Consulting Rate Calculator: Hourly, Day Rate and Retainer Fee

Your consulting rate floor is your full corporate package plus business overhead, divided by the hours you will really bill in a year. Example: $200,000 base + $30,000 bonus + $20,000 equity + $25,000 benefits + $15,000 overhead = $290,000. At 20 billable hours a week for 44 weeks (880 hours), the floor is about $330 an hour, $2,636 for an 8-hour day, and $8,056 a month per client across three retainer clients. Quote above the floor, inside the market range for your role.

The free calculator below does that math with your own numbers and checks any retainer you plan to quote. It is built on the pricing frameworks in From Corporate to Cash, the consulting playbook from The Pivot Lab (pivotlab.shop). Everything here is a planning scenario, not tax advice and not a forecast of what you will earn. Last updated October 18, 2026.

If the calculator does not load in your browser, the formulas and worked example below give the same answers by hand.

How the consulting rate calculator works

The Pivot Lab rate formula has four steps. Each one is plain arithmetic, so you can check it on paper.

1. Revenue to replace = base salary + bonus + equity per year + benefits value + business overhead.
2. Billable hours per year = billable hours per week x working weeks per year (or billable days per month x hours per day x 12).
3. Hourly rate floor = revenue to replace / billable hours per year. Day rate floor = hourly floor x hours in a billable day.
4. Monthly retainer floor per client = revenue to replace / 12 / number of retainer clients.

The calculator then places your floor against a typical range for your role from the book and gives a recommended range: from whichever is higher, your floor or the bottom of the range, up to the top of the range. If your floor is above the whole range, it tells you so and lists the levers.

Why the whole package and not just salary? Dividing a $200,000 base salary by 2,080 hours (40 hours x 52 weeks) gives about $96 an hour. That figure leaves out the bonus, equity and benefits your employer paid, the overhead you now carry, and every hour that goes to sales, admin and time off. The book makes the same point from the buyer's side: a full-time CFO hire costs $150,000 to $300,000 in base salary alone, before benefits, equity and management overhead (Chapter 1).

Worked example

These are the calculator's default inputs. They are illustrative, not a benchmark. Swap in your own numbers.

Against the book's three-client retainer band of $7,000 to $9,000 a month (Chapter 8, The Math of $25K/Month), the recommended range is about $8,056 to $9,000 per client. The same chapter plans 6 to 8 hours a week per client in that structure, which matches the example's 6.7.

Typical consulting rates by role

These are the ranges From Corporate to Cash gives. They are typical market figures, not promises. Where you land depends on the niche, the buyer and how clearly you can show what changes.

For role-by-role detail, see how to price fractional executive services.

How to check a retainer before you quote it

A retainer fee hides an hourly rate. To find it, use the hours the work will actually take, including preparation, follow-up and the emails nobody puts on the calendar:

Retainer hourly equivalent = monthly retainer x 12 / (hours per week on the client x working weeks per year)

If you work all 52 weeks, this is the familiar shortcut of monthly retainer / (hours per week x 4.33), because 52 / 12 = 4.33. Using your real working weeks keeps the check on the same basis as your floor.

Example: $8,000 a month at 8 hours a week over 44 weeks is about 29.3 hours a month, or about $273 an hour. That is below the example's $330 floor. To clear it, the fee for that scope would need to be about $9,667 a month, or the scope would need to shrink to about 6.6 hours a week. The fix is a higher fee, a lighter cadence, or moving part of the work into a separately priced project. A discount is not on the list.

Quick answers

How do you calculate a monthly retainer fee?

Add up the revenue the practice must earn in a year (your full corporate package plus overhead), divide by 12, then divide by the number of retainer clients you plan to carry. That is your monthly floor per client. Then quote inside the market range for your role, never below the floor. In the example above, $290,000 / 12 / 3 = about $8,056 a month.

What does a retainer fee calculator do?

A retainer fee calculator turns your income target, costs and available hours into a minimum monthly fee per client, then tests a proposed fee against it. The calculator on this page also gives an hourly and day rate floor, compares your number with role ranges from From Corporate to Cash, and shows what your next client should pay.

What is a consulting retainer?

A consulting retainer is a fixed monthly fee for a defined scope of ongoing work: a set number of calls, named deliverables, your availability between calls and what success looks like. The book calls this the Tier 2 core engagement and puts it at $3,000 to $8,000 a month, with fractional executive retainers higher (Chapters 1 and 3).

How much should I charge as a consultant?

Charge at least your floor: your full corporate package plus overhead, divided by the hours you can really bill. Then price inside the typical range for your role. The book's Chapter 1 ranges run from $300 to $600 an hour for a senior strategy consultant to $8,000 to $25,000 a month for a fractional CFO. Raise the rate with each new client.

How do I turn my salary into a consulting day rate?

Do not divide salary alone by 260 working days. Add bonus, equity, benefits and overhead, divide by your realistic billable hours a year, then multiply by the hours in your billable day. In the example, $290,000 / 880 hours x 8 hours = about $2,636 a day.

Should I quote a retainer or an hourly rate?

Quote a retainer when the problem recurs every month, the cost of delay or poor judgment is material, and the client needs senior oversight without a full-time hire. Use hourly billing for small, unpredictable requests and a fixed-fee project for a defined problem with a clear end. Use hours internally to protect your margin; lead externally with the scope and the outcome.

Should I discount my first retainer to win the client?

Adjust scope before price. If the fee sits below your floor, narrow the mandate, reduce access or split implementation into a project. A discount on vague scope makes the work harder to deliver profitably, and it sets the anchor for your next client.

How do I raise my retainer rate later?

The book's New Client New Rate Rule: every new client signs at a higher rate than the previous one, by 15% to 25% until you reach the median rate for your function in your market, then 5% to 10%. Existing clients keep their rate until the renewal window; the book uses month 6 and month 12 as review points, with 60 days' notice (Chapter 8).

Scope protects the rate

The book's test for a Tier 2 engagement is specificity: how many calls, which deliverables, your availability between calls and what success looks like (Chapter 3). A defensible retainer names the cadence, the deliverables, the decisions you own or influence and the exclusions. A useful rule of thumb: retain the leadership layer, project-price the build layer. Capacity matters too. The book's Retainer Stacking Model plans a four-day client-facing week with Fridays kept for business development, and puts the practical maximum for most senior consultants at four active retainers (Chapter 8). If the calculator only closes with five or six clients, the plan needs a higher rate or a project alongside the retainers.

Related guides: retainers versus projects, how to package a consulting offer, how to name your price on a discovery call and how to get your first consulting client.