What is your day rate really worth per year? Default is 46 working weeks — holidays, gaps between jobs and rained-off days are real.
An employed salary pays 52 weeks including holiday. Self-employed on site you lose weeks to holidays, bank holidays, gaps between jobs and weather. Most regulars land between 44 and 48 paid weeks — that is the honest number to divide by.
Set weeks to 52 to see the like-for-like gross, then remember what the salary includes that your day rate must cover: holiday pay, sick pay, employer pension, tools, van and dead weeks. A £200 day rate is not a £52k salary — it is closer to a low-£40ks package.
The calculator assumes; your logbook knows. Track every worked day and rate in Graftum Pocket and you will see your true monthly and yearly earnings — not an estimate.
Before. These are gross figures — CIS deductions, income tax, National Insurance and expenses come out of this. A rough rule: self-employed take-home is often 70–75% of gross after tax and costs.
At 5 days and 46 weeks, about £174/day matches £40k gross — but to also cover holiday, sick and pension like employment does, you would want £190–£210.
No — a day rate prices your labour. Materials should be invoiced separately at cost, and under CIS they are paid without deduction.
Graftum Pocket logs every day and rate as you go — your true week, month and year, plus what you're still owed. In your language.
Open Graftum Pocket — freeGross estimates for guidance only — tax, CIS and expenses vary. Not financial advice.