CFI rate calculator

What should I charge as an independent flight instructor?

Start from what you want to earn, not from what the school down the field charges. The figures below are an example; replace them with your own.

What you want to take home in a year

After expenses and tax.

Practice expenses per year

Instructor insurance, renewals, software, travel, headsets, phone.

Share of profit set aside for tax (%)

Ask your accountant for your own figure.

Billable hours per week

Flight and ground time you charge for, not hours on the airport.

Working weeks per year

Leave room for weather, holidays and checkride weeks.

Your rate

$90 / hour

Billable hours per year: 960
Revenue needed per year: $86,000
Of which set aside for tax: $20,000

How the rate is worked out

Tax is owed on profit, not on revenue, so the calculator first grosses your take-home up by the share you set aside, then adds your practice expenses. That is the revenue the practice needs in a year. Dividing it by the hours you can actually bill gives the hourly rate.

The hours are where most instructors go wrong. A day at the airport with three lessons is rarely six billable hours: there is preflight, waiting on weather, a student who cancels, and the drive. Count only the time a student pays for.

Ways to raise the number without raising the rate

Bill ground time, including the briefing and debrief. Charge for a lesson cancelled inside your notice period. Keep students flying regularly, because a student who flies once a month repeats lessons and quits sooner. Volo shows you which students have stalled and which clients have stopped booking.

Questions

Should I charge the same for ground and flight instruction?: Many instructors do, and it is the simplest to explain. If you discount ground time, put the discounted hours into the calculator at the lower rate's equivalent so the total still covers what you need.
What should the tax set-aside be?: It depends on where you live, your other income and how your practice is set up. Self-employed instructors in the US pay self-employment tax as well as income tax. Ask an accountant for your figure and use it here.
Does this include the aircraft?: No. This is your instruction rate. If you also provide the aircraft, work out its cost with the aircraft cost per hour calculator and charge for it separately.

A planning aid, not legal advice. The regulations, your aircraft's records and your instructor or mechanic have the final word.

Volo tracks this for every student, automatically.

Currency, endorsements, training records and scheduling for independent CFIs, with a portal where students read their own records. Free for your first student.

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