There is no single right hourly rate
A rate that works for one trade or business can lose money for another. Your location, skill, equipment, insurance, overheads and how many hours you can actually bill all matter. Competitor prices are useful context, but they are not your cost base.
Work backwards from real costs
List wages or your required income, superannuation, leave, insurance, vehicle costs, tools, software, administration and other overheads. Add a profit target. Then divide by realistic billable hours, not every hour in the working week.
For an illustrative calculation, if annual costs plus target profit are $120,000 and you can bill 1,200 hours, the base is $100 per billable hour before checking tax treatment and job-specific costs. Change the assumptions to match your business; this is not a recommended market rate.
Remember the time around the tools
- Travel and loading time
- Site visits and quoting
- Ordering and collecting materials
- Cleanup, paperwork and customer updates
Test and revisit the rate
Compare your quoted time with actual time after each job. If you routinely under-allow for setup or travel, change your method. Review rates when wages, supplier costs or your available billable hours change. Make GST treatment clear on the quote.