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Break-even calculator for freelancers

Enter your monthly costs, the pay you need, your fees and tax share. See the revenue that breaks even and how many projects or hours it takes.

Software, coworking, insurance, phone, accountant.

Payment processing, platform fees, subcontractors.

Monthly revenue to break even

$7,778

To cover business costs only
$833
You keep from each one
$1,080
Per year
$93,333
Projects or hours per month
6

Estimate only. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

Costs, your pay, fees and tax

A freelancer's break-even point is the revenue that covers fixed business costs and the pay you need, after the costs that come with each sale (card fees, platform cuts, subcontractors) and the tax on what's left. The calculator divides by what you keep from each dollar instead of adding percentages, because a 4% fee and 25% tax take more together than 29% of the price would suggest.

From revenue to work

Divide the break-even revenue by your average project price, or by your hourly rate, to see how much work it takes. If that number is close to everything you can handle in a month, the problem is the price, not the workload.

Lowering it

Fixed costs are often overlapping subscriptions: add yours up in the software stack savings calculator. Then look at the price; the profit margin calculator shows what a price change does to each project.

IN SHORT

Break-even revenue = (fixed costs + your pay) ÷ (1 − cost per sale) ÷ (1 − tax share). With $600 of monthly costs, $5,000 of pay, 4% in payment fees and 25% set aside for tax, you need about $7,778 a month. At $1,500 a project that's 6 projects; at $100 an hour, 78 billed hours. Below that you're paying to work.

Prices and limits as of .

Questions

What is a break-even point for a freelancer?
The revenue where everything is covered: software, insurance and other costs, the taxes on what you earn, and the pay you need to live. A business that only covers its costs but not your pay hasn't broken even.
Should my own pay count as a cost?
Yes. If you leave it out, the break-even looks low and you'll underprice. Use what you need each month, not what you'd like; the gap between the two is your profit.
What counts as a cost per sale?
Anything that grows with each sale: card processing fees, platform cuts on marketplaces, subcontractors you pay per project. Fixed software plans go in fixed costs.
How do I lower my break-even?
Cut fixed costs first, like overlapping subscriptions (the software stack savings calculator adds them up), then raise prices. Raising the price lowers the number of projects you need faster than cutting costs does.

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