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Employment
Contractor day rate
Work out the billable day rate needed to cover a gross pay target, costs, pension budget and contingency.
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Contractor day-rate calculator
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Required day rate, excluding VAT
| Target gross personal pay | £60,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Business costs | £5,000.00 |
| Pension budget | £3,000.00 |
| Contingency | £5,000.00 |
| Required annual revenue | £73,000.00 |
| Billable days | 220 days |
Revenue budgeting, not a take-home or employment-status calculation. Billable days must exclude holidays, sickness and unpaid gaps. Add any employer taxes or umbrella costs to business costs where relevant. IR35, corporation tax, dividends, VAT and personal taxes are not calculated.
Check the inputs to calculate a result.
Calculation details
Revenue target
Add the gross personal pay target, business costs, pension budget and contingency, then divide by realistic billable days. Count unpaid gaps, holiday and sickness when choosing billable days. The quoted rate excludes VAT.
Example
£60,000 gross pay, £5,000 costs, £3,000 pension and £5,000 contingency require £73,000 revenue. Over 220 billable days that is £331.82 a day, rounded up.
Limits
This is a revenue budget, not a salary-equivalent take-home result. IR35, umbrella deductions, employer taxes, corporation tax, dividends and personal tax depend on the arrangement. Include relevant employer costs in the entered business-cost budget.
Sources
- GB statutory redundancy age bands, two-year eligibility, 20-year service cap and £751 weekly cap
- Employer statutory redundancy notice periods
- 5.6 weeks, 28-day cap and bank holiday inclusion
- Regular-hours holiday calculation and fractional entitlement
- Standard 20%, reduced 5%, zero rate and exemptions
Checked 2026-10-25. Estimate only, not financial advice.