LoadingLoadingLoadingLoadingThe days you could work and the days someone pays you for are different numbers. Put in what the business costs, what you want it to make, and how much of the year you can realistically fill.
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Day rate
£420.00
The minimum that covers your overheads, hits your profit target and survives the days nobody books.
Half-day rate
£210
Half the day rate. Many trades charge more than half, because the travel and setup do not halve.
Price day-rate work once and reuse it on every job in Cushty — quoted, scheduled and invoiced off the same figure.
See job managementThe same sum as the hourly version, in the unit contractors actually sell. What the business costs, plus what you want it to make, divided by the days someone is going to pay for. The second number is smaller than the number of days you are available, and that gap is what sets the rate.
Day rate = ( annual overhead + profit target + contingency ) ÷ ( working days available × utilisation )
No tax rate, deliberately: there is no single percentage that turns business profit into take-home, and applying one produces a figure that matches no UK tax regime while looking like it does. The half-day rate here is simply half the day rate — many trades charge more than half, because travel and setup do not halve.
The figures the calculator opens with, so you can follow them on screen.
£72,450 ÷ 172.5 days = £420 a day, and £210 for a half day. Of that, £139.13 covers overheads, £260.87 is profit and £20 is the contingency. Fill 85% of the year instead and the same targets need £370.59; fill 60% and they need £525.
The rate is one input into pricing a job. These pick up the rest.
A day rate looks cleaner than an hourly rate — one number, one figure to quote. But the maths underneath is exactly the same. The mistake most people make is assuming 200+ billable days a year. The reality for most UK trades and service businesses is somewhere between 160 and 200 billable days, once you take out holiday, sickness, slow weeks, training and admin.
If your day rate calculation assumes 240 billable days a year, you're going to come up short. Use the slider to put a realistic number in — most owners settle around 180 days.
Calculators and generators we built for UK service businesses. All free, all in-browser, no signup.
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