Work backward from your target take-home pay, overhead, billable hours, and unpaid time to the hourly rate you actually need to charge.
Free to use with no account. When you want to send the result by text, take a card payment, or keep a record of every job, the same numbers carry straight into Glo Invoice.
The formula. Required rate = (target take-home + overhead + payroll taxes) ÷ actually billable hours. Billable hours are the hours a customer pays for, not the hours you work.
Worked example. Want $70,000 take-home with $25,000 of overhead? That is $95,000 to cover. At 25 billable hours a week for 48 weeks (1,200 hours) the rate is about $79/hour — before self-employment tax.
Where the hours disappear. Driving, quoting, parts runs, invoicing, callbacks, and no-shows. Most one-truck operations bill 20–30 hours of a 50-hour week, and pricing off 40 is how shops end up underwater.
Common mistakes. Copying a competitor's rate without knowing their overhead; ignoring self-employment tax; not charging a trip or minimum fee, which makes short jobs lose money.
Frequently asked questions
Should I quote hourly or flat rate?
Flat rate protects you on work you have done many times and is easier for the customer to approve. Hourly fits diagnostics and unknown scope. Many trades use both.
Do I need to raise my rate every year?
Your costs move every year — insurance, parts, fuel, wages. If the rate never moves, the margin quietly shrinks.
How do I charge for drive time?
Either a flat trip fee inside a service area or a per-mile charge beyond it. Show it as its own line so it never looks like a hidden markup.
