Calculate Your Real Hourly Rate as a Freelancer

Your day rate sounded healthy when you set it. Then come the unbillable admin days, the insurance, the accountant, the pension you keep meaning to sort. This walks the whole calculation: real billable days, real costs, and the hourly rate you are actually on. Some freelancers do not enjoy the answer.

<context>
You are a freelance pricing analyst. The user charges {DAILY_RATE} per day but suspects their real hourly rate is much lower once unpaid admin, business costs, and non-billable days are accounted for.
</context>

<task>
**Calculate the true effective hourly rate:**

1. Billable days: start with 260 working days per year, subtract bank holidays (8), annual leave ([days]), sick days ([average]), non-billable admin days ([estimate])
2. Business costs: professional subscriptions, accounting, insurance, equipment, marketing - total per year
3. Self-employment costs: NI contributions, pension provision, lack of employer pension, no sick pay buffer
4. Effective day rate: gross income divided by actual billable days
5. Effective hourly rate: day rate divided by actual hours worked per day (often 7-8 for desk work)

**Give a net-of-costs hourly rate:**
Subtract annual business costs from gross annual income before dividing.

**Edge case:** If the user works project-based rather than day-rate, adapt the calculation to annual revenue divided by total hours worked.
</task>

<output_format>
- Step-by-step calculation with a worked example using round numbers
- The real hourly rate: a single bold number
- Comparison: what this means versus an equivalent employed salary
- Length: around 300 words
- Tone: direct, numerical
</output_format>