For consultants setting their fees
Consulting Rate Calculator With Project Fees
Type your income goal, billable days and costs, or paste a project. Get your consulting day rate, project fee and three options, every step shown.
Free to start. No card needed.
How to calculate a consulting day rate by hand
Start with the revenue you need: your target income before tax plus a year of business costs. Costs include liability insurance, software, unbilled travel, accounting and marketing, plus the health insurance and retirement savings an employer pays on top of a salary. In June 2026, benefits, paid leave included, were 30% of private employers' compensation costs1, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found. In the US, your income must also cover self-employment tax2, which the IRS puts at 15.3%, plus income tax. A $150,000 goal plus $30,000 of costs (example) is $180,000.
Next, count the days you can bill. From a year's 260 weekdays, take off vacation, public holidays and sick days: 25, 10 and 5 days leave 220 (example). Finding work, admin and learning fill part of every week, so at three billable days in five, 220 becomes 132. Dividing $180,000 by 132 gives $1,364, so round up to $1,400 a day, or $175 an hour over eight hours. For your floor, the lowest rate to accept, swap in the least income you could live on: $100,000 plus $30,000, over 132 days, is $985.
To price a project, estimate the days each phase takes and multiply the total by your day rate. For example, 12 interviews at half a day each, notes included, take 6 days. UK Treasury guidance on optimism bias3 says project appraisers tend to be overly optimistic, so check estimates against similar past work. Consulting Success, which sells coaching to consultants, recommends giving clients three options4 so they choose their level of risk. Price a retainer from the days a month it covers, and set out its terms in a retainer agreement.
How it works
How much should you charge for consulting?
Charge at least your floor, and aim for a day rate that meets your income goal. River calculates both from your numbers and shows every step, so you can check the math or change one input. Add a project too, as pasted notes or up to 10 files such as the client's brief or an RFP. River splits it into phases, estimates the days in each with its reasoning, and marks every estimate for you to check.
River then prices three options at your day rate, from the essential scope to the most support, plus a monthly retainer. Alan Weiss, author of Value-Based Fees, bases his fee on his contribution to the value the client says it will receive5. So when your notes say what solving the problem is worth, River shows each option's return on its fee. Consulting Success suggests a value-based fee should return 3 to 10 times its cost4, so River flags anything above 10 times as room to charge more.
Use it when you set or raise your rates, or before you quote a new client. If the client named a budget, River shows ways to meet it, such as trimming or phasing the work, without cutting your rate. It won't set your rate from what others charge: a rate you heard from a peer is labeled hearsay, not a benchmark. Once your fee is set, the consulting proposal generator writes the proposal around your three options. The SOW generator then turns the option your client picks into a statement of work.
How it works
From your numbers to your fees
Tell River your numbers
Type your income goal, billable days and yearly costs, or paste the project or drop the client's brief.
Pick how to price
Tap day rate, project fee or retainer to lead with that section, or skip it and River chooses.
Get the math
Your rates, project fee, options, retainer and checks land in your doc, with every step shown.
Adjust and reuse
Change any number and ask River to rerun it, or carry the three options into a proposal.
Your rates · 3 days a week, 44 weeks
- Revenue needed$150,000 income + $30,000 costs = $180,000
- Billable days44 weeks × 3 days = 132
- Day rate$180,000 ÷ 132 = $1,364, rounded up to $1,400
- Project fee18 days × $1,400 = $25,200
What you'll get
Your day rate and project fees, with every step of the math
- Your day and hourly rate from income, costs and billable days, every step shown
- A project fee built from days per phase, with three priced options and a retainer
- A check on your billable days, and a floor rate never to go below
Before and after
Your numbers in. Rates and fees you can explain.
I want $150,000 a year before tax and need at least $100,000. I can bill 3 days a week for 44 weeks, and my costs are about $30,000. Pricing an 8-week churn study for a gym chain: kickoff, 12 interviews, data analysis, a workshop and a report. The client says cutting churn by a quarter is worth about $300,000 a year.
Day rate: $180,000 ÷ 132 billable days = $1,364, rounded up to $1,400. Hourly: $175 over 8 hours. Project fee: 18 days × $1,400 = $25,200. Kickoff, 2 days. Interviews, 6 days. Analysis, 5 days. Workshop, 3 days. Report, 2 days. Options: 1. Diagnostic, 13 days, $18,200. 2. Diagnostic, workshop and report, 18 days, $25,200 (recommended). 3. Option 2 plus three months of support, 24 days, $33,600. Retainer: 2 days a month, $2,800. Checks: 88 days a year left for selling and admin, 2 a week. Floor rate: $985 a day. Option 2 returns 11.9 times its fee on the client's $300,000, so there is room to charge more.
Every step is written out, so you can check it, change one input and ask River to rerun the rest.
What lands in your doc
What's in your consulting fee calculation
- Your day and hourly rate from target income, yearly costs and billable days, every step shown
- A project fee from estimated days per phase, each with a one-line basis for you to check
- Three priced options and a monthly retainer at the same day rate, each showing its days and fee
- Each option's return on its fee, whenever your notes say what the result is worth to the client
- A utilization check of the days left for selling and admin, plus your floor rate
- A list of every assumption to confirm, such as the hours in your billable day
Questions consultants ask
Common questions
What is a consulting day rate, and how do you calculate it?
A consulting day rate is what you charge for one day of work, set so the days you can bill cover your income goal and business costs. Add those two figures and divide by your billable days. For example, $180,000 over 132 days is $1,364, rounded up to $1,400. For an hourly rate, divide by the hours you bill in a day.
How much should I charge for consulting?
At least your floor rate, and more when the client's result justifies it. Your floor is your yearly costs plus the least income you'd accept, divided by your billable days. Above it, price on value: Consulting Success, a coaching firm for consultants, suggests a fee the client gets back 3 to 10 times over4. River won't quote other consultants' rates without a dated source.
How many days a year can a consultant bill?
Far fewer than the 260 weekdays in a year. Take off vacation, public holidays and sick days, then allow for finding work, writing proposals and admin, which no client pays for. Billing three days a week across 44 working weeks gives 132 days (example). River flags a plan as tight when it leaves less than one day a week for that unpaid work.
Should I charge a day rate, a project fee or a retainer?
Use a day rate when the scope is likely to change. Use a project fee when the scope is clear: the client knows the cost up front, and you keep the gain from working efficiently. A retainer suits ongoing advice over several months. River prices all three from one day rate, and the consulting rates guide compares five ways consultants charge.
How do I work out my consulting rate with River?
Type your income goal, the days you can bill and your yearly costs into the box at the top of this page. Add a project if you have one, pasted or as up to 10 files, then choose Work out my rates. River writes your rates, fees and checks into your free River workspace, where you can change any number and ask it to rerun.
Are my rates and client files private?
Your rates, costs and client files are saved in your own River workspace, private unless you share them. To do the math, River sends them to an AI provider. River's privacy policy says neither River nor those providers use your content to train AI models. If a client's brief is confidential, check your agreement with them first.
Is the consulting rate calculator free?
Yes, it is free to start, with no card needed. Your rates and fees open in a River workspace, where you can edit them, share them or ask River to change them. Paid plans add more AI use and access to the most advanced models.
Your next step