Pricing Freelance Work: The Rate Formula That Covers Taxes and Gaps

In this episode, we cover Pricing. The conversation opens with: Welcome to Self-Employment Success : Let's Make Sense Of This Sh*t. I'm Casey. If pricing your freelance work feels like a constant guess, you already know the problem. You pick a number that covers your time, yet taxes and quiet months still eat the profit. The thing is, most people start with what a client might pay instead of what the business actually needs. That approach leaves gaps every time. Listen for the key context, practical takeaways, and the most important points to carry forward.Welcome to Self-Employment Success : Let's Make Sense Of This Shit. I'm Casey. If pricing your freelance work feels like a constant guess, you already know the problem. You pick a number that covers your time, yet taxes and quiet months still eat the profit. The thing is, most people start with what a client might pay instead of what the business actually needs. That approach leaves gaps every time. Here is the default I give one-person operations. If your revenue sits under fifty thousand dollars, build the rate from your total costs first. Add the taxes you will owe, then divide by the billable hours you can realistically protect. The formula accounts for slow periods without forcing you to chase every lead. Once you see the number on paper, sending the invoice gets easier because the math already protects your cash flow.Subscribe for weekly explainers — no guru fluff, just tactics you can apply this week.