Hourly Billing Rate Calculator
The hourly billing rate is the price a craft business charges customers per working hour. It covers labor costs, overheads, owner salary, profit margin, and risk allowance — it must generate enough to cover all operating costs and a reasonable return.
Based on the Chamber of Crafts costing scheme: Total costs ÷ productive hours × (1 + profit% + risk%).
How to interpret the result
The calculated rate is your break-even floor — the minimum to cover all costs. If your current rate is below this, you are working below cost. The net rate is your target price before VAT; actual market conditions determine whether it is achievable.
Not included: material markup, subcontracted services, or project-specific line items.
Calculation schema (HWK)
Break-even rate
Total costs ÷ total productive hours
Price floor: covers all costs, no profit.
Net hourly rate
Break-even × (1 + profit% + risk%)
Target price before VAT.
Gross hourly rate
Net rate × 1.19
Invoice price incl. VAT.
Example: HVAC with 3 journeymen
- Total costs/year≈ 220,000 EUR
- Productive hours4,860 h
- Profit + risk13%
220,000 ÷ 4,860 × 1.13 = 51 EUR/h
≈ 51 EUR/h
Net hourly rate (incl. profit and risk)
Frequently asked questions about billing rates
Sources and further reading
Sources
Next steps
Once you know your billing rate, you can check how much your warehouse is costing you on top. Or you can read the detailed guide to billing-rate calculation.
