New analysis spotlights median hourly rates for common professions in the independent workforce

FreshBooks— the #1 accounting software solution in the cloud for self-employed professionals and their teams— released a new resource today to help U.S. self-employed professionals across dozens of fields determine their optimal hourly rates.

FreshBooks’ new analysis is intended to arm self-employed professionals with current data to help determine optimal rates – and provide people considering independent work a transparent view on the market.

“The majority of self-employed professionals don’t have access to market data to help them determine what they should be charging for their expertise,” said Mike McDerment, the co-founder and CEO of FreshBooks. “A little more transparency can go a long way to giving small business owners confidence when pricing their services to the benchmarks of other self-employed professionals in their field.”

FreshBooks’ new tool includes median hourly rates in some of the most prominent fields, including lawyers, construction workers, IT support staffers, management consultants, and creative professionals.

Key findings include:

• Legal and Law professionals—at a median rate of $200/hr—had the widest spread of hourly rates, ranging from $30 to $450/hr. The analysis also found that law was the most lucrative of surveyed self-employed professions.
• Construction and other trade workers have some of the lowest base rates, at $15/hr—but could charge up to $150/hr.
• Creative professionals, like artists and graphic designers, have the smallest spread of hourly rates—charging anywhere from $20/hr to $145/hr, with a median rate of $60/hr.

“When I left my full-time gig five years ago, I felt like I was undercharging for my services all the time. I employ many different freelancers, and it’s difficult to determine an hourly rate because of the multiple skill-sets they bring to the table,” said Lincoln Parks, CEO of WebMobileFusion digital marketing agency and a FreshBooks customer. “I have an idea of what the going rates are for freelancers in the digital realm, but at the moment don’t have a tool that helps determine what to charge. Reaching a profitable and competitive rate can be a significant deterrent for professionals looking to make the leap into full-time self-employment, but more insight into the marketplace will lower the barrier.”

About: FreshBooks is the #1 accounting software in the cloud for self-employed professionals and their teams. Our new series Paid in Full uses big data to help small business owners earn their worth and run a successful business. We’re sharing proprietary data to demystify the uncertainties that surround working for yourself — from the range of rates your industry peers are charging, to whether or not small business owners out earn their traditionally employed peers.

Contact: Carly Moulton, PR Manager

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 416.780.2700 ext. 361

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