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//// Career · Freelance

Freelance Project Profitability Calculator

Was that project actually worth it? Enter every hour spent (calls, revisions, admin), direct expenses, and payment terms to see your true effective hourly rate, profit margin, and composite client score.

Where this fits

📦 Business & Seller OpsGoing 1099FreelancersFounders

This tool lives inside Going 1099 and is most useful for freelancers and founders.

SE Tax Rate15.3%
QBI Deduction20%
Quarterly DeadlinesApr · Jun · Sep · Jan

The math freelancers skip: Your quoted rate is not your effective rate. Client calls, revision rounds, and invoice follow-ups all cost real hours. This calculator shows what you actually earned.

Project revenue

Hours breakdown

Enter every hour this project touched your life — not just the hours you actually built things.

Total hours35h
Actual work
57%20h
Client calls
11%4h
Revisions
23%8h
Admin / email
9%3h

Project expenses

Payment & opportunity cost

Effective hourly rate
$142.86/hr
+$42.86 above goal
True profit
$5,000
100.0% margin
Payment outstanding
$0
fully collected
Total hours
35h
$142.86/hr true rate
93/100
Excellentclient score

Score breakdown

Rate vs. goal (40 pts)40.0
Profit margin (30 pts)30.0
Payment speed (30 pts)22.5

Effective rate beats your goal by $42.86/hr

You billed $5,000 over 35 total hours = $142.86/hr. This client cleared your $100.00/hr goal.

Projected annual value (if repeat monthly)

$60,000

annual revenue

$60,000

annual profit

1

Total hours (all project time)

client calls + actual work + revisions + admin/email

4h + 20h + 8h + 3h

= 35 hours

Most freelancers only count the hours actually doing deliverable work — this is why they think they earned more than they did.

2

Effective hourly rate (true)

total billed ÷ total hours

$5,000 ÷ 35 hours

= $142.86/hr

$42.86/hr above your $100.00 goal — this client is worth it.

3

Total project expenses

software + contractors + travel + materials

$0 + $0 + $0 + $0

= $0

Direct expenses reduce your gross profit dollar-for-dollar.

4

True profit (gross)

total billed − total expenses

$5,000 − $0

= $5,000

5

Profit margin

true profit ÷ total billed × 100

$5,000 ÷ $5,000 × 100

= 100.0%

A healthy freelance project should clear 50%+ margin. Below 30% and most of the revenue is eaten by overhead and expenses.

6

Client score (composite, 0–100)

rate score (40) + margin score (30) + payment speed score (30)

40.0 + 30.0 + 22.5

= 93/100 — Excellent

Rate component: full 40pts when effective rate ≥ goal. Margin component: full 30pts at 70%+ margin. Payment component: full 30pts at ≤15-day terms, zero at 120+ days.

7

Projected annual value (if repeat monthly)

true profit × 12 projects/year

$5,000 × 12

= $60,000/yr profit on $60,000/yr revenue

Key insight

The number that actually matters is your effective hourly rate — total billed divided by every hour the project touched your schedule. Tracking this across clients is how you identify which work to grow and which to fire.

#ShowYourWork

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