translating salary to hourly rates

[Scott C. Ripley]

a lot depends on your perspective... :-)

if you are looking to hire a contractor, this probably seems like a very 
reasonable calculation:

   hourly rate = (yearly salary / yearly hours) * (some multiplier)

and if you can get a good contractor to accept/stay/etc. based on it... 
perfect for you the employer!

if you are looking to work as a contractor, this calculation might be a 
starting place, but it only takes into consideration "the cost of you",
if you want to turn yourself (and perhaps others - you "& Associates") 
into a sustainable business - you should aim to think beyond 
the cost of yourself...

a lot depends on the nature of your contract - but other factors that 
might affect your rate calculation:

   - suppose you are extremely competent at what you do and can often
     complete tasks in half the time that another consultant would
        - should you get paid half as much as the person that takes twice
          as long?

   - risk associated with possibility of difficult clients
       - slow/partial/no payments, etc.
       - scope creep issues, etc.
       - extra hours (i.e. some contracts might not adjust rate for
                           occasional necessity of long working hours)
   - contract risk:
       - risk associated with downtime
       - suppose your client no longer needs you (for whatever reason)

   - ...

more generally:
   the increased risk you assume in a contract needs to be reflected in your rate...

anyways... i won't go on - but these guys might go a bit overboard:
   http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/

but you should get the idea...

Scott











On Tue, 24 Jul 2007, Neil Watson wrote:

> How does one go about translating an annual salary with benefits to an
> hourly contract rate?
>
>

-- 

Scott C. Ripley
phone: (416)738-6357
www: http://www.scottripley.com
email: scott-VK/PCEBaDz+N9aS15agKxg at public.gmane.org

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