Price the job. Not your old paycheck.

New subcontractors quote their old salary as an hourly rate, win the work, and discover they're funding taxes, benefits, overhead, G&A, and unbillable time out of margin that doesn't exist. Enter your target compensation. Every multiplier between that number and your bill rate is shown, explained, and editable below.

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Target annual salary ($)

What you'd pay yourself as a W-2 employee doing this work. Max $500,000 — this tool is built for small subs, not enterprise executive comp.

Utilization — the hours you can actually bill

Utilization typical 70%–85%

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Fringe — the cost of employing yourself

FICA (%) fixed 7.65%

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FUTA/SUTA (%) typical 0.6%–3%

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Health insurance (annual $) typical $3,000–$12,000

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Retirement match (%) typical 0%–6%

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PTO (days/year) typical 10–20

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Indirect rates and fee

Overhead (%) typical 20%–40%

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G&A (%) typical 8%–20%

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Fee / profit (%) typical 5%–12%

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This is education, not financial advice. Verify numbers against official sources before making decisions.

Rates on government contracts can be constrained by contract type and audit rules (DCAA). This calculator is education for pricing conversations, not a compliance tool.