Harvest
Time Tracking
Sign up free

Billable Hours Calculator in the Netherlands

Freelancers in the Netherlands face the challenge of calculating billable hours and setting competitive rates. Harvest provides tools to track time and manage invoices, ensuring accurate billing.

Try Harvest Free

What should you charge per hour?

Most freelancers and consultants dramatically undercharge. This calculator accounts for what most people miss: non-billable time, taxes, and overhead.

$
Accounting for vacation, holidays, sick days
60%
Most freelancers can bill 50-70% of their time. The rest goes to admin, marketing, proposals, and learning.
$
Software, insurance, equipment, accounting, taxes beyond income tax, etc.
Your break-even rate $0
Recommended rate (+20% buffer) $0
Billable hours per week 0h
Equivalent daily rate $0

Start tracking your billable hours

Walk through the entire flow below. Start a timer, check your reports, and create a real invoice — all in three clicks.

Go ahead — start tracking!

One click and you're timing. Try it right here: start a timer, add an entry, edit the details. This is exactly how it feels in Harvest.

  • One-click timer from browser, desktop & mobile
  • Works inside Jira, Asana, Trello, GitHub & 50+ tools
  • Duration or start/end — your call
  • Day, week & calendar views to stay on top of it all
  • Friendly reminders so no hour gets left behind
Acme Corp
Website Redesign
Homepage layout revisions
1:24:09
Content Strategy
Blog calendar planning
1:30:00
SEO Audit
Technical audit report
0:45:00
Brand Guidelines
Color system documentation
2:15:00
Logo Concepts
Initial sketches round 1
1:00:00
Today's total 6:54:09

Understanding Billable Hours in the Netherlands

Calculating billable hours is a critical aspect for freelancers in the Netherlands, where the average billed time is about 29 hours per week. Understanding the distinction between billable and non-billable time helps maximize income and ensure compliance with the urencriterium, which requires at least 1,225 hours per year dedicated to business activities for tax benefits. In sectors like engineering and IT, freelancers report around 32-33 billable hours weekly, whereas photographers average only 18.

Harvest, a leading time tracking tool, supports freelancers by offering one-click timers and manual entry options to accurately capture both billable and non-billable hours. This ensures you meet the necessary thresholds for tax deductions and maximize your revenue potential.

Setting Your Hourly Rate as a Dutch Freelancer

Determining an appropriate hourly rate is a complex task influenced by industry standards, personal expenses, and tax obligations. In the Netherlands, average hourly rates for self-employed professionals (ZZP) vary significantly, from €32 for cleaners to €138 for legal experts in 2025. To remain competitive, freelancers need to adjust their rates annually, with averages rising from €81 in 2025 to €83 in 2026.

Using Harvest, freelancers can track the time spent on projects, ensuring that every billable hour is accounted for, thus providing clear data to support rate adjustments. Detailed reports from Harvest can assist in evaluating how your rates compare to industry standards and help justify increases, especially with the upcoming 51% reduction in the self-employment deduction.

Navigating VAT and Invoicing Requirements

Complying with VAT and invoicing regulations is crucial for Dutch freelancers. The standard VAT rate is 21%, with reduced rates for specific goods and services. Freelancers must issue invoices by the 15th day of the month following service delivery, including detailed information such as VAT ID and KVK number.

Harvest simplifies this process by allowing you to create professional invoices from tracked time, ensuring all necessary details are included. While Harvest does not handle VAT calculations directly, it allows you to note VAT information on invoices, aiding compliance. This feature helps freelancers avoid penalties and maintain smooth financial operations.

Maximizing Your Billable Hours

Increasing billable hours is a common goal for freelancers aiming to boost income. Sectors like welding see freelancers working up to 40 billable hours per week, a target others might strive for. To achieve this, efficient time management and minimizing non-billable activities are essential.

Harvest aids in maximizing billable hours through its integrations with tools like Asana and Slack, which streamline workflow and reduce time spent on administrative tasks. By focusing on productive, income-generating activities and leveraging technology to handle routine tasks, freelancers can optimize their working hours and enhance profitability.

Track Billable Hours with Harvest

See how Harvest helps freelancers in the Netherlands track billable hours and manage invoices, ensuring accurate billing and compliance.

Screenshot showing Harvest's billable hours tracking feature for the Netherlands.

Billable Hours Calculator in the Netherlands FAQs

  • Freelancers in the Netherlands can track billable hours using tools like Harvest, which offers one-click timers and manual entry to log time against specific projects. This ensures accurate billing and helps meet tax obligations like the urencriterium.

  • To determine your hourly rate, consider industry standards, personal expenses, and tax obligations. In 2025, average rates ranged from €32 to €138 depending on the sector. Use detailed reports from tools like Harvest to support rate adjustments.

  • The urencriterium requires freelancers to spend at least 1,225 hours per year on their business to qualify for tax allowances. Both billable and non-billable hours count, making accurate tracking with tools like Harvest essential.

  • Dutch invoices must include detailed information such as VAT ID and KVK number, and be issued by the 15th of the month following service delivery. Harvest helps create compliant invoices from tracked time.

  • To increase billable hours, focus on minimizing non-billable activities and using integrations like Asana within Harvest to streamline workflows, allowing more time for income-generating tasks.

  • Yes, Harvest integrates with popular tools like Asana, Slack, and Trello, helping you streamline your workflow and reduce administrative time to focus on billable work.

  • While Harvest doesn't calculate VAT directly, it allows you to include VAT information in invoice notes, ensuring compliance with Dutch tax regulations.