Freelance Client Pipeline & Rate Calculator – Lead Tracker, Follow-Ups, Projects, Time Log & Hourly Rate (Excel + Google Sheets)

Freelancers rarely run short of work because they're bad at it. Usually a follow-up slipped, a "quick" fixed-price job ate 40 hours, or the rate was a guess. This spreadsheet covers all three in one file, with no subscription.

Log every lead and proposal with its value, stage and next follow-up date. Overdue follow-ups turn red. Log your hours against each project, and the sheet works out the hourly rate each project and each client actually paid you. It's shown green if it beats your minimum rate and red if it doesn't. The Rate Calculator works backward from the income you want to keep to the minimum hourly rate, day rate and monthly target you need. It also has a quote helper for fixed-price jobs with a buffer for revisions.

The dashboard shows open and weighted pipeline value, win rate, overdue follow-ups, active projects, hours and billable %, which lead sources bring paying work, and wins month by month.

Everything uses plain formulas and dropdowns, with no macros, add-ons or accounts. You get a sample copy filled with example data so you can see how it works, plus a blank copy that's ready to use.

Features

Leads & proposals pipeline: source, service, value, stage, auto win chance, weighted value, next follow-up with Overdue / Due today flags, date closed

Rate calculator: income goal, costs, set-aside %, weeks off, hours and billable share feed into minimum hourly rate, day rate, weekly and monthly targets

Fixed-price quote helper: hours × rate + contingency %, rounded to the nearest $25

Projects: quote, estimate, dates and status. Hours logged, % of estimate (red when over), effective $/hr and a Late / This week due flag

Clients: contact, source, standard rate and terms, plus auto project count, total billed, hours and effective $/hr

Time log: pick a project and the client fills in. Mark each entry billable or not

Dashboard: 8 KPI cards, pipeline by stage, wins and win rate by lead source, a month-by-month table and a "won value by month" chart

Editable lists: stages and their win chances, lead sources, statuses and pricing types

What's included

freelance-client-pipeline.xlsx: the workbook with example data (8 tabs: Start Here, Dashboard, Rate Calculator, Leads, Clients, Projects, Time Log, Lists)

freelance-client-pipeline-BLANK.xlsx: the same workbook, empty

README.pdf: a one-page quick start

Compatibility

Microsoft Excel 2016 or newer, Microsoft 365 (Windows & Mac) and Excel for the web

Google Sheets (open the file in Drive, then File > Save as Google Sheets)

LibreOffice Calc

Apple Numbers opens it, but dropdowns and the chart may behave differently

No macros, scripts or add-ons. US-dollar formatting (change the cell format for other currencies)

Disclaimer

This is a planning and tracking tool. Rates and targets depend on the numbers you enter, and the tax set-aside % is your own estimate. It isn't tax, legal or financial advice.

Refunds

This is a digital download, so all sales are final. If the file won't open or something isn't working, contact me through Payhip and I'll help fix it.