Practice Break-Even Calculator
Below one number, the month loses money. Enter fixed costs, per-visit costs and collections, and see the break-even volume for the month and the day.
Every practice has a visit count below which the month loses money — and many owners have never seen the number. Enter the monthly fixed costs, the variable cost and average net collections per visit, and this calculator returns the break-even volume for the month and for each working day, plus the profit or loss at any target volume you want to test.
Calculate the break-even point
Sorting your costs correctly
The calculator is only as good as the split between fixed and variable. Fixed costs are the ones that arrive whether the schedule is full or empty: rent, salaried staff, malpractice and business insurance, EHR and software subscriptions, utilities, licenses. Variable costs scale with each visit: clinical supplies consumed per encounter, per-claim clearinghouse fees, laundry and forms — and, if your billing is priced as a percentage of collections, that percentage converted into dollars per visit at your average collection figure. Two judgment calls matter. Provider compensation: if clinicians are purely salaried, their pay is fixed; if they are paid per visit or on a collections split, that share is variable and belongs in the per-visit cost. And collections per visit must be net collections — what actually lands after contractual adjustments — not charges. Run the same month three ways (last month’s actuals, a conservative case, a target case) and the range tells you more than any single point estimate. If the break-even day rate sits above your schedule’s real capacity, the problem is structural — fees, payer mix, coding accuracy, or the cost base — and that is a revenue-cycle conversation, not a scheduling one. It is a conversation our free consultation is built for.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the calculator round break-even visits up?
Because visits are whole. A practice that needs 266.7 visits of contribution to cover fixed costs breaks even only when the 267th visit happens — 266 visits still leave the month slightly short. The per-day figure divides that rounded monthly number by working days, so it is the honest daily pace, not an optimistic one.
Should provider pay be a fixed or a variable cost?
It depends on how it is paid. Straight salary is a fixed cost. Pay that moves with production — per visit, per RVU, or a percentage of collections — is variable, and its per-visit dollar amount belongs in the variable cost per visit. Many practices run the calculation both ways to see how a compensation change would move the break-even point.
What if my collections per visit vary a lot by payer?
Use the blended average: total net collections for a recent quarter divided by total visits. If one payer dominates the schedule, run a second scenario with that payer’s rate alone — the spread between the blended and single-payer results shows how much of your break-even risk is payer-mix risk.
Disclaimer: This tool is provided for educational and planning purposes only. It is not billing, coding, legal, or financial advice, and it does not replace the rules of any specific payer. Requirements and figures change over time — always verify against current CMS guidance and your own payer contracts before acting on a result.