Salary to day rate calculator
A £120,000 salary with the statutory minimum employer pension, sold 3 days a week across 46 billable weeks, needs £879 a day to break even. For a fractional CFO that is in the lower third of the band for a fractional CFO, and at the typical £1,150 a day the same package takes about 2.3 days a week. Put your own numbers in below. This is the executive's side; for what a company pays, the fractional cost calculator is the company side.
| Package being replaced | £121,321 |
| Billable days weeks × days a week | 138 |
| Break-even day rate | £879 |
| Typical rate for the seat middle of the band | £1,150 |
At the typical £1,150 a day, replacing the package takes about 2.3 days a week.
Outside or inside IR35 is decided contract by contract, and either changes what the rate is worth after tax. This number is before tax and your own costs; check each contract with an accountant. IR35 and fractional executives explains who decides.
How the day rate is worked out
The package is everything the job paid in cash and kind: base salary, the bonus that actually paid out, what the employer put into your pension, and private medical or other benefits. The billable days are the weeks left after holiday, times the days a week you expect to sell. The break-even day rate is the package divided by the billable days.
Holiday starts at 30 days, bank holidays included, which leaves the 46 billable weeks every rate on this site is counted across. The pension starts at the compulsory employer minimum on the salary, which is a share of qualifying earnings rather than of the whole salary (gov.uk on workplace pension contributions). If your employer paid more, put in what it paid.
Not counted: tax, your own National Insurance, professional indemnity cover, an accountant, equipment and the weeks between clients that holiday does not cover. All of them push the number you need upward, never down.
Where your number sits against the market
Published bands across the eleven seats run from £600 to £1,500 a day. A break-even rate below your seat's band means the market pays more for the seat than your package was worth per day sold; above it means the package was generous, or the days you plan to sell are too few.
| Seat | Published band | Typical |
|---|---|---|
| Fractional CFO | £800 to £1,500 | £1,150 |
| Fractional CMO | £700 to £1,300 | £1,000 |
| Fractional CTO | £800 to £1,400 | £1,100 |
| Fractional COO | £700 to £1,300 | £1,000 |
| Fractional Sales Director | £700 to £1,300 | £1,000 |
| Fractional Growth Lead | £600 to £1,100 | £850 |
| Fractional Product Lead | £700 to £1,200 | £950 |
| Fractional People Lead | £600 to £1,100 | £850 |
| Fractional CISO | £900 to £1,500 | £1,200 |
| Fractional Data Lead | £700 to £1,200 | £950 |
| Fractional General Counsel | £800 to £1,400 | £1,100 |
What should my day rate be?
The break-even rate is a floor, not a price. Above it, the rate is set by the seat's band and by how closely your track record matches what the client is about to go through: a CFO who has closed the round the client is raising prices at the top of the band, not the middle. Price at the band even when the break-even is below it, because a rate under the band can read as a less senior hire rather than a bargain. What to charge as a fractional executive sets out the bands seat by seat, what moves you up one, and when to raise it.
Inside or outside IR35
The toggle in the calculator changes the wording, not the number, on purpose. Whether an engagement is inside or outside IR35 is decided by the facts of each contract, and it changes what a day rate is worth after tax. That is a question to check with an accountant for each engagement rather than a figure a calculator should guess. IR35 and fractional executives explains who decides and what gets tested, and HMRC's guidance on off-payroll working is the source for the rules themselves.
Common questions
How do I convert a salary to a day rate in the UK?
Add up what the job paid you in cash and kind, then divide by the days you expect to sell. A £120,000 salary with the statutory minimum employer pension, sold three days a week across 46 weeks, needs about £879 a day to break even, in the lower third of the band for a fractional CFO.
What should my day rate be as a fractional executive?
At least the break-even rate, and then wherever your seat's band and your track record put you. Bands across the eleven seats run from £600 to £1,500 a day. A break-even rate below the band is a reason to price at the band, not below it.
Why does the calculator use 46 weeks rather than 52?
Because a fractional executive is not paid for holidays, bank holidays or the weeks between clients. 46 billable weeks is the basis every rate on this site uses; change the holiday days and the calculator recounts the weeks.
Does the salary to day rate calculator include tax or IR35?
No. It is arithmetic on the package you are replacing, before tax and before your own costs such as insurance, an accountant and equipment. Whether an engagement sits inside or outside IR35 changes what a day rate is worth after tax, and it is a question to check with an accountant against the facts of each contract.
Is this the same as the fractional cost calculator?
No. This is the operator side: what day rate replaces a salary. The cost calculator is the company side: what a fractional seat costs against hiring the same seat full-time, with employer costs and a recruitment fee counted.
Operator side here; company side on the fractional executive cost calculator, which sets a fractional seat against a full-time hire. Going fractional in a particular seat? How to become a fractional executive.