Compare a Day Rate Against a Salary You Understand — Free
A day rate looks larger than a salary because it is a gross number with no holiday, no pension and no equipment attached. Add the days you will actually bill, subtract insurance, software and accountancy, and the comparison becomes one receipt with two totals — which is the only version worth taking to a decision.
The proof surface
Free path: the card computes locally in the browser with no key and no account. Where an AI step helps, any free chat assistant works — Google AI Studio's free tier and Groq's free tier were both no-card and rate-limited when this page was reviewed on 2026-09-13 (limits change; check before you rely on them).
Why the flat version breaks
An annualised rate times 260 days is a nonsense figure that flatters contracting by about 20 per cent, because nobody bills 260 days. Using the days you can actually sell, and subtracting the costs you actually carry, is the difference between an impressive number and a real one.
How to run the receipt in four passes
From 260 working days, take the holiday you take, the public holidays, the sick days you had, the admin and the weeks between contracts. A realistic first-year figure is usually between 190 and 215.
Pension contribution, paid leave valued at your own day rate, and anything else the employer pays for. This is the number that makes a salary offer comparable rather than just small.
Insurance, accountancy, software, hardware and training you pay for yourself. They are the costs that vanish from a day rate comparison and reappear as a nasty surprise in the first quarter.
The receipt gives one figure and lists what it cannot price: tax treatment, sick pay, notice and time between contracts. Those are the items that turn a favourable comparison into a decision.
SAMPLE DATA, NOT A VERIFIED CLAIM: Offer 12 Oct 2026 · salary 62,000 + 7,400 benefits · 210 days at 420 minus 6,900 costs. Replace these values with your own source before you rely on anything.
What breaks first
Multiplying the day rate by 260
That arithmetic assumes full-time billing with no holiday, no gaps and no costs. It flatters contracting by roughly a fifth and it is the most common version of this mistake.
Leaving the contract costs empty
A zero-cost contract is a comparison against nothing. Insurance and accountancy alone run to four figures a year, before any software or hardware.
Treating the difference as take-home
Both sides of the receipt are before tax and before the different rules that apply to each. The card compares the gross shapes of two arrangements, and the missing line says exactly that.
What you pay otherwise
| The usual route | What it leaves out | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Accepting on the day rate | A gross number with no holiday, no pension and no sick pay | the hidden 20 per cent |
| Declining on the salary | A package whose benefits were never counted | the pension and the leave |
| Discovering the costs later | Insurance and accountancy, discovered in month two | a year of running costs |
| This page + the free day-rate invoice receipt | Computed in your tab, result on screen before you type anything | $0 |
Try the free day-rate invoice receipt
A senior analyst contract is already compared against a 62,000 salary with pension counted. Change the billable days to 180 and the contract side drops below the salary.
Open the free day-rate invoice receipt →Keep the work if you will use it again
Both annual totals, the difference and the list of what the comparison cannot price, with no account.
Both totals, the difference and the missing-lines note stay free. The one-time tier adds the printable receipt plus the saved offers behind it.
Boundary: This compares the figures you enter; it is not tax, legal or financial advice. Employment status, tax treatment, pension rules and insurance requirements differ by country and contract — take qualified advice before you sign.