Running Your Own Numbers When Nobody Does It For You
When you work for yourself — whether you're a freelance designer, Uber driver, contractor, or sole trader — there's no payroll department setting aside your tax, no employer paying your super, and no HR team to ask when you're confused. The upside is flexibility and control. The downside is that every financial mistake is your own. These calculators help you stay on top of the numbers that matter.
Working Out Your Real Hourly Rate
The most common mistake freelancers make is quoting an hourly rate based on what they want to earn — without accounting for all the hours they're not billing. Every hour spent on admin, client emails, invoicing, chasing payments, and unpaid pitching is time that has to be covered by your billable hours. A freelancer working 40 hours a week may only bill 25 of them. Our Hourly Rate Calculator walks you through the maths: desired income, billable hours, business expenses, and a buffer for gaps between contracts.
Setting Aside Tax Quarterly
As a sole trader or contractor, the ATO expects you to pay tax as you earn through the PAYG instalment system. In your first year of self-employment you'll receive an assessment after lodging your first return, but from year two onwards you'll receive quarterly instalment notices. A safe rule of thumb: set aside 25–30% of every invoice payment into a separate tax savings account from day one. If you earn over $27,500 in the current year, the ATO will almost certainly put you onto quarterly instalments. Use our Income Tax Calculator to estimate your annual liability and reverse-engineer how much to quarantine per payment received.
GST Registration: The $75,000 Threshold
You must register for GST if your annual turnover is $75,000 or more (or $150,000 for non-profit bodies). Once registered, you add 10% GST to your invoices, collect it from clients, and remit the net amount to the ATO quarterly. The benefit: you can also claim GST credits on your business purchases. Our GST Calculator helps you quickly add or remove GST from any amount, and track what you owe at BAS time.
Voluntary Super When Nobody Pays It For You
Employees get super paid on top of their salary by their employer. As a freelancer, you don't — unless you set it up yourself. The ATO's super rules for contractors have been expanding: from July 2026, the extended Super Guarantee may apply more broadly to contractor arrangements. Regardless of the rules, voluntary super contributions are one of the most tax-effective ways to save for retirement. Concessional contributions (capped at $30,000 per year) are taxed at 15% inside the fund — significantly lower than most freelancers' marginal rate. Use our Super Contribution Calculator to see how much you can put in and what you'll save in tax.
Home Office Deductions: Fixed Rate vs Actual Cost
If you work from home, you can claim a deduction for home office expenses. The ATO's revised fixed rate method allows a deduction of 67 cents per hour for electricity, internet, and phone — with separate claims still available for depreciation of office furniture and equipment. Keep a log of your work-from-home hours throughout the year. Our Home Office Expenses Calculator compares both methods so you claim the higher deduction.
ABN vs Employee: The Insurance Gap Nobody Warns You About
When you leave employment and go out on your own, you lose workers compensation coverage, employer-paid income protection, and often access to the group life insurance inside your super fund. Income protection insurance for freelancers is deductible and worth serious consideration — without it, an illness or injury that stops you working means no income, with no safety net. Budget for it as a genuine business expense.