Free Agency Business Tools
Agency Rate & Retainer Calculator
Calculate a sustainable hourly rate or monthly retainer from costs, capacity, utilization, delivery commitment, and target margin.
What this tool does
Turn annual costs and realistic capacity into sustainable rates and retainers.
The hourly mode divides annual agency costs by realistic billable capacity to find the break-even hourly cost, then calculates the selling rate required for the target margin.
The monthly-retainer mode prices committed delivery and account-service hours, reserves a capacity buffer, includes recurring direct expenses, and applies the selected margin once to the complete monthly cost.
Use the tool
Calculate an hourly rate or monthly retainer
Start with agency economics, then price an hour or a recurring monthly commitment with a transparent cost breakdown.
Costs and capacity
Use annual operating costs before profit, including salaries, overhead, software, and workspace.
Sustainable hourly rate
$89 / hour
- Annual billable hours
- 3,588
- Break-even hourly cost
- $67
Rates above this target create the selected margin when capacity assumptions hold.
How to use it
Three quick steps
- 1Add annual operating costs before profit, billable team size, weekly hours, working weeks, and realistic utilization.
- 2Choose Hourly rate for a capacity-based rate, or Monthly retainer to add recurring delivery hours, account time, buffer, and direct costs.
- 3Set the target margin, review the breakdown, and validate the result against scope, service levels, taxes, and cash-flow needs.
Worked example
Price a recurring agency commitment
An agency with $240,000 annual costs and three billable people reserves 40 delivery hours, eight account-service hours, a 10% buffer, and $500 in monthly direct costs.
FAQ
Questions about the agency hourly-rate calculator
Practical details about using the tool and understanding its result.
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