Therapist and coach fee calculator

Are you charging enough for your 1:1 therapy or coaching sessions? Or are you at risk of undercharging, experiencing burnout and financial worries?

I have created a simple tool to help you calculate what you would earn based on the rate you currently charge per session, and the number of 1:1 clients that feels sustainable for you and takes into account how many weeks of the year you want to work.

Simply complete the three questions to help you determine your number of sessions per week and plan your well-deserved weeks of vacation each year. This will help you visualise your annual gross income for your coaching or therapy practice.

It will take about a minute to complete and the results could be eye-opening. I’m not collecting your name and email address, this tool is purely to help you. The session fee calculator will help you to quickly estimate if the way you are working now is sustainable. It will also enable you to see if you are likely to attain your income goals based on the way you are currently working, or if something needs to change.

Please note that the fee calculator estimates gross income – your income before expenses such as yearly accreditation, supervision, CPD, insurance, rent, tax, unpaid no-shows or last-minute cancellations. It also doesn’t calculate your earnings if you operate a sliding scale (if you offer discounted rates to some clients).

How to use the therapist and coach session fee calculator

Maybe there is scope to add other income streams to ensure that you can take time off for holidays, an unexpected bereavement or sick leave without worrying about how on earth you will be able to afford it.

You might want to do a braindump of ways to boost your income – facilitating workshops, creating courses, hosting retreats, devising a membership, delivering CPD or maybe even setting up a shop selling digital products (such as printables and journals) or even physical products.  

I am very far from being a financial advisor, but I’m hoping that by encouraging therapists and coaches to think about their session fees it could help prevent someone from teetering on the brink of burnout and get them to take action before they fall into the abyss.

Why it can feel so hard to figure out your session pricing

Often therapists and coaches charge the same as their peers and less than their mentors, especially because it’s so easy to google directory listings and figure out the going rate.

It can feel like you have to take into account what competitors are pricing, what you feel confident charging and what (you think) is affordable.

You might not be factoring in extra training you have undertaken – specialisms come at a price and it’s not mercenary to account for that. Remember that the work you do carries a huge mental and emotional responsibility. Not only that, hopefully, your work helps your clients to achieve a transformation that has a ripple effect.

The thing is, your business overheads and what is sustainable for you might be completely different to the therapists or coaches you are comparing yourself to. If you don’t set your prices to cover your expenses and admin time, you might not have a business.

If you set your prices based on what others charge remember that you have no idea of other sources of income that they might have. And don’t forget that an accountant can help you figure out legitimate business expenses that are tax deductible.

It can be so tempting to charge the going rate in your area but remember that your time and knowledge are valuable. When you were training you undoubtedly worked for free while making a big investment. It is ok to make a living, in fact, it is much easier to support your clients if your annual salary allows for tax, room rental or Zoom fees, holidays, directory listings, a pension and disposable income.

This is why I am encouraging you to reverse engineer your income. The price you charge needs to reflect the time you spend on admin and marketing and cover your outgoings.

If it’s not sustainable for you to offer concessions or a sliding scale, remember that there are other options available. You could refer those who can’t afford your services to your free resources or low-cost agencies if you are a counsellor.

Remember too that if you only offer 1:1 sessions your income is capped and there is a ceiling on how much you can earn. Not only that, but if you are self-employed there can be times when it feels like a feast or a famine, so it helps to have more than one income stream. Otherwise, you could very well feel like packing it all in, a major disservice to both you and your clients.

It takes time to develop your practice and money shouldn’t be a taboo. Your fee is based on a huge range of factors and you deserve to live a comfortable life and the financial security to cover the peaks and troughs of business.

Huge thanks to Alison from adeptaccounting.ie for her input on this post.

.