True hourly rate checker
What you really earn per hour on the tools
Your charge-out rate in. Your real rate, and the admin time software must save, out.
Updated 3 Oct 2026 · every figure links to its source · No provider pays us to be listed.
Your charge-out rate is paid only for billed hours. Spread it over the quoting, invoicing and chasing you do for free and the number drops. Then see how few hours a month a piece of software has to give back to cover its price.
How the true rate is worked out
The checker multiplies your charge-out rate by your billable hours to get what you invoice in a week, then divides that by every hour you worked, billed or not. Someone charging $110 an hour who bills 32 hours and spends 8 on admin invoices $3,520 over 40 hours: $88 an hour, not $110. The $22 gap is the cost of the admin, paid out of every hour on the tools.
The monthly figures use 52 weeks divided by 12 months, about 4.33 weeks. Leave out time you genuinely bill, such as travel you charge for, and include the evenings you spend on quotes.
When software pays for itself
Divide a plan’s monthly price by your charge-out rate and you have the billable time it must free up to cover itself. At $110 an hour, a $52 plan needs about 28 minutes a month, or six and a half minutes a week. That is a low bar if the software stops you retyping quotes into invoices and invoices into your accounts.
The catch is volume. A per-user plan costs more as the team grows, and a plan priced by the job costs more as the work grows, so the break-even for a crew can be several hours a month. The cost finder gives you the right monthly price for your team to test here.
GST: use ex-GST figures
GST is a broad-based tax of 10% on most goods, services and other items sold or consumed in Australia. (ATO, checked )
A GST-registered business can claim a credit for the GST included in the price of things it uses in the business. (ATO, checked )
A business must register for GST once its GST turnover (gross business income, less GST) reaches $75,000 a year. (ATO, checked )
So for most trade businesses the ex-GST price is the real cost of the software, and the rate you keep is your rate before GST. A sole trader under the threshold who hasn’t registered pays the full GST-inclusive price and should enter that.
Questions
What counts as unbilled admin?
Any work hour you can't put on an invoice: writing and chasing quotes, booking jobs, ordering materials, invoicing, chasing payment, data entry for your bookkeeper, and driving to quote jobs you don't win. Travel between paid jobs is often charged in the job price, so only count it if you don't bill it.
Should I enter my rate with or without GST?
Without. GST you collect isn't yours; it goes to the ATO. Enter the software price ex GST too, if you're registered for GST, because you can claim back the GST on it. If you aren't registered, enter the full price you pay.
Why does the break-even use my charge-out rate and not my true rate?
Because the point of saving admin time is to turn it into billed time. An hour saved and then billed earns your charge-out rate. If you'd rather take the time off, the software is still worth it if you value that hour at more than the price, but it won't show up in your bank account.
Does job software really save admin time?
It can, mostly by cutting double entry: a quote becomes the job, the job becomes the invoice, and the invoice syncs to your accounting software instead of being typed in again. How much it saves depends on how you work now. The checker shows how little it has to save to break even, which is usually the more useful number.