Day Rate Calculator
Convert an hourly rate into a day rate, then price a multi-day project and project your annual revenue from billable days.
How to use this tool
- Enter your hourly rate and how many hours a billable day represents.
- Enter the project length in days to price an engagement.
- Enter your realistic billable days per year.
- Read your day rate, project total, weekly rate and annual revenue.
Quote by the day instead of the hour. Convert your hourly rate into a day rate, price a multi-day project, and see what a year of billable days actually adds up to.
Formula
Day rate = Hourly rate × Billable hours per day
Project total = Day rate × Project length (days)
Annual revenue = Day rate × Billable days per year
Weekly rate = Day rate × 5
How it works
Many clients prefer to engage freelancers and contractors by the day rather than the hour, especially for on-site or fixed-schedule work. The day rate is simply your hourly rate multiplied by the number of billable hours a working day represents for you. From there the calculator prices a multi-day project and projects annual revenue from the number of days you actually expect to bill.
The realism lives in two fields. Billable hours per day is usually below a clock day — eight is typical, but on-site days with travel and meetings may bill fewer productive hours, which argues for a higher hourly rate behind the day rate. Billable days per year is far below the roughly 260 weekday total: after holidays, gaps between contracts, admin and business development, 180–220 billable days is a realistic full-time range. Quoting a day rate without checking the annual-revenue implication is how freelancers accidentally underprice a full year of work.
Prepared by the AbraCalc Freelance Desk for planning. Clarify with clients whether a 'day' is a fixed number of hours, and whether travel and overtime are billable, before agreeing a day rate.
Worked example
$75/hour at 8 hours/day, 10-day project, 200 billable days
- Day rate = 75 × 8 = 600.
- Project total = 600 × 10 = 6,000.
- Annual revenue = 600 × 200 = 120,000.
- Weekly rate = 600 × 5 = 3,000.
Day rate = $600.00
Annual revenue by day rate and billable days
| Day rate | 180 days | 200 days | 220 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| $400 | $72,000 | $80,000 | $88,000 |
| $500 | $90,000 | $100,000 | $110,000 |
| $600 | $108,000 | $120,000 | $132,000 |
| $800 | $144,000 | $160,000 | $176,000 |
| $1,000 | $180,000 | $200,000 | $220,000 |
Key terms
- Day rate
- A single price charged per working day rather than per hour.
- Billable days
- Days in a year on which you actually invoice client work, excluding gaps and admin.
- On-site day
- A working day delivered at a client location, often with travel and meeting time.
- Per diem
- A separate daily allowance for expenses such as travel and meals, distinct from the day rate.
Frequently asked questions
- How many hours are in a day rate?
- Whatever you and the client agree — eight is common. Always state it explicitly, because a 'day' that quietly stretches to ten hours cuts your effective hourly rate. The calculator uses your billable-hours-per-day input to convert.
- How many billable days are realistic per year?
- There are about 260 weekdays, but after holidays, gaps between contracts, admin and business development, full-time freelancers typically bill 180–220 days. Use a conservative figure when projecting annual revenue.
- Should travel time be billable?
- That is a negotiation. For on-site day rates, agree in advance whether travel and overtime are included or charged separately (sometimes via a per diem), so the day rate reflects the productive hours you actually deliver.