Freelance
Calculators for independent contractors and self-employed workers, covering rate-setting, estimated taxes, project profitability, and monthly break-even math.
About these tools
Freelance and independent-contractor work runs on math most W-2 employees never have to touch. Self-employment tax of 15.3% up to the Social Security wage base, quarterly estimated tax payments, project pricing that has to cover benefits and downtime as well as direct hours, monthly overhead that determines how many days of billing it takes just to break even. The tools in this category cover the calculations that hit a one-person business most often, grounded in the IRS forms and publications that govern the numbers.
Every tool here names the underlying source. Self-employment tax uses IRS Schedule SE and Topic 554. Quarterly estimated payments reference IRS Form 1040-ES and the safe-harbor rules in IRC 6654. Hourly-to-salary conversion uses the industry-standard 2,080-hour year with adjustable billable-hour yield. Project profitability and break-even math are general business accounting formulas, not regulations, and the tool calls that out.
These tools are reference aids. They help you ballpark a rate, sanity-check an estimated tax payment, or model whether a project is actually profitable after overhead. They do not replace a CPA for your actual tax return, and they do not account for state income tax, city wage tax, or industry-specific rules. Where a tool handles a tax calculation (quarterly estimates in particular), the "last reviewed" date tells you when the IRS-published figures it uses were last verified.
All calculations happen in your browser. Revenue numbers, rates, expense figures, and projected tax liabilities never leave your device. No signup, no email gate, no marketing follow-up. The privacy policy has the full detail on what data the site handles.
Cross-cluster tools that matter here: the overtime calculator and withholding estimator in the payroll cluster handle the W-2 side of the decision when you are comparing a contract rate to a salaried offer. The "hourly-to-salary" tool below references both to help size the question correctly.
If a calculator you need is not here yet, send the formula source you would follow and the scenario via the contact page. Tools grounded in a named IRS publication or a standard accounting formula get prioritized.
Tools
Break-Even Day Calculator
Calculate which working day of the month your billable work covers your fixed overhead, and how much capacity remains for profit.
Contractor Hourly to Salary Equivalent
Convert a contractor hourly rate to an equivalent W-2 salary by accounting for billable-hour yield, benefits, and self-employment overhead.
Project Profitability Calculator
Compute profit, margin, and effective hourly for a freelance project after direct expenses and overhead allocation. Useful for pricing post-mortems.
Quarterly Estimated Taxes Calculator (2026 SE Tax + Income Tax)
Ballpark federal quarterly estimated tax payments for a self-employed worker, using the 2026 IRS Schedule SE and Form 1040-ES tax rate schedules.