A clearer view of going independent

Can I afford to go solo?

See what going solo could look like financially. Compare your employment compensation with a private practice scenario, then find the caseload that could replace it.

Start with three numbers. See your result for free, without an account.

Model your transition

These are illustrative starting values, not typical earnings or recommended fees. Change them to fit your situation.

Annual gross salary ($)

Private-pay session fee ($)

Scheduled sessions per week

Initial assumptions: 48 working weeks, 10% unpaid cancellations, $500 monthly overhead and $0 employer benefits. All results are before personal taxes.

Refine benefits, time off, insurance and expenses

Benefits: add employer health contributions, retirement match and other employer-paid benefits. Exclude your own contributions and PTO. Overhead: include rent, software and other business costs, but not personal health insurance or retirement contributions.

Annual bonus ($)

Annual employer-paid benefits ($)

Working weeks per year

Unpaid cancellations (%)

Monthly practice overhead ($)

Variable costs (% of revenue)

Insurance reimbursement per session ($)

Sessions paid by insurance (%)

Transition scenario

Scheduled sessions include unpaid cancellations. Insurance reimbursement is the total collected per completed session, including any copay. Variable costs apply to collected revenue. No cancellation fees or insurance payment delays are modeled.

More than sessions multiplied by a fee

Private practice revenue has to cover business expenses before it can replace your compensation. Employer-paid benefits and time off also affect the comparison. Your Solo Number brings those assumptions together.

How is the Solo Number calculated?

We divide annual employment compensation plus annual overhead by your collected fee, working weeks and margin after variable costs. We then allow for unpaid cancellations to show the schedule needed. Thresholds round up to whole sessions.

Does this tell me when to leave my job?

No. It shows an annual scenario, not a prediction of client demand or take-home pay. Validate your assumptions with actual collections and a household budget before making a decision.

For business planning only, not financial, tax or legal advice. US-dollar estimates exclude personal taxes, startup costs and ramp-up. Self-employment and income taxes need a separate budget. Read the IRS self-employment tax overview.