Work backwards from the income you actually want. This tool turns your target take-home pay, overhead, and time off into an hourly number — with a built-in cushion for income tax, CPP, and the months that don't go as planned.
The amount you want left over each year after covering your own living costs — before income tax comes off.
Everything it costs to keep the business running: software, insurance, a bookkeeper, gear — whatever you pay for out of pocket.
Not the hours you work — the hours a client pays for. Quotes, admin, and prospecting eat into the difference.
Every week you don't plan to invoice: holidays, sick days, slow stretches you take off on purpose.
Extra room on top of the bare minimum, so a slow month or a tax bill doesn't sink you.
Recalculates the moment you change a number.
Fill in the fields on the left to see your rate.
Fill in the fields on the left to see your rate.
Try a few combinations — small changes to hours or time off move the rate more than you'd expect.
🛡 Why the two numbers differ
The bare-minimum rate only covers your target income and costs — no room to breathe. The recommended rate adds your safety margin on top, which is the one to actually charge. When you're ready, put it on paper with our free Invoice Generator.
There isn't one fair number — it depends on what you need to earn and how many hours you can actually sell. Start from your target income, layer on business costs and a margin for income tax and CPP, then spread that total across the hours you expect to bill in a year. That's exactly what the calculator above works out for you.
A common rule of thumb for Canadian sole proprietors is setting aside 25–30% of what you bill for income tax and CPP — remember, self-employed workers cover both the employee and employer portions of CPP. Transfer that share to a separate account with every invoice so tax season has no surprises.
Not directly — GST/HST is charged on top of your rate once you're registered (mandatory past CAD $30,000 in worldwide taxable revenue over four straight quarters), and it belongs to the CRA, not to you. Keep it out of the rate you calculate here, then add it separately with our Sales Tax Calculator when you invoice.
Most Canadian freelancers land somewhere between 15% and 30%, depending on how unpredictable their workload is. Treat it as insurance against slow months and tax bills — not as extra profit you're banking on.
Got your rate? Start billing at it.
InvoiceCast lets you build the invoice, save the client, email it, and see when it's been paid — all without leaving the app.
Try InvoiceCast free →