How many billable hours does a freelancer have in a year?

Annual billable hours depend on scheduled work, time off, and the share of working time used for administration, sales, meetings, and learning. Many freelancers have far fewer than 2,080 billable hours.

How do I calculate the hourly rate needed for an annual income goal?

Divide the annual income goal by realistic annual billable hours. The result is a gross planning rate before taxes and other personal financial considerations.

Where are saved capacity plans stored?

Saved plans stay in local browser storage on the current device. No account is required and plans are not synced to a server.

Freelancer annual planning

Know How Many Hours You Can Really Sell

Plan your real annual billable capacity, calculate the rate required for your income goal, and see how non-billable work affects your earnings.

Read the billable hours guide

Free · No account required · Data stays on your device

Annual capacity Billable utilization Required rate Income gap

1Work schedule
2Non-billable time
3Rate and goal
4Results

Step 1 of 4

Work Schedule

Start with the time that could contain work, then subtract days that are unavailable.

Weekly work hours Working weeks Workdays per week Vacation days Public holidays Sick-day buffer

Working weeks represent weeks in which work may occur. Vacation and other time-off days are deducted separately.

Saved on this device

Plans and Comparisons

Save up to three scenarios. Plans remain in this browser unless you export them.

Plan name Selected plan

Method

How the Capacity Planner Works

The planner begins with scheduled annual hours, subtracts vacation, holidays, and a sick-day buffer, then applies your non-billable percentage to the remaining working hours. The result is the annual capacity you can realistically invoice.

Required hourly rate is your target annual income divided by annual billable hours. Projected revenue uses the same billable hours multiplied by your current rate.

Last updated: July 22, 2026

Annual working hoursScheduled hours minus time-off hours

Annual billable hoursWorking hours multiplied by billable percentage

Required rateTarget income divided by billable hours

Revenue impactNon-billable hours multiplied by current rate

Mobile beta

Want to Track This Plan Each Month?

The mobile version is planned to include saved annual plans, monthly check-ins, project profitability reviews, reminders, and offline access.

When sign-up becomes available, this information will be used only for Freelancer Capacity Planner beta testing and product launch updates.

Beta sign-up is temporarily unavailable.

FAQ

Freelancer Capacity Questions

How many billable hours are realistic in a year?

There is no universal number. Start with scheduled hours, remove time off, and then remove administration, sales, meetings, communication, and learning. The planner makes each assumption visible.

Does this planner calculate taxes?

No. It plans gross freelance revenue and capacity. Use the 1099 take-home pay calculator for a separate tax-reserve estimate.

Can I save more than three plans?

The browser version intentionally limits local storage to three scenarios. You can export a JSON backup before clearing or replacing plans.

Is my income or email sent to analytics?

No. Anonymous events do not include income, hourly rates, email addresses, or complete calculator inputs.

Know How Many Hours You Can Really Sell

Work Schedule

Non-Billable Time

Rate and Income Goal

Your Annual Capacity Plan

Plans and Comparisons

Scenario Comparison

How the Capacity Planner Works

Want to Track This Plan Each Month?

Freelancer Capacity Questions