What a fractional executive really costs.

Employment on-costs in Australia

Superannuation guarantee 12%, fixed from 1 July 2025 and capped once earnings pass $270,830. Workers compensation around 1.5%, depending on industry. Annual leave loading 1.35%, being the 17.5% loading on four weeks of leave. Equipment, software and licences $4,000. Learning and development $2,500. Payroll tax of 4.85% applies once your total Australian wage bill passes the state threshold, so most businesses under about $1m in wages pay nothing.

FICA, Social Security and Medicare blended at around 4.75% at executive salaries, being 6.2% to the wage base plus 1.45% uncapped. A 401(k) employer match of 4%, typical at executive level. Federal unemployment, effectively a flat $42 per employee. Health, dental and vision cover $16,500. Equipment, software and licences $4,500. Learning and development $3,000. State unemployment insurance varies widely by state and experience rating, modelled here at roughly 0.5% of base.

Employer National Insurance 15% on earnings above the £5,000 secondary threshold, with no upper limit. Workplace pension at the 3% employer minimum on qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270, which caps at £1,321. Employer liability insurance around 0.4%, the statutory minimum cover. Equipment, software and licences £3,000. Learning and development £2,000. The apprenticeship levy of 0.5% applies only where the annual pay bill exceeds £3m.

Why utilisation is the number that matters

There are about 260 weekdays in a year. Take out public holidays, leave and sick days and you're near 220. That is the number most rate calculators divide by, and it is wrong. You cannot invoice a day spent writing a proposal that doesn't convert, running a discovery call, chasing an invoice, or posting on LinkedIn so the next engagement exists. Across a full year that is commonly a third of your available time.

Dividing your income target across 220 days instead of 145 produces a rate about 35% below what you need. The fix is to set your rate against days you invoice, then treat utilisation as the thing you improve.

How the engagement premium works

A four-day-a-week engagement is close to embedded work: one client, one context, predictable invoicing, almost nothing spent on selling. It should carry a discount, and buyers expect one. A half-day advisory retainer is a different product. You need six or seven of them to fill the same book, which means six sales cycles, six sets of context to hold, six invoices and six relationships to maintain. Each one fragments your week, so realised utilisation on a book of small retainers is materially lower than on a book of large ones.

Rate multipliers, anchored on two days a week: embedded 0.88, three days 0.94, two days 1.00, one day 1.15, half-day advisory 1.45, ad hoc 1.80. The multipliers and the utilisation effect are calibrated to cancel: priced this way, changing your engagement mix doesn't quietly change your income.

Benchmark rate data

Benchmark bands show a 25th, 50th and 75th percentile day rate for each role and market. They are editorial estimates compiled from published rate guides and engagement ranges. They are not the Fractionus Rate Index, which tracks median day rates weekly on the Markets page. Sitting below the 25th percentile is a fine place to build a first set of references and an expensive place to stay. Sitting above the 75th needs a reason a buyer would recognise: a track record in their exact situation, a category nobody else covers, or availability at short notice.