Consulting fees 2026: setting the right price as a freelancer

Deciding on your consulting fee is one of the most important decisions you make as a freelancer. Set the price too low and you risk working hard without making the numbers add up. Set it too high and you may lose assignments. Paidin helps you calculate an hourly rate that gives you a reasonable net salary after taxes, fees and non-billable time.

Why setting the right price matters

When you invoice via Paidin as an umbrella-employed worker, your consulting fee is your only source of income. Unlike permanent employment, there is no employer paying for your holiday, sick days or pension beyond what you invoice yourself. Everything starts from the amount the customer pays.

Paidin's service fee, employer contributions and preliminary tax are deducted from the invoice amount before you receive your net salary. As a rule of thumb, just over half the invoice amount (excluding VAT) ends up in your bank account. That means if you invoice 500 SEK per hour you receive around 250 SEK in hand. Many freelancers underestimate that difference and price themselves too low.

Paidin handles all administration and your first invoice is free, but you need to ensure your fee covers both what you want to earn and the time you cannot bill.

How to calculate your hourly rate

TL;DR: Want to skip the math? Use Paidin's free salary calculator and enter either your desired net salary or your invoice amount. The tool returns the result in seconds with the correct tax rate, employer contribution and tier.

The easiest way to set your consulting fee is to calculate backwards from the net salary you want. Paidin recommends the following steps:

1. Decide your desired monthly net salary. What do you want paid out after tax each month? Remember that you need to cover all living costs, including what an employer normally provides in the form of occupational pension and other benefits.

2. Calculate up to gross salary. Paidin deducts 30 percent preliminary tax according to Skatteverket's rule for irregular salary payments. Divide your desired net salary by 0.70 to get the gross salary. The gross salary includes 12 percent holiday pay by default.

3. Add employer contributions. Paidin pays employer contributions (31.42 percent if you are under 67) on your behalf. Multiply the gross salary by 1.3142 to get the amount that must remain after the service fee.

4. Add Paidin's service fee. The fee follows a tiered model based on the invoice amount (excluding VAT): 4.8 percent under 20,000 SEK, 3.6 percent for 20,000 to 49,999 SEK, and 2.9 percent from 50,000 SEK. Divide the amount from step 3 by (1 minus the fee percentage) to get the invoice amount required.

5. Divide by the number of billable hours. Estimate how many hours per month you can actually bill. If you work full-time but subtract holiday, sick days, administration and marketing, most freelancers land at 100 to 130 billable hours per month.

The final amount divided by your billable hours gives your hourly rate.

Worked example: from desired net salary to invoice amount

Assume you want 30,000 SEK net per month and invoice via Paidin. Since the invoice amount lands above 50,000 SEK, the service fee will be 2.9 percent.

If you have 120 billable hours per month, your hourly rate becomes around 484 SEK. With 100 billable hours, you need around 580 SEK per hour.

This example shows why it is important to calculate all the way through. Your desired net salary of 30,000 SEK requires almost twice as much in invoicing. Paidin offers a digital tool that does the whole calculation for you; see the section below.

Common mistakes in pricing

Starting from your old hourly salary as an employee. As a freelancer, you do not have paid holiday, sick leave or occupational pension. Paidin pays employer contributions that give you basic social insurance coverage, but you need to compensate for the time you cannot bill.

Forgetting non-billable time. Administration, customer meetings, quotes, marketing and skills development take time. Many freelancers can only bill 60 to 75 percent of their total working time. If you do not include that in your fee, you are working for free several days a month in practice.

Lowering the price out of insecurity. It is tempting to go in low to "win" the assignment. The problem is that it creates an expectation with the customer that is hard to adjust upwards. Paidin recommends setting a fee you can live on long-term, even if it means some assignments go to someone else.

Not adapting the price to the type of assignment. Short assignments with a lot of preparation should have a higher hourly rate. Longer projects with continuous work can be priced slightly lower since the non-billable time per assignment decreases.

Industry-specific guidelines

Consulting fees vary considerably between industries and depend on experience, specialisation and geographical market. Paidin sees a wide spread among the freelancers who invoice via the platform. Here are some general ranges to use as a starting point:

IT, technology and software development. This industry generally has the highest consulting fees. Experienced developers and specialists in areas such as cloud infrastructure, security or AI can be considerably above the average. Demand for technical expertise has been stable over a long time.

Management consulting and advisory. Strategy, project management and business development are often priced at a level similar to the technology sector, especially if you have industry-specific experience or certifications.

Creative services. Graphic design, photo, film, copywriting and similar professions often have lower hourly rates. This is partly because more actors compete for the assignments. Specialists with strong portfolios can still reach much higher levels.

Education and coaching. Hourly rates vary depending on whether you invoice per teaching hour (including preparation time) or per project day. Including preparation time in your fee is crucial for profitability.

Regardless of industry, Paidin recommends that you research what other freelancers in your niche charge. Industry associations, colleagues and public procurements can give a picture of the market level.

Use Paidin's salary calculator

Paidin offers a free salary calculator where you can enter your invoice amount or desired net salary and immediately see how much remains. The tool takes Paidin's service fee, employer contributions, holiday pay and preliminary tax into account, so you do not have to calculate manually.

Use the tool to test different hourly rates and see how the change affects your payout. It is the quickest way to find a fee that gives you the net salary you are aiming for.

Frequently asked questions

Why 30 percent tax and not according to the tax table?

Skatteverket prescribes that tax deductions on irregular salary payments shall be made at 30 percent, regardless of your municipal tax rate. This applies to all umbrella-employed workers at Paidin. If 30 percent is the wrong level for you, you can request an adjustment from Skatteverket, and Paidin will adjust the deduction according to their decision.

Should I charge more for short assignments?

Yes. Short assignments involve more administration per billable hour: quoting, contract writing, start-up and wrap-up. Paidin sees that freelancers who add 10 to 20 percent for assignments under a week get better coverage for the time that is not visible on the invoice.

How often should I adjust my fee?

Paidin recommends that you review your consulting fee at least once a year. Costs rise with inflation, and your experience grows with each assignment. Many freelancers raise their fee by 3 to 5 percent annually, but if you have moved into a more specialised role, a larger adjustment may be warranted.

Can I charge different fees for different customers?

Absolutely. It is common to have different prices depending on the assignment's length, complexity and the customer's industry. Paidin handles each invoice separately, so you can easily adjust the price per assignment without it affecting other customer relationships.