Labour Hourly Rate Calculator.
Work out the rate to charge per hour so wages, overheads and profit are all covered — and every hour your team spends on site actually makes money.
Your costs & hours
Why the rate is higher than the wage
A worker paid the equivalent of R 97,83/hr can’t be charged at that rate: only 70% of their paid time is billable, and overheads and profit still have to come out of those hours. That’s why the charge-out rate lands at R 248,45.
How to work out a labour charge-out rate
The rate you charge for labour has almost nothing to do with the wage you pay. Your rate has to recover three things the wage doesn’t — overheads, the hours you pay for but can’t bill, and a profit margin. Miss any one of them and a busy team can still lose money.
There are three steps:
- Find your billable hours. Take the hours you pay for in a year, then keep only the share that can actually be charged to a job. Travel, quoting, admin and downtime aren’t billable, so realistic utilisation is often 60–75%.
- Add up the cost to recover. The worker’s full annual cost (wage plus UIF, leave and other on-costs) plus their share of overheads — vehicle, tools, insurance, admin.
- Add your margin. Divide cost by billable hours to get break-even, then price above it for your target margin. Break-even is the floor: charge below it and the worker runs at a loss.
This is why a technician on the equivalent of R90/hour might need to be charged out at R250–R300/hour. It looks like a big markup, but most of the gap is simply recovering real costs — not profit.
Frequently asked questions
How do I work out what to charge per hour?
Add up the annual cost of the worker (wages plus on-costs) and their share of overheads, then divide by the number of hours you can actually bill in a year — not the hours you pay for. Finally, add your target profit margin. This calculator does all three steps for you.
What are billable (or productive) hours?
Billable hours are the hours you can actually charge to a customer. Paid time also includes travel, quoting, admin, tea breaks, and downtime, so only a portion — often 60–75% — is billable. Charging as if every paid hour is billable is a common way to run at a loss.
Why is my charge-out rate so much higher than the wage?
Because the wage only covers the worker. Your rate also has to recover overheads (vehicle, tools, insurance, admin), the paid hours that are not billable, and a profit margin. It is normal for a charge-out rate to be two to three times the raw hourly wage.
What overheads should I include?
Include the costs of keeping that person working: vehicle and fuel, tools and equipment, phone, insurance, and a share of office/admin costs. Spread total business overheads across your chargeable staff to get a per-worker figure.
Know Your Rate — Then Bill Every Hour
Exequtech captures time on the job card and carries it straight through to the invoice, so the billable hours you priced for don't quietly disappear.
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