---
title: "Project profitability calculator for freelancers"
description: "Free project profitability calculator. Set the fee against your hours and costs to see the hourly rate a project really earned you."
canonical: "https://www.meadowdesk.com/tools/project-profitability-calculator"
last_modified: "2026-10-27"
---

# Project profitability calculator

Source: https://www.meadowdesk.com/tools/project-profitability-calculator

Free project profitability calculator. Set the fee against your hours and costs to see the hourly rate a project really earned you.

Set the fee you quoted against the hours you worked and the costs it had to cover, and see the hourly rate the project really paid you.

## How to use it

1. Enter the project fee you quoted, before any sales tax.
2. Add the hours you worked on it, from your timesheet or your most honest count.
3. Set your target rate: the hourly rate you need to earn.
4. Add the pass-through costs, like contractors, stock images, fonts and plugins.
5. Read the effective hourly rate and see whether it clears your target.

## Project profitability calculator FAQ

**What is a good effective hourly rate?**
One at or above the rate you need to earn. If you haven’t worked that out yet, the [freelance rate calculator](https://www.meadowdesk.com/tools/freelance-rate-calculator) starts from your income goal and costs. Anything below it means the project paid you less than your own minimum.

**What counts as a pass-through cost?**
Money the project spent that isn’t your time: subcontractors, stock images, fonts, plugins, printing. Leave out general overheads, like your laptop and software subscriptions, because your target rate already covers those.

**Should I count hours I didn’t bill?**
Yes. Every hour spent on the project belongs here: calls, revisions, admin and the fixes after launch. Leaving them out is how a fixed price looks profitable when it isn’t. The [time duration calculator](https://www.meadowdesk.com/tools/time-duration-calculator) turns start and stop times into decimal hours.

**What does a negative margin mean?**
The project paid less than your target rate for the hours it took. You still earned money, just less than the rate you set. Look at where the extra hours went, then scope the next one tighter or price it higher.

**How is this different from markup and margin?**
This measures what your time earned. To price something you buy and resell, like printing or a license, the [markup and margin calculator](https://www.meadowdesk.com/tools/markup-and-margin-calculator) turns a cost into a price.