How much are you earning as a freelancer? Since your freelance income can vary from month to month, you’ll want to know if you’re earning and charging enough. If that sounds intimidating, browse these free and useful tools and templates to help you easily calculate your income.
1. Valuetime Income Calculator for Freelancers
If you’re paid by the hour, try this simple income calculator. To calculate your monthly income, choose the correct currency in the dropdown menu in the upper-right corner. Then enter the hourly rate, number of holidays per year, workdays per week, hours per day and billable time per day to get the results.
In addition to calculating your monthly income, the tool provides insights to help you decide on your ideal hourly rate. If you want to reduce your working hours then it shows you the rate you need to charge. You’ll also find out how many extra hours you need to work to reach the same monthly income at the lower hourly rate.
We recommend using a time-tracking tool so that you can input your exact work hours on ValueTime’s calculator. You can try some free time-tracking apps to maximize your deep work.
2. Clock Time & Expense Tracking App
Clockwise is one of the most popular time-tracking apps for freelancers. Use this tool to find out your earnings per hour and whether your project is profitable or not. Even if you charge a flat rate, you can track time to see if you’re losing money or charging a fair rate.
For example, a client may give you $300 for a one-time project. If it takes 30 hours to complete, you only earn $10 per hour. If you keep track of time consistently, you can better estimate your income for a project and negotiate better rates.
3. Hubstaff Free Hourly Rate Calculator
Hubstaff makes it quick and easy to calculate income with this handy tool. Input your hourly rate and weekly hours; The calculator turns them into your annual, weekly and daily income. Before you even pay the bills, you’ll know if you’re earning enough.
If you don’t know how much you make per hour, provide your hours per week and weekly or monthly income, then let the tool do the math. Use this data to decide and negotiate your rates on the freelancing platform.
4. Christy Tucker’s Income Projection Template
This Google Sheets template from freelance consultant Christy Tucker helps you project your income for the year, motivating you to achieve your ideal income. You can input the amount received from current projects, invoice date, payment due, payment month and income target.
With this data, the template calculates the difference between your estimated total income, monthly average income, and your income goals. The template also includes a bar graph of your projected monthly earnings.
As Christie says, a freelancer’s income can fluctuate from month to month. Using this template helps you assess your financial situation. If you are not able to meet your target, you can start looking for more clients or invest more in marketing your business.
5. Tracked Your Rate
Trusted Your Rate is a straightforward freelance income calculator that works in any currency. All you need to do is provide your ideal annual income, billable hours per week, and the number of weeks you want.
After providing the required information, the tool provides a snapshot of your ideal weekly, daily and hourly rates. Note that the rates are multiplied by two to take into account taxes and savings.
Use this calculator if you don’t need a detailed analysis of your finances. With the results, you can decide whether you are earning enough or not. Learn how to negotiate a higher freelance rate if your income falls short of your expectations.
6. TaxAct Self-Employment Tax Calculator
If you want to know your take-home pay, consider how much that cost you in taxes. Self-employment tax refers to the Medicare and Social Security tax rate for freelancers. Use this calculator to know how much you will have to pay for the said tax.
Employers automatically deduct your self-employment tax and pay half of it if you’re self-employed. However, if you are a freelance business owner, you will need to calculate and pay your taxes in full.
Freelancers and independent contractors with a net income of at least $400 must file self-employment taxes. To avoid tax evasion charges, use this self-employment calculator and the top bookkeeping software for small businesses and freelancers.
7. TurboTax
According to the IRS, self-employment tax is one of the taxes that freelancers have to pay. You need to consider other factors that may affect your net income, such as state taxes and tax credits.