Convert a day rate into a project quote. Enter your day rate, how many hours you count in a billed day, the estimated days, an optional time buffer and any expenses. You will see the quote, the implied hourly rate, and the effective rate if you finish on the estimate or use the full buffer. The math stays in your browser.
The implied hourly rate is the day rate divided by the hours you count in a billed day. A time buffer is then applied to the estimated days: days × (1 + buffer %). Labor is that buffered day count times the day rate, and the quote is labor plus expenses. In symbols: day rate × estimated days × (1 + buffer %) + expenses. The implied hours in the quote are the buffered days times hours per day.
Two effective hourly rates are shown. If you finish in the estimated days, the quote is divided by estimated days times hours per day. If you use the whole buffer, it is divided by the buffered hours. A floor rate, if you enter one, is only a comparison: the result tells you whether those two effective rates sit above or below the floor. It does not adjust the quote automatically.
The day count is an estimate, not a schedule the calculator can verify. If the scope grows, price the added days as a change instead of stretching the same fee. You can add a more detailed time-and-money contingency with the project buffer calculator, or compare a finished flat fee with hourly billing using the flat fee vs hourly calculator. To set a floor from a take-home goal, use the freelance hourly rate calculator.
With the default numbers, a $650 day for 7 hours is $92.86 an hour. Eight days with a 15% buffer is 9.2 days and $5,980 of labor. Adding $200 of expenses produces a $6,180 quote. If the work stays at 8 days (56 hours), that fee is $110.36 an hour. If all of the buffer is used (64.4 hours), it is $95.96 an hour — still above the $80 floor in the example.
Flat-Fee Pricing Lab is a $7/month membership that adds one practical pricing tool for flat-fee freelancers each month. Cancel anytime. There is also a free spreadsheet Mini-Check if you want the overrun math next to a quote.
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Multiply the day rate by the estimated days, after adding any time buffer you want, then add expenses you will pass through. The implied hourly rate is the day rate divided by the hours in a billed day. The page also shows the effective hourly rate if you finish in the estimated days, and if you use the full buffer.
That is your choice. Many freelancers use 6, 7 or 8 hours to leave room for admin and breaks. The calculator uses the number you type. A shorter billed day raises the implied hourly rate for the same day rate; it does not change the project quote unless you also change the number of days.
No. The day count and the buffer are estimates you enter. If the work takes more days than the quote includes and you do not issue a change order, the effective rate falls. The result is not a forecast of income.