Freelance work and invoices

Turn a timesheet into an invoice, set a day rate that covers your costs and see how many working days are left before a deadline. Your rate, VAT and hours sit at the top of the note as names, so next month’s invoice is a few edits away.

Hours from a timesheet

Write each day as a start and finish time, take off the breaks and multiply by your hourly rate.

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# Timesheet, week 41

mon = 9am to 5:30pm gives 8 hours 30 min

tue = 8:45am to 4:15pm gives 7 hours 30 min

wed = 9:30am to 6pm gives 8 hours 30 min

thu = 9am to 1pm gives 4 hours

lunches = 3 * 30 min

worked = mon + tue + wed + thu - lunches

worked in hours gives 27 hours

rate = £48/hour

worked * rate gives £1,296.00

# Hours still to do on a 37.5-hour contract

37.5 hours - worked gives 10 hours 30 min

to between two clock times gives the time in between, even for a shift that runs past midnight. Multiplying the total by your hourly rate turns it straight into the amount to invoice, and the hours left come out in hours and minutes, ready for Friday. See Durations and hourly rates.

Setting a day rate

Start from the income you want, add what it costs to run your business, and spread it over the days you can realistically bill.

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# What should I charge?

salary = £55,000

overheads = 25% // pension, insurance, software, quiet months

billable days = 220

target = salary + overheads gives £68,750.00

target / billable days gives £312.50

day rate = £450/workday

day rate in £/hour gives £56.25/hour

target / £450 rounded up gives 153

The lowest rate that works is £312.50 a day. At £450 you reach the target in 153 billable days, which leaves room for holidays and slow months. A rate per workday converts to an hourly rate at eight hours a day, and you can change the length of a workday in Settings. See Workdays, hours and weeks.

Invoice totals with VAT

Keep the day rate and VAT as names, list the work, and let the invoice add itself up.

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# October invoice

day rate = £450

design = 6 * day rate gives £2,700.00

build = 9 * day rate gives £4,050.00

expenses = £180 // train fares

subtotal = design + build + expenses gives £6,930.00

vat = 20%

vat due = subtotal * vat gives £1,386.00

Total due: subtotal + vat gives £8,316.00

# A quote that already includes VAT

£1,440 is 20% on what gives £1,200.00

Multiplying by a named percentage gives the VAT on its own, and adding it gives the total. is 20% on what works back from a VAT-inclusive figure to the price before VAT. See Sales tax and tips and Working backwards.

Workdays until a deadline

Plan the dates from a kickoff, then keep a live countdown to the deadline.

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# Website project

kickoff = 5 October 2026

kickoff as 'Week' w gives Week 41

handover = kickoff + 25 workdays

handover as EEE d MMM yyyy gives Mon 9 Nov 2026

workdays between kickoff and 18 December 2026 gives 54 workdays

work hours in November 2026 gives 168 hours

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workdays until 18 December 2026 gives 67 workdays

workdays left in 2026 gives 76 workdays

10 workdays from today gives September 30

+ 25 workdays skips weekends, as EEE d MMM yyyy gives a date ready to paste into an email, and as 'Week' w gives the week number for your timesheet. workdays until, workdays left in and workdays from today count from today, so the answers above are from 16 September 2026. Public holidays count as workdays until you list them in Settings. See Workdays and Formatting dates.

Estimating a project

Estimate each stage in hours, add some contingency and turn the total into whole days to quote.

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# Estimate: shop redesign

discovery = 12 hours

design = 30 hours

build = 60 hours

testing = 18 hours

estimate = discovery + design + build + testing gives 120 hours

padded = estimate + 15% gives 138 hours

quote days = padded in workdays rounded up gives 18 workdays

quote days * £450/workday gives £8,100.00

+ 15% adds contingency in one step. in workdays converts hours at eight to the day, and rounded up gives whole days, because nobody quotes 17.25 days. See Rounding up and down.

Make it your own

• Bill in quarter hours: worked rounded up to nearest 15 min.
• Invoice on the last Friday of every month: last friday of the month gives this month’s date, and last day of the month gives the end of the billing period.
• Book the monthly client catch-up: first monday of next month gives the date.
• Plan next year’s first quarter: first quarter of 2027 shows the dates it covers, and workdays in first quarter of 2027 gives 64 workdays to schedule.
• Add a late fee with a function of your own, such as late_fee(amount, days_late) = if days_late > 30 then amount * 2% else £0. See Your own functions.
• Put your day rate and VAT in the global definitions in Settings, so every note can use them. With VAT = 20% there, £1,200 plus VAT adds it in any note.
• Check a month on a contract: 4 weeks at 37.5 hours/week gives 150 hours.
• Offer a client instalments: £6,930 over 3 months gives £2,310.00/month.
• Weigh up a salaried offer: £45k per annum in £/workday gives £172.49/workday, ready to compare with your day rate. See Periods in words.