Calculate your professional daily rate based on target salary, overheads, and billable capacity.
The annual take-home amount you desire (before income tax).
Software, marketing, office, and travel costs.
Health insurance, pension, and liability insurance.
Extra margin for gap between contracts.
Time Availability (Days Per Year)
Recommended Day Rate:
Total Annual Revenue Target:
Total Billable Days:
Base Rate (Breakeven):
Risk Buffer Applied:
How to Calculate Your Interim Management Day Rate
Transitioning from a permanent executive role to interim management requires a different approach to compensation. As an interim manager, you are not just a "temporary employee"; you are a business entity providing high-impact value while carrying all the associated risks and overheads.
The Formula for Interim Pricing
A common mistake is simply dividing a previous salary by 260 days. This ignores the "cost of doing business." To find your sustainable rate, you must account for:
The Utilization Gap: Most interim managers are billable for only 160 to 180 days per year. The time spent between assignments (the "bench") must be funded by your active days.
Employment Costs: You must cover your own pension contributions, health insurance, and professional liability insurance, which were previously paid by an employer.
Operational Overheads: Marketing, accounting fees, laptop, software licenses, and continuous professional development.
Risk Premium: Interims are often brought in for crisis management or rapid change. You are paid for the speed and certainty of results, which justifies a premium over standard salary conversions.
Example Calculation
If you target a take-home salary equivalent of 100,000 and have 25,000 in combined expenses and social costs, you need 125,000 in revenue. If you plan to work 180 days (allowing for holidays and marketing time), your base rate would be approximately 695. Adding a 15% risk buffer for unexpected downtime brings the recommended rate to roughly 800 per day.
function calculateInterimRate() {
// Inputs
var targetSalary = parseFloat(document.getElementById('targetSalary').value) || 0;
var annualExpenses = parseFloat(document.getElementById('annualExpenses').value) || 0;
var socialCosts = parseFloat(document.getElementById('socialCosts').value) || 0;
var riskBuffer = parseFloat(document.getElementById('riskBuffer').value) || 0;
var vacationDays = parseFloat(document.getElementById('vacationDays').value) || 0;
var publicHolidays = parseFloat(document.getElementById('publicHolidays').value) || 0;
var sickDays = parseFloat(document.getElementById('sickDays').value) || 0;
var adminDays = parseFloat(document.getElementById('adminDays').value) || 0;
// Standard working days (Mon-Fri) in a year is approx 261
var totalStandardDays = 261;
// Calculate Billable Days
var nonBillableTotal = vacationDays + publicHolidays + sickDays + adminDays;
var totalBillableDays = totalStandardDays – nonBillableTotal;
// Safety check for division
if (totalBillableDays <= 0) {
alert("Please check your non-billable days. They cannot exceed the total workdays in a year.");
return;
}
// Calculate Financials
var totalRevenueNeeded = targetSalary + annualExpenses + socialCosts;
var baseRate = totalRevenueNeeded / totalBillableDays;
var finalRate = baseRate * (1 + (riskBuffer / 100));
// Display Results
document.getElementById('resultArea').style.display = 'block';
document.getElementById('finalDayRate').innerText = formatCurrency(Math.ceil(finalRate));
document.getElementById('totalRevenue').innerText = formatCurrency(totalRevenueNeeded);
document.getElementById('totalBillable').innerText = Math.round(totalBillableDays) + ' Days';
document.getElementById('baseRateResult').innerText = formatCurrency(Math.ceil(baseRate));
document.getElementById('bufferResult').innerText = riskBuffer + '%';
// Scroll to result
document.getElementById('resultArea').scrollIntoView({ behavior: 'smooth', block: 'nearest' });
}
function formatCurrency(num) {
return num.toLocaleString(undefined, { minimumFractionDigits: 0, maximumFractionDigits: 0 });
}