How many billable days does a freelancer have?
A calendar year contains far more potential working days than most freelancers can realistically invoice. Holidays, administration, sales and gaps between projects all reduce billable time.
From working days to billable days
A five-day working week across 52 weeks gives 260 weekdays before allowing for holidays, public holidays or any other time away from client work.
But even on days you are working, not every hour will necessarily be chargeable. Running a freelance business requires time that may never appear on a client invoice.
Example billable-day scenarios
These are illustrative planning scenarios rather than a rule. Your own number depends on your clients, workload and how much non-billable work your business requires.
What reduces billable days?
Holiday
Time off usually means no client revenue unless your commercial model accounts for it elsewhere.
Administration
Bookkeeping, invoices, emails and general business management all consume time.
Finding work
Quotes, proposals, networking and sales activity are important but often non-billable.
Gaps between clients
Even established freelancers can experience periods where their available capacity is not fully booked.
Billable days determine the rate you need
If you want to generate £60,000 per year and expect to bill 200 days, your average required day rate is £300.
If you can only bill 180 days, the same £60,000 revenue target requires an average day rate of approximately £333.33.
Estimating realistic billable time is therefore one of the most important inputs when deciding what freelance rate to charge.
Work out your own break-even rate
Enter your salary, pension and realistic billable hours to estimate the freelance rate needed to replace your employment package.