Why not just charge what everyone else charges?

A published market rate does not know your rent, your award wages or the van you still owe money on. Two businesses can charge the same day and one of them is losing money. Use the price index to see the market, then use this calculator to see whether that market rate actually pays you.

What occupancy should I type if I am new?

Be honest. A first-year facility that budgets 90% is writing fiction. 55 to 70% is a common live figure once the evaluations settle. The scenario table shows 50, 75 and 100% so you can see the drop.

How do staff ratios change the price?

They show up as wages. A 1:10 floor at 30 dogs is not one owner and a prayer. If the award bill is the number that hurts, that is the calculator working. Dropping the rate to fill the last six dogs can cost more than it earns once you add a fourth handler.

Why does worn-out equipment sit in the price?

Because you will buy it again. Spreading the cost over its useful life is a replacement reserve, not a depreciation lecture. If you skip it, the next dryer, treadmill or fence comes out of the pay you thought you were taking home.

Are these figures GST inclusive?

They are whatever you type. Use the same basis on every line. If your prices include GST, enter costs the way they hit your account. Mixing a GST-inclusive price with GST-exclusive costs will understate the gap.

Is this financial advice?

No. Every figure comes from the numbers you typed. The minimum price is the point where your dog-days cover operating costs, the equipment reserve, card fees and the pay you said you wanted. It is a planning tool, not tax, accounting or financial advice.

What you need to charge per dog per day

Occupancy, award staff and food decide this more than the casual rate on your website.

Start here. Your target

What you want to earn per yearWhat the business should pay you, before tax. Super is added on the next line.

Super on that pay12% is the Australian guarantee if you pay yourself a wage. Sole traders still need to put this aside.

Casual day rate you charge nowOne dog, one full day. The Australian price index median is $65.

Your setup

Business type

Licensed dogs per dayThe cap the council or your insurance will stand behind, not the number you wish you had.

Average occupancyYearly average. Monday is not Saturday. School holidays are not June.

Days open per week

Weeks open per yearMost daycares close a handful of public-holiday weeks.

Paid days you refund and cannot refillLeave 0 if occupancy already reflects no-shows. Only add this if you still pay staff for empty space.

Time on each job

Hours you are on site per dayYour hours, not the whole roster. Used for the effective hourly rate.

Owner admin hours per weekEvaluations, payroll, incident reports, marketing. This is often a second job.

Operating costs

Monthly lines are what you pay whether a customer turns up or not. Annual bills (permits, CPD) are labelled in the hint.

Rent and outgoingsIndustrial or peri-urban rent plus outgoings. This is usually the second-biggest line after wages.

InsurancePublic liability and animals in care. Facility policies are not home-business add-ons.

Power, water and cleaningHose-out, heating, cooling, trade waste.

Software, cameras and phoneBooking, CCTV cloud, phones.

MarketingAds, evaluation no-shows you still staff for.

Accountant and bookkeepingPayroll makes this real.

Council permit, DAB or DA conditionsRegistration, inspections and any acoustic or planning conditions you pay yearly.

Team

Team wages per monthA 1:10 ratio at 30 dogs is 3 people on the floor, plus a closer. Award loadings and casuals live here. Your own pay does not.

Cost of each dog-day

Food per dog-dayOnly if you feed. Many daycares do not. Do not invent a number if owners pack lunch.

Consumables and waste per dog-dayPoop bags, disinfectant, treats, enrichment you treat as used-up.

Card and platform feesStripe, Square, Tyro and any booking-platform cut. Typically 1.6 to 2.2%.

% of sales

Equipment you will have to replace

Cost spread over useful life becomes a yearly reserve, then a slice of the price. Type $0 if you truly will not replace it.

Fencing and yards

Double-gated entries and interior splits. Home and facility both wear these out.

Cost

Years

Flooring and drainage

The thing that fails when you cheap out.

Cost

Years

CCTV and access

Cameras, gates, locksets.

Cost

Years

Play equipment and beds

Replace on a cycle, not when someone is injured.

Cost

Years

Facility fit-out

Reception, wet room, staff area, parking works you paid for.

Cost

Years

Your minimum sustainable price

$82.18

per dog-day, to cover costs and hit your income target

You are charging $17.18 too little per dog-dayAt $65.00 you are short roughly $91,029 a year of take-home against your target.

Effective hourly rate

$1.44

at your current prices

Dog-days per year

5,400

108 a week after leakage

At your current prices

Annual revenue	$351,000
Card and platform fees	-$6,669
Operating costs	-$94,730
Team wages	-$216,000
Equipment reserve	-$9,450
Variable costs	-$19,980
What you actually keep	$4,171

Profit per dog-day

$0.77

dog-days a week to hit target

138.3

If the diary does not fill

Load	Volume	Revenue	You keep
50% occupancy	3,750	$243,750	-$94,936
Your 72% occupancy	5,400	$351,000	$4,171
75% occupancy	5,625	$365,625	$17,686
100% occupancy	7,500	$487,500	$130,308

What a price rise is worth

Change	New price	Extra per year
+$5 per dog-day	$70.00	+$26,487
+$10 per dog-day	$75.00	+$52,974

Same number of dog-days. Demand is usually less price-sensitive than owners expect, but test a rise on new clients before applying it across the book.

Then run the diary

Petboost is the software this calculator came from. Bookings, occupancy, packages and the record of what you actually charged.

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Daycare software · What the market charges

How this one works

Empty space still costs rent and a ratio of staff. Occupancy is the price lever most owners under-measure.

Evaluations that do not convert still took a handler off the floor. Put that time in unpaid hours, not in hope.

Every figure comes from the numbers you entered. The minimum is the point at which revenue covers operating costs, team wages, the equipment reserve, card fees and the pay you said you wanted, across the dog-days you realistically complete in a year. It is general business information, not financial, tax or accounting advice. Last updated August 2026.

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