Average Freelancing & Consulting Hourly Rates 2021

That higher rate fills in the gaps of a true consulting schedule (it may feel like you’re working 60 hours with administrative tasks, hustling, and networking, but you won’t be billing a solid 40 anymore). You’ll also need to account for additional expenses your employer previously covered, like healthcare, vacation days, sick time, and a 401k plan. It is important to keep in mind that the above analysis from Consultancy.org presents a simplified and indicative view of rates. Differences in for instance firms, market segments and service offerings across regions and countries will inevitably lead to exceptions to the typology. Strategy Boutiques, high-end firms that have a national/regional focus, follow in terms of rates. On average, nonprofit consultants charge between $85 to $150 per hour.

Often, when consultants charge by the hour, they base their pay on how much they were getting from the company they used to work for or still work for on an hourly basis, with a little markup. The “consulting rate” is the average price owners will pay for the consulting service. These IT companies have from 2 to 10 consultants, including a CEO, and cooperate with startups, small businesses, and mid-size regional businesses. In addition, the IT consulting prices will also depend on the business side of the client.

D. Business Plan Benefits

IT consultants usually work 12 to 14 hours daily, costing around $1,500 to $3000. Their hourly rate may change drastically based on their expertise and location. Calculate your consulting retainer fee the same way you’d do your project rates—it’s essentially a comprehensive monthly project rather than smaller one-off assignments. Some consultants offer discounts for retainer fees as they’d prefer consistent income over hourly or per-project invoices. We don’t necessarily recommend charging by the hour, but you may want to structure your pricing this way if your consulting work involves meetings and a lot of in-person work.

It’s only a 1,458-word document, which is almost half the length of this article. Yet, as much as we love this piece, we’d argue the Declaration of Independence is worth approximately 2.5 billion times more. The end value is different from the input—and your consulting fees should reflect that.

Consultants Who Want To Increase Their Fees

For example, if you’re looking for a cost-effective offshore destination Central Europe could be the right solution. Usually, small outsourcing companies specialize in one specific area, like UI/UX design, web and mobile app development services, or exact programming languages like Node.js, React Native, and so on. To stay competitive and turn technologies into a growth driver, companies of all sizes resort to software consulting. With a great team of highly experienced and professional developers, we are dedicated to delivering the best IT solutions to our clients. As a business owner, you want to provide your customers with the best possible services.

Most consultants prefer to charge this way since clients are usually used to hiring services on a daily basis to avoid limitations on the scope of work which usually happens if you charge by the hour. This is why different consultants employ different techniques to ensure they price their services appropriately. In the process, consultants consider every factor necessary to ensure they do not overcharge or undercharge. Otherwise, the risk of losing clients over pricing remains a constant possibility.

Hourly rates by skill level and years of experience

This step can be tricky for new consultants, so this is where industry averages come in handy. Once you have a better grasp of the amount of work required, you’ll be better able to set your rates. For example, if a client offers you a massive sum for a big project, you may dissect the work and find it’s taking you twice as much time and effort to make what a smaller project with a smaller budget rewards you.

You pay a monthly fee in advance to have consultants on your team anytime you need them and ensure they help make the right decisions during some risky project. According to Glassdoor, one of the world’s largest job sites, Java consultants get $40/h on average. ZipRecruiter claims that Java consultants charge $62 per hour in the USA. IT consulting rates depend on the experience and stack of technologies consultants work with. The best way to determine your consulting rate is to understand whether you are working as a freelancer or for any other company. Based on the IT form you are working for, you will have to set your rate somewhere between $20 to $150 per hour.

There is one more factor to consider that makes this a bit easier. It’s called the “Market Rate” and refers to the range of pay that the average customer or client will pay for your service. It doesn’t dictate what you can charge but provides guidelines as to what you’re most likely to get. You might think that charging too much will put you out of business before you can even hang your shingle. However, there may actually be more danger in charging too little.