Right, so as a very rough rule of thumb, take your hourly rate and double it, then multiply by 1,000 to get the equitable annual salary. So an hourly rate of $100/hour is roughly equal to $200,000/year. And then obviously you need to factor in stuff like the cost of benefits, overhead (stuff like office rent or equipment, etc), and the cost of unbillable hours (you've gotta do unpaid work just to get paying work).
So figure out what kind of annual salary you would want, then subtract the cost of benefits (do some research about benefit costs), then subtract any other expenses you have that you wouldn't have with a regular job (make sure to think about tax rate differences). Then try to think about how many hours a week you think you're going to have to spend just to get work (soliciting clients, bending over backwards with unpaid proof of concepts or wireframes, unbillable phone meetings to go over initial specs, etc). If you figure all that out then you end up with the amount of $$ you want to make per year and the number of hours per week you are hoping to bill. Then just do the math and figure out what you need to charge to make that. So yeah, if you can bill $100/hour for a solid 40 hours a week for a year (with 2 weeks vacation I think) you end up making about the equivalent of $200k/year minus benefits, overhead, and potential tax differences (of course you can write more shit off now too). But just be sure to be honest about the number of billing hours per week you can really pull off. The additional work of just getting billable contracting work, plus the added cost of benefits and overhead, is probably why Tracy quoted the general rule of thumb that he did. Doug On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 11:23 AM, Tracy Spratt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Yes, hello, do the math. ;) > > Tracy > > > ------------------------------ > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *On > Behalf Of *Vivian Richard > *Sent:* Tuesday, November 04, 2008 2:05 PM > > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [flexcoders] Re: Flex developer and their hourly rate > > > > But should not an independent consultant get more than the > salary, since he/she does not get and benefits and also the > employer does not have any obligations like the regular employee? > > On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 12:14 PM, Tracy Spratt <[EMAIL > PROTECTED]<tspratt%40lariatinc.com>> > wrote: > > And understand, this is an independent contractor rate for billable > hours. > > > > > > > > One rule-of-thumb I have heard is that an independent hourly rate should > be > > one thousandth of what the annual salary would be for the same level of > > developer. > > > > > > > > For example if an annual salary is 100K per year, then the hourly rate > > should be $100 per hour. I am sure 100K is not an unusual salary for an > > experienced developer in SF. > > > > > > > > Tracy > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > > > From: [email protected] <flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto: > [email protected] <flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com>] On > > Behalf Of Rich Rodecker > > Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 11:40 AM > > To: [email protected] <flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com> > > Subject: Re: [flexcoders] Re: Flex developer and their hourly rate > > > > > > > > that's how it goes...you're talking about a much different cost of living > > than say, Arkansas. > > > > > > > > On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 6:37 AM, nathanpdaniel <[EMAIL > > PROTECTED]<ndaniel%40bsi-scs.com>> > wrote: > > > > $100/hour!!!! Man, I'm gonna have to move to SF! HAHAHA :D > > > > --- In [email protected] <flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com>, "Rich > Rodecker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > wrote: > > > >> > >> That's always a hard question, and mostly depends on a few major > > points: > >> location, experience, and additional skill set. SF, and just about > > every > >> major city is definitely going to get you a higher rate than say, > > Tennessee. > >> How is your portfolio? If you have an impressive body of work > > that will > >> also increase your value. On top of that, if your a flex developer > > that is > >> highly skilled in additional areas, or have alot of experience > > building > >> enterprise-level apps, that will also increase your value. > >> All that being said, I don't know :) Though I'd esitmate you're > > going to be > >> somewhere around $100/hr. > >> > >> > >> > > > >> On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 12:56 PM, hworke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> > >> > > >> > > >> > Hi Devs, > >> > > >> > I do not have any idea about the market hourly > >> > rate that a Flex developer with 3 years experience > >> > charges in San Francisco bay area charges. Can > >> > someone please give me some idea? > >> > > >> > Best regards, > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > > > > > > > > > >
