Calculating a Freelance Day rate from PAYE

If love some assistance with this conundrum!

Just set up a Limited Company, 2 directors shareholders.
Leaving a paye position paying £55000 Gross.
33 days paid annual leave (inc. 8 bank hols) and 5k p.a paid travel expenses. Standard Nest Pension rates.

How do I go about calculating what the equivalent DAY rate is that I should be charging the new Client to equate to the same package I was receiving as an employee?

20% CIS deducted at source from Client.

Many Thanks.;)

Comments

  • Anyone steer me to a calculator instead?
  • Tom99
    Tom99 Posts: 5,371 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary
    [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Lets say current days worked is (52 x 5) – 33 – say 7 (sick pay?) = 220 days[/FONT]
    [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]£55,000 + NI say £5,500 + Pension say £1,650 + travel £5,000 + Office Accommodation? Say £5,000 + anything else you can think of = £72,150 call it £75,000.[/FONT]
    [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]£75,000 / 220 = £341 but call it £350 per day or £50 per hour.[/FONT]
  • comeandgo
    comeandgo Posts: 5,891 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Cis deducted at source has nothing to do with the rate you charge, other than deducted from your gross amount, this is between your company and HMRC. You get back any cis tax that you have overpaid.
  • I don't think there's a magic formula.
    From experience, it's more than you think it will be.
    You need to charge enough to cover your costs (to the figures mentioned above, add the cost of an accountant, professional indemnity insurance, tools and equipment, mileage...), but if you charge too much you will price yourself out of the market.

    What do other people in your industry charge? What does your accountant suggest? What figure does your business plan use? And where do you stand re IR35?
    No longer a spouse, or trailing, but MSE won't allow me to change my username...
  • motorguy
    motorguy Posts: 22,607 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Tom99 wrote: »
    [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Lets say current days worked is (52 x 5) – 33 – say 7 (sick pay?) = 220 days[/FONT]
    [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]£55,000 + NI say £5,500 + Pension say £1,650 + travel £5,000 + Office Accommodation? Say £5,000 + anything else you can think of = £72,150 call it £75,000.[/FONT]
    [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]£75,000 / 220 = £341 but call it £350 per day or £50 per hour.[/FONT]

    Thats pretty much it - i aim to be revenue earning for 45 weeks a year so roughly 220/225 days a year

    Also running through a limited company would reduce the tax burden.

    Also all your costs would come off your gross margin before tax.

    I would say £65-70K all in which is around £300 a day.

    From my perspective thats roughly my break even rate. The reality is though you pitch at what the market will pay which for most skilled contractor jobs is £400-500 a day.
  • I've been playing around on this front recently also due to an opportunity that has arisen for me & have come up with a figure I'm happy with based on similar calculations to the above. But somewhat noob question (apologies) I've seen you should always state your day rate & that it would be plus vat, is this the case even if you're not vat registered? (I'm running as sole trader self employed currently)
    - Mortgage: 1st one down, 2nd also busted
    - Student Loan gone
    Swagbucks, Mingle, GiffGaff, Prolific, Qmee & Quidco; thank you MSE every little bit helps
  • comeandgo
    comeandgo Posts: 5,891 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    No, you don't add the plus vat as you are not vat registered. When you are vat registered then you need to be very clear whether your rate includes vat or not.
  • You cant base your day rate on your PAYE salary/benefits, as said above its about demand.

    I charge £500, but haven't put my rates up for 3 years. Its still higher than contractor rates, but I have USP's and work with clients who know me.

    Your'e aiming for a billable ratio of over 60%. If you factor in just 20 days holiday that jumps to over 65%, is that realistic for a director? I spend over 1/3 of my time on sales and aim to be 50% billable
    The greatest prediction of your future is your daily actions.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 349.8K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453K Spending & Discounts
  • 242.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 619.5K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.3K Life & Family
  • 255.6K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.