshold, contracts and deposits
Other free tools
General information only. It isn't financial or tax advice. Check your own figures and ask a professional if you need to.