Copying a mate's hourly rate is how tradies end up underpricing. Their costs, their hours and their target income aren't yours. A rate that's right for someone with a paid-off ute and a home office could send you broke. So instead of chasing a number, build your own.
Why your rate isn't your old wage
The number-one mistake is pricing off what you earned as an employee. As your own boss you now pay for everything the boss used to cover — insurance, tools, the vehicle, fuel, phone, software, your accountant — and you can't bill 40 hours a week. That's why a realistic charge-out rate is usually 2 to 3 times an equivalent wage. It's not greed; it's covering the real cost of running a one-person business.
What goes into your rate
- The income you actually want to take home.
- Your business overheads — insurance, tools, vehicle, fuel, phone, software, registrations.
- Non-billable time — you might work 45 hours but only bill 25. Quoting, driving, buying materials, paperwork and dead time aren't billable.
- Super and a buffer for tax — nobody's putting these aside for you.
The simple way to land on your number
Work backwards: take the income you want plus your yearly costs, divide by the hours you can actually bill in a year, and you've got your minimum charge-out rate. The hourly rate calculator does exactly this — plug in your numbers and it gives you a rate, ex and inc GST.
A word on "going rates"
Rates vary a lot by trade, location, experience and the type of work — emergency and specialised work commands more, simple work less, and a capital city differs from a regional town. Treat any "average rate" you read online as a rough sanity check, not a target. If your cost-based number is well above or below what others quote, that's worth understanding — but your costs are real, and pricing below them just means working hard to go backwards.
Set your rate once in Yamate — it fills every quote →FAQ
What's a good hourly rate for a tradie in Australia?
It depends entirely on your costs and target income — but most solo tradies need a charge-out rate comfortably above $80/hr (ex GST) once overheads and non-billable time are covered. Use the calculator with your own numbers rather than copying someone else's rate.
Why is a tradie's hourly rate so much higher than a wage?
Because the rate has to cover your income plus every business cost plus the hours you can't bill. A self-employed charge-out rate is typically 2–3× an equivalent wage, and that's just breaking even, not getting rich.
Should I charge by the hour or by the job?
Either works, but fixed-price jobs need to be built from your true hourly rate. Customers like the certainty of a fixed price; you need your rate to set it properly.
Related
How to quote a job · Should you charge a call-out fee?
General information for Australian businesses, not financial advice. Rates vary widely by trade, location and experience.