Wages
The hourly wage for each role. Production, finishing, design, install. One group per wage band is enough.
Free tool for Australian print and sign shops
Charge-out rate calculator
Work out what an hour of labour costs your shop, then what to charge for it. Super, leave, workers comp, overheads, and your profit margin, all in one number.
No signup. Ten minutes with your wage rates and last year's overheads is enough.
Three things to have on hand
Headcount and downtime
How many people sit in each group, and a fair guess at the hours they cannot bill. Setup, waiting on files, cleaning, and quoting all count.
Overheads
Last year's overhead lines from your Xero, QuickBooks, or MYOB profit and loss. Rent, power, insurance, software, vehicles, marketing, and the finance on the printer.
Leave a default alone if you are unsure. The defaults are set for a standard Australian full-time week. Super sits at the 12 percent guarantee rate. Workers comp varies by state and industry, so check the rate on your last premium notice.
What the numbers mean
Weighted average charge-out rate
What one hour of labour needs to bring in across the shop, after on-costs, overheads, and your margin. Groups with more people pull the average toward their rate.
Rate by group
The number to put against the operations that group does. Install and design usually land well above production.
Productive hours per person
Paid hours less leave, public holidays, and unpaid breaks. On the defaults that is 1,451 hours a year, not the 1,983 hours you pay for.
Total chargeable hours
Productive hours across the whole team, less downtime. Every dollar of overhead is spread across this pool.
Overhead per hour
Total overhead divided by chargeable hours. If it shows zero, you have not entered any overheads yet, and the rate is too low.
A $35 wage is not a $35 hour
Pay someone $35 an hour and the cost starts climbing before they touch a job. Superannuation adds 12 percent. Workers comp adds more, and the rate depends on your state and your industry classification. Annual leave, personal leave, and public holidays are paid weeks with nothing to invoice.
Then comes the part most shops skip. Rent, power, insurance, software, vehicles, and equipment finance never show up on a payslip. They still have to come out of the hours you sell.
Run the calculator with the defaults and no overheads at all. A $35 wage, two people, 25 percent downtime, and a 20 percent margin comes out at about $88 an hour. Add rent and the rest and it climbs from there.
Quote labour at $35, or $50, or the round number you have used since 2019, and every hour on the job leaks margin. The job board looks fine. The profit and loss does not.
Where shops lose the margin
The rate has not moved
Super stepped up to 12 percent in July 2025. Rent moved. Ink and software moved. A rate set two years ago is a discount you did not mean to give.
Overheads sit in your accounts, not in the quote
Rent, power, and software get paid every month and priced into nothing. The profit and loss carries them. The quote does not.
Downtime gets ignored
Nobody bills 38 hours of a 38-hour week. Setup, file chasing, reprints, and cleaning are real hours, and the rate has to be built on the hours you can bill.
One rate for everyone
An install hour with a ute and a lift is not a trimming hour at the bench. One blended number undercharges the hard work and overcharges the easy work.
What to do with the number
Check last month's quotes
Compare the labour rate you used against the calculator. The gap, times the hours, is margin that left the building.
Set a rate per group
Put the production rate on production operations and the install rate on install. Stop blending.
Run it again each July
Super, rent, and insurance move every year. Run the calculator when the new rates land, or whenever a large overhead changes.
Put it in Krino
Every operation in Krino carries an hourly rate. Change the rate once and every new quote uses it. Materials price from your supplier costs and your markup in the same catalogue, so the whole quote comes from the same numbers.
Questions shops ask
Does the calculator save my numbers?
No. There is no signup and no account. Refresh the page and it resets, so write the result down before you leave.
Which super and workers comp rates should I use?
The superannuation guarantee is 12 percent from 1 July 2025. Workers comp comes from your insurer and depends on your state and industry classification. Use the rate on your last premium notice. Check both with your accountant before you change prices.
What profit margin should I enter?
That is your call. The default is 20 percent. One thing to watch: if you work on the floor and do not draw a wage, add yourself as a labour group. Otherwise the rate pays everyone but you.
Does one rate cover the whole shop?
Use the weighted average if you need a single number. A rate per group is better. In Krino you can set a different rate on every operation.
How does Krino use the rate?
Operations in Krino carry an hourly rate. When an operation goes on a quote item, its hours are priced at that rate. Change the rate in one place and new quotes pick it up.
Quote with the real number
Krino is print shop software for Australian print and sign shops. Charge-out rates on every operation. Materials priced from your supplier costs and your markup. Quotes accepted and proofs approved in a customer portal. Invoices to Xero, QuickBooks, or MYOB. $60 a month plus GST, for now.
Bring a job you already priced in a spreadsheet. We will price it in Krino with your rates while you watch.