Overhead-aware
Insurance, software, accounting, travel — bake real costs into the rate.
Free calculator
Consulting rate calculator that covers overhead, profit, and the hours you can actually sell.
Start from your salary equivalent, layer in overhead and profit margin, then divide by realistic billable capacity to find a rate that sustains a consulting practice.
Margin-protected
Build profit into the rate instead of hoping for it at year-end.
Utilization-honest
Divide by hours you can realistically bill, not a theoretical 2,080.
Calculator inputs
Build your consulting rate.
Start from the salary you would need as an employee, then add the costs of independence.
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Overhead covers benefits, insurance, software, travel, and office costs you would not pay as an employee. Profit margin is the return on the practice itself, above cost recovery.
How the rate breaks down
A consulting rate is three layers stacked on a capacity denominator.
Salary equivalent
What you would need as a W-2 employee. This is the floor — the rate must cover at least this.
Overhead multiplier
Benefits you no longer get, plus business costs: health insurance, software, accounting, travel, education.
Profit margin
The return on running the practice. Without margin built into the rate, there is no upside to independence beyond flexibility.
FAQ
Questions consultants usually ask when pricing engagements
What is the overhead multiplier?
Overhead covers the costs an employer would normally pay: health insurance, retirement contributions, software, office space, travel, professional development, and accounting fees.
Why include a profit margin on top of overhead?
Without margin, your consulting practice earns exactly what an employee would earn minus the stability. Profit margin is the return on the risk and effort of running an independent practice.
How do I know if my rate is competitive?
This calculator builds from your costs up, not from the market down. Once you have the floor, compare it against market rates for your specialty and adjust positioning, not the math.
Best next pages
Once you know the rate, protect it by tightening the billing workflow.
These next steps are for consultants who want to make sure the hours they track actually reach the invoice at the rate they calculated.
Hourly rate calculator
If you bill hourly rather than on a consulting engagement basis, this simpler calculator backs into the rate from income needs.
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Time tracking and invoicing for consultants
See the workflow page for keeping tracked client work, invoices, and payment follow-up in one place.
Open page
Clockout vs Harvest
Compare Clockout with Harvest if your consulting practice needs tighter billing handoff than Harvest provides.
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