LegalPracticeTools

Solo Practice Revenue Calculator

Model the economics of a small or solo practice: revenue after realization and collection, costs, profit and the hours needed to break even.

Last reviewed

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Free · No sign-up · Runs in your browser

A solo practice has the same arithmetic as a large firm and far less room for error. There is no other timekeeper to absorb a slow quarter, and fixed costs continue regardless of how the month went.

This calculator models the whole practice: capacity, the two percentages that determine what capacity is worth, costs, and the billable hours required before anything becomes income.

Your numbers

Results update as you type. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Result

Operating profit

$184,908

Break-even billable hours

457.7

Collected revenue
$298,908
Gross value of time
$342,000
Total costs
$114,000
Profit margin
61.86%
Profit per owner
$184,908
Revenue per fee earner
$298,908
Effective rate
$249.09
Overhead ratio
18.07%

This tool performs arithmetic on the values you enter. It does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Break-even hours show the total billable hours the firm must record before it covers salaries and overhead at the current realization and collection rates.

Profit per partner here is a simple division of operating profit. It is not a compensation formula and ignores capital accounts and tax.

How to use the solo practice revenue calculator

  1. Enter the number of fee earners - one for a solo practice.
  2. Enter the billable hours each realistically records in a year.
  3. Enter the average rate, realization and collection.
  4. Enter salary and overhead costs, then read the break-even hours.

What people use this for

  • Deciding whether a practice can support a hire.
  • Working out the billable hours needed before drawing an income.
  • Modelling the effect of an office lease against working from home.
  • Testing whether a rate change or a realization improvement helps more.

Worked examples

Every figure below is produced by running this calculator against the example inputs, so the numbers always match the tool.

A solo practitioner

One fee earner at 1,200 hours, $285 average rate, 92% realization, 95% collection, $60,000 of salary cost and $54,000 of overhead.

Operating profit
$184,908
Break-even billable hours
457.7
Profit margin
61.86%

The same practice with a paralegal

Two fee earners, higher salary cost and overhead, with the second billing fewer hours at a lower rate.

Operating profit
$265,858
Break-even billable hours
905.6
Revenue per fee earner
$225,929

Break-even hours is the number that governs a small practice

It is the total billable hours required, at current rates and current yield, before costs are covered. Everything after it is income; everything before it is work performed to stand still.

On a solo practice it is frequently a large share of total capacity, which is why fixed costs matter so much more than they do at scale. An office lease that adds a modest amount to overhead can add hundreds of hours to break-even.

A hire changes the shape, not just the size

Adding a fee earner raises fixed costs immediately and raises capacity only if the work exists to fill it. The second example shows the mechanism: revenue rises, break-even rises further, and whether that is a good trade depends entirely on utilisation.

Modelling both scenarios before hiring is the difference between a decision and a hope. Run it with the new person at a realistic utilisation for their first year, not at the utilisation you eventually want.

Methodology and assumptions

What this calculator does, and what it deliberately does not do.

  • Gross time value = fee earners × hours each × average rate. Revenue applies realization and collection.
  • Profit is revenue minus salary costs and overhead. Break-even hours divide costs by effective revenue per hour.
  • For a solo practice, whether to treat your own draw as a salary cost or as profit is a choice - be consistent.
  • The tool performs arithmetic or date counting on the values you enter. It does not interpret a rule, a statute or a contract.
  • Nothing you type is transmitted or stored - the calculation runs entirely inside your browser.

This website provides general informational and productivity tools and does not provide legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship.

The date and deadline tools count days exactly as you instruct them. They do not interpret court rules, statutes of limitation, filing requirements or any other legal authority, and they do not know the rules of your jurisdiction.

Always verify any date, fee, or calculation against the governing rule, the court calendar and your own professional judgement. If you need legal advice, consult a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction.

Frequently asked questions

Should I include my own salary?

Either treat your draw as a salary cost and read profit as surplus, or leave it out and read profit as your income. Both work; mixing them does not.

What billable hours are realistic solo?

Lower than in a firm, because administration, business development, billing and collection all fall on the same person. Use what your time records actually show.

How do I know if I can afford a hire?

Model it: raise the fee earner count, raise salary and overhead, and set the new person’s first-year hours conservatively. Compare break-even before and after.

Does this include tax?

No. It models practice economics before any tax treatment, which differs by structure and jurisdiction.

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