6 dimensions · Weighted score · Action plan · Client-side

freelance business healthsolo business scorefreelancer financial healthclient diversificationfreelance cash flowcontractor financial checkupself-employed business healthfreelance retirement

//// Business · Freelance

Solo Business Health Score

Rate your freelance business across 6 dimensions — cash flow, rate health, client diversification, tax readiness, retirement, and contract protection. Get your score and top 3 actions.

Corp Tax Rate21%(federal flat rate)

SE Threshold$400(net earnings floor)

FICA Cap 2024$168,600(SS wage base)

50/100

Developing

Solo Business Health Score

Your business is Developing

Cash flow

+$6,000/mo surplus

Top 3 actions

1.Start making quarterly estimated tax payments to avoid IRS penalties

2.Open a SEP-IRA or Solo 401(k) — soloists can shelter up to $69,000/yr tax-free

3.One client is over 30% of revenue — actively prospect to reduce concentration risk

Cash Flow63

healthy

Build your emergency fund to 3+ months of expenses

Rate Health95

thriving

Keep raising annually to stay ahead of inflation

Client Diversification48

developing

One client is over 30% of revenue — actively prospect to reduce concentration risk

Tax Readiness0

critical

Start making quarterly estimated tax payments to avoid IRS penalties

Retirement Savings10

critical

Open a SEP-IRA or Solo 401(k) — soloists can shelter up to $69,000/yr tax-free

Contract Protection50

developing

Add a kill fee clause (25-50% of remaining contract value) to protect against cancellations

Your numbers

Cash Flow

Monthly revenue

Average gross income per month

Monthly expenses

Business costs, software, tools, etc.

Emergency fund

How many months of expenses you have saved

Avg. payment terms

How long clients typically take to pay

Rate Health

Current hourly rate

Your effective rate for billable work

$/hr

Years in business

Years of experience as a soloist

yrs

Raised your rate in the past 12 months?

Client Diversification

Top client revenue %

What % of revenue comes from your biggest client?

Number of active clients

Tax Readiness

Making quarterly estimated tax payments?

Separate tax savings account?

Estimated tax rate

What % of income you expect to owe (0 = don't know)

Retirement Savings

Contributing to retirement?

Contract Protection

Use written contracts for every project?

Include a kill fee clause?

Require an upfront deposit?

Cash Flow score

emergencyFundScore × 0.4 + paymentTermsScore × 0.2 + cashFlowMarginScore × 0.4

Monthly cash flow: $8,000 − $2,000 = $6,000 | Margin: 75.0%

= 63 / 100 (healthy)

Emergency fund depth drives 40% of this score; a 3-month buffer is the minimum target

Rate Health score

currentRate ÷ benchmark × scale (0–100), +10 if raised last year

Benchmark: $25 + 3 yrs × $5 = $40/hr | Ratio: 1.88

= 95 / 100 (thriving)

Benchmark is a floor, not a ceiling. Senior soloists often 2–4× above it.

Client Diversification score

topClientScore × 0.6 + numClientsScore × 0.4

Top client: 50% of revenue | Active clients: 3

= 48 / 100 (developing)

Revenue concentration above 30% in one client is a single-point-of-failure risk

Tax Readiness score

quarterly payments (50) + savings account (30) + rate awareness (20)

Quarterly: 0 | Savings: 0 | Rate known: 0

= 0 / 100 (critical)

Missing quarterly payments triggers a 4-6% IRS underpayment penalty

Retirement score

contribution % mapped to 0–100 scale

Contributing: no | Rate: 0% of income

= 10 / 100 (critical)

SEP-IRA allows up to 25% of net SE income (≈$69,000 limit for 2024)

Contract Protection score

written contracts (50) + kill fee (25) + deposit (25)

Contracts: 50 | Kill fee: 0 | Deposit: 0

= 50 / 100 (developing)

Each clause independently protects income; all three together is full protection

Weighted composite

Σ(dimension_score × weight) ÷ total weight

63 × 25% + 95 × 20% + 48 × 20% + 0 × 15% + 10 × 10% + 50 × 10%

= 50 / 100

Cash flow and rate health carry the most weight (25% and 20%) because they directly determine take-home pay

Overall score

weighted composite → badge threshold

50: 0–39 = Critical, 40–59 = Developing, 60–79 = Healthy, 80–100 = Thriving

= 50 → Developing

Top priority action

lowest-scoring dimension

Lowest: Tax Readiness (score 0)

= Start making quarterly estimated tax payments to avoid IRS penalties

Improving your weakest dimension yields the highest composite score gain

Key insight

Each of the 6 dimensions is scored 0\u2013100, then combined into a weighted composite. Cash flow and rate health get the most weight because they directly determine your monthly take-home. Fix the lowest-scoring dimension first for the biggest composite gain.

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Scores are for self-assessment only — not financial, legal, or tax advice. Results reflect inputs you provide and benchmarks based on common freelance patterns.