One of my first consulting gigs was part-time work for $1,500 a month, selling driver fatigue alarms. I figured part-time meant about a day a week.
I figured wrong. It turned into basically full-time. A month later we parted ways amicably, and I'd learned the lesson I put in Chapter 13 of Feed a Starving Crowd: don't cut yourself short. If your fee is too low, you won't stay motivated to do the job right, and the client won't get your best work.
This calculator works out your floor: the rate below which you'd be better off in a job. Then it shows you how to package that time the way the book suggests.
How to use the consulting rate calculator
- Enter the income you want, and whether that's before tax or take-home. If it's take-home, the calculator grosses it up using your tax set-aside.
- Add super (12% matches the Australian employer rate; use 0 elsewhere) and your yearly overheads.
- Enter the weeks you'll work, your hours a week and your utilization: the share of those hours you can actually bill.
- Set up three retainers, a success-fee deal and a free trial job to see what each is worth.
How the maths works
Revenue needed = Target income + Super + Business overheads Billable hours = Weeks worked × Hours a week × Utilization Hourly rate floor = Revenue needed ÷ Billable hours Day rate floor = Hourly rate × (Hours a week ÷ 5) Success deal = Base fee + Your share × (Client's sales above baseline)
Utilization is the number most people get wrong. You won't bill every working hour. You'll spend time on sales, admin, learning, proposals and the client who goes quiet. For most solo consultants, 55% to 65% is realistic.
A worked example
The calculator opens with an Australian solo marketing consultant (figures illustrative, ex GST):
- Target income A$160,000 before tax, plus 12% super (A$19,200) and A$30,000 of overheads: A$209,200 to cover
- 45 weeks × 37.5 hours × 60% = 1,012.5 billable hours, or 135 days
- Hourly floor: about A$207. Day rate floor: about A$1,550, or A$1,705 including GST
A two-day monthly retainer comes to about A$3,100 a month. Ten clients like that is A$31,000 of monthly recurring revenue before you sell a single project. (It's also 20 days of work a month, more than one person can bill, which the calculator flags. Time to hire, or raise the price.)
Now the success deal: half the Growth retainer as a base fee plus 10% of extra sales, for a client doing A$40,000 a month. A 15% lift earns you A$2,150, less than the full retainer. You'd need to lift their sales by about 39% just to break even. That's why I say only do these deals with a "slam dunk" client.
How to read the result
The floor is not the price. Price above it as soon as you're in demand, and raise rates for new clients regularly. At my first agency we raised setup prices nearly every year between 2004 and 2011, and the value clients received went up too.
The bigger lesson from the book: a consultant who sells projects starts every month at zero. Feast or famine. A consultant on retainers starts every month with revenue already booked. Turn the ongoing part of every finished project into a monthly fee for a defined scope.
The tax set-aside is a planning guide, not tax advice. GST, super and the ATO's personal services income rules all depend on your circumstances.
What to do next
- Read the full guide to how much to charge for consulting, with all five pricing models from the book.
- Structure the ongoing work with retainers vs subscriptions for service firms and subscriptions for consultants and coaches.
- Move from time to outcomes with value-based pricing for service businesses.
- Building AI agents for clients? See how much to charge for building AI agents.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my consulting day rate?
Add your target income, super and yearly business overheads, then divide by the days you can realistically bill. For most solo consultants that's 55% to 65% of working days once sales, admin and proposals are counted. That gives you a floor, the rate below which you'd be better off employed. Your actual price should sit above it, based on the value you create.
Should I charge hourly, daily or a fixed fee?
Start with a day or hourly rate so you know your floor, then move to fixed fees for a defined scope as soon as you can. Fixed fees reward you for getting faster, while hourly rates punish you for it. That matters more in 2026, when AI tools can turn a day's work into an hour. Write down exactly what's included to control scope creep.
How much should a consulting retainer cost?
Price a retainer from your day rate and the time it takes: two days a month at a A$1,550 floor is about A$3,100 a month. Then define the scope in outcomes, such as a monthly report, planning session and agreed deliverables, rather than hours. Bill monthly in advance so you never fund a client's work, and review the price at each renewal.
Do consultants charge GST in Australia?
Once your GST turnover reaches A$75,000 a year, the ATO says you must register for GST and charge 10% on taxable sales. Below that, registering is optional. Quote business clients ex-GST and show GST separately on invoices. This is general information as at October 2026, so check your situation with a registered tax agent.
Built on The Subscription Playbook
This tool turns frameworks from Robert Coorey's book into something you can use in minutes. Robert is the author of The Subscription Playbook and a Director at BPAG Accountants. More about Robert.