Small businesses in Australia, New Zealand and the UK often price work from wages alone. Superannuation, KiwiSaver, National Insurance, leave and unbillable time all sit on top. Here is how we build a loaded day rate that tells the truth.
The salary is the smallest surprise
When a small business sets a price, the starting point is usually the hourly wage of whoever does the work. That number is real, but it is only the beginning. Every market we work in adds a layer that is easy to forget when quoting quickly.
In Australia, the Superannuation Guarantee rose to 12 percent of ordinary time earnings from 1 July 2025. In the UK, employer National Insurance rose to 15 percent from April 2025, with the threshold at which employers start paying lowered to £5,000 a year. In New Zealand, the default employer KiwiSaver contribution is set to rise from 3 percent to 3.5 percent from April 2026. None of these are optional, and all of them belong in your price.
Then come leave, public holidays, training, sick days, tools and the hours spent quoting, travelling and fixing things. These are not overheads that happen somewhere else. They are part of what it costs to put a capable person in front of a customer.
The Studio loaded day rate
We build a loaded day rate in four layers. Direct pay. Mandatory on-costs for the country. Time that cannot be charged. A share of the running costs of the business. Only then do we add margin.
The layer that changes decisions most is unchargeable time. A team member on a 38-hour week in Australia, or 37.5 in many UK roles, rarely spends all of it on paid customer work. If only 60 percent of their time can be charged, the cost of every chargeable hour is far higher than the wage suggests.
| Layer | What goes in | Common miss |
|---|---|---|
| Direct pay | Wages or salary for the role | Using the junior rate for senior work |
| Mandatory on-costs | Super, KiwiSaver or employer NI, payroll taxes where relevant, workers compensation or insurance | Forgetting a rate change |
| Unchargeable time | Leave, holidays, training, quoting, admin, travel | Assuming every hour is billable |
| Running costs | Premises, software, vehicles, accounting, insurance | Leaving them to be covered by luck |
Use it before you discount
Once you know the loaded rate, a discount becomes a conscious decision rather than a reflex. You can see exactly how much margin a ten percent reduction removes, and whether a smaller scope would protect it better.
Payroll tax in Australian states, award rates and penalty rates add further detail, and your accountant should confirm the numbers. The method stays the same. Price the whole person, then decide what the work is worth.
Put it to work
A practical next step
Take one role in your business and build its loaded day rate with the four layers. Compare it with the rate you quoted on your last three jobs. If the gap surprises you, review your price list before the next quote goes out.
Explore the toolsSources and method
- ATO on the Superannuation Guarantee
Current super guarantee rate and employer obligations in Australia.
- GOV.UK on employer National Insurance
Current UK National Insurance rates and thresholds.
- Inland Revenue on KiwiSaver for employers
Employer contribution rules in New Zealand.
The methods in this article are Maurice Studio recommendations. External sources inform the underlying principles and rules referred to. They do not validate the Studio approach or guarantee commercial results. Rules change, so check the current position for your business and get specialist advice where it matters.