Feasibility check / Australian trades
Can you actually earn that going out on your own?
Put in what you want to earn and this works backwards: the tax, the super nobody pays for you any more, the leave you stop getting paid for, the running costs, and the hours you can genuinely bill. Then it shows what you'd need to charge — and whether you'd need staff to get there.
What you want to earn 01
Your hours 02
Running the business 03
Materials (optional)
If you hired people 04
On your own
| Income before tax | — |
| Tax and Medicare levy | — |
| Your own super | — |
| Running the business | — |
| Labour you must invoice | — |
| Hours you'll work | — |
| Hours you can actually bill | — |
| In your pocket after tax | — |
Or with staff At your realistic rate
| Crew | Vans | Billable hrs | Revenue | You take home |
|---|
Get the full breakdown Free
Every line above, plus the assumptions, so you can take it to an accountant before you hand in your notice.
How this is worked out Method
Working backwards
Target income, plus tax, plus your own super, plus what it costs to run the business, equals the labour you have to invoice. Divide that by the hours you can genuinely bill and you have the rate.
Tax
Australian resident individual rates for 2026–27 with the 2% Medicare levy, applied simply. It ignores offsets, HELP debt, the tax-free threshold shading on the levy, and — importantly — your business structure. A company or trust is taxed differently. Treat this as a sole trader estimate.
Hours
The number most people get wrong. Working 45 hours a week doesn't mean billing 45. Quoting, travel, supplier runs, invoicing and chasing money all come out of your week and none of it goes on an invoice.
The staff ladder
Each person is costed at their wage plus 12% super, 3.5% workers compensation and 17.5% leave loading, on 1,976 paid hours less leave, plus their van and per-person costs. As you hire, your own billable hours drop — the model assumes you keep 85% of them with one person, 65% with two, 45% with three, 25% with four and 10% beyond that, because someone has to quote, order, and manage. Adjust your expectations if you know your situation differs.
What it doesn't cover
GST cash flow, start-up capital, the months before the work is steady, bad debts, payment terms, apprentice rates and award allowances. It's an estimate to test an idea against — not financial, tax, legal or accounting advice. Talk to an accountant before you resign.
Already running a business?
Use the charge-out rate calculator instead — it works out what an established business with a crew should be billing.