Is the median wage shown what I should charge?

No - it is what an employee earns. Your charge-out rate must also cover super, overheads, unbillable time and profit, which is what this calculator builds up. The wage figure is an editable starting point, not a recommended rate.

What counts as overheads in a trade business?

Overheads include everything you pay to be available for work - vehicle running costs, tools and equipment, insurance, licences, phone, and any time spent quoting, travelling or doing admin that you cannot bill a customer for.

Why does billable hours matter so much?

Because every unbillable hour still costs you money. If you work 45 hours but only bill 30, those extra 15 hours have to be recovered from the 30 you do charge for - which is why the rate must be higher than your wage alone suggests.

Work out your charge-out rate

Build the rate you should charge - up from your wage, super, overheads and margin - instead of guessing off someone else's.

Pay yourself (hourly)

Pre-filled with the Median employee hourly earnings - technicians and trades workers: $39/hr (ABS Employee earnings, August 2025, August 2025) - edit to your own.

Hours you work per week (total)

Billable hours per week (on-the-tools)

Hours you can charge a customer for. The rest - quoting, travel, admin - is still paid from what you bill.

Weekly business overheads

Vehicle, tools, insurance, phone, admin - everything you pay whether you're on a job or not.

Your target profit margin (%)

Include super (12%) - ATO - super guarantee rate; optional for sole traders

Build-up

Labour per billable hour$59

Super (12%) per billable hour$7

Overhead per billable hour$40

Cost per billable hour$106

÷ (1 − 10% margin)

Charge-out rate to hit your margin$117/hr

What are you charging now? (optional)

figrd - get on the list

Why charge-out rate isn't the same as your wage

If you pay yourself $39 an hour and charge clients $39, you're losing money on every job. Your wage is only one piece of the cost. Vehicle repayments, insurance, tools, phone, admin, and every hour spent quoting or travelling that you can't bill for - all of that has to come out of what you charge before you see any profit.

The wage figure is pre-filled from the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Employee earnings release (August 2025) - a median employee wage, not a charge-out rate - and super uses the ATO's 12% guarantee rate; both are just starting points you should edit to your own numbers.

figrd does this build-up in the quote builder, using your actual running costs and billable hours, so you can see what a price pays you an hour before you send it.

More free tools for tradies

Why charge-out rate isn't the same as your wage

figrd does this build-up in the quote builder, using your actual running costs and billable hours, so you can see what a price pays you an hour before you send it.