What should I charge per day?
Most people set their day rate by asking around, landing somewhere near what everyone else charges, and then wondering why the year doesn't add up. The trouble with copying the going rate is that it takes no account of what you need to earn, what your business costs to run, or how many days you actually get paid for.
That last one catches nearly everybody. You might work 230 days a year, but you don't invoice 230 days. Quoting, invoicing, chasing money, driving between jobs and the weeks when the phone doesn't ring all come out of that number first.
This works backwards from what you want to take home. Put in your target, your running costs, what you set aside for tax, and an honest guess at unbillable time — and it tells you the rate that actually gets you there.
Running a van? Work out what it costs you per day with the van running cost calculator and feed that into your business costs above.
Unbillable time is quoting, invoicing, chasing payment, driving between jobs and the days nobody books you. Most trades underestimate it — 20% is a realistic starting point.
The tax figure here is a set-aside percentage you choose, not a calculation of what you owe HMRC. What you actually owe depends on your trading structure, allowances and expenses — ask your accountant rather than relying on this.
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