Pet services
Pet Care Hourly Rate Calculator
Works an effective hourly rate in pet care, where travel and gaps are unpaid.
Result
The billable share is the number most people get wrong. Quoting, driving, chasing parts and fixing warranty callbacks are all paid and none of them are billed, which is why the honest figure is rarely above two thirds.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Total earnings divided by all hours committed, including travel, gaps between bookings, administration and client communication, rather than divided by service hours. The effective rate is well below the service rate and it is the figure that shows whether the schedule works.
What moves the number
- Travel time between bookings.
- Gaps that cannot be filled.
- Administration and client communication.
- Service hours actually delivered.
Where this one goes wrong
Gaps between bookings are the hidden cost in mobile pet care, because a two-hour gap in the middle of a route is unpaid and unavoidable unless the schedule is built to avoid it, which makes scheduling density the main lever on the effective rate. Build routes rather than accepting times. Administration is the other block, and it grows with client count rather than with service hours, which means growth makes it worse unless something is systematised.
Before you quote
- Divide by all hours committed, not service hours.
- Build routes to minimise unfillable gaps.
- Systematise administration before it scales with client count.
Questions
About this calculator
What is my real hourly rate in pet care?
Earnings divided by all hours committed, including travel, gaps and administration. It is well below the service rate, and the gap is the reason the work feels harder than the rate suggests.
What is the biggest drag on the effective rate?
Gaps between bookings, which are unpaid and unavoidable unless the schedule is built to prevent them. Building routes rather than accepting whatever times clients ask for is the main lever available.
Does administration scale with the business?
It grows with client count rather than with service hours, which means growth makes it worse unless booking, invoicing and communication are systematised. That is the point at which software earns its cost in this trade.
The formula
rate = (income + overhead) / (working hours x billable share)
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How to use this calculator
- Income you need per year ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $85,000.
- Annual overhead ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $114,000.
- Working weeks per year. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 48.
- Paid hours per week. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 40.
- Share of hours you can bill (%). Travel, quoting, admin and warranty calls are paid but not billed.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to rate you need to charge, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Income you need per year | $85,000 |
| Annual overhead | $114,000 |
| Working weeks per year | 48 |
| Paid hours per week | 40 |
| Share of hours you can bill | 62% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Rate you need to charge main result | $167.17 |
| Billable hours per year | 1,190 |
| Total to recover | $199,000 |
| If every hour were billable | $103.65 |
To take home $85,000 after $114,000 of overhead you need $167.17 per billable hour. Charging $103.65, the figure you get by ignoring unbillable time, leaves you short every week.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only income you need per year, this is what happens to rate you need to charge. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Income you need per year ($) | Rate you need to charge |
|---|---|
| $42,500 | $131.47 |
| $63,750 | $149.32 |
| $85,000 example above | $167.17 |
| $127,500 | $202.87 |
| $170,000 | $238.58 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Income you need per year ($)
- A money amount, starting at $85,000.
- Annual overhead ($)
- A money amount, starting at $114,000.
- Working weeks per year
- A number, between 0 and 52, starting at 48.
- Paid hours per week
- A number, between 0 and 100, starting at 40.
- Share of hours you can bill (%)
- Travel, quoting, admin and warranty calls are paid but not billed.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Rate you need to charge | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Billable hours per year | A number. |
| Total to recover | A money figure. |
| If every hour were billable | A money figure. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.