Autism Support Service Break-Even Analysis: $65K Monthly Revenue

Fixed costs $51.9K/mo Core overhead

Contribution margin 79.5% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $65.3K/mo Revenue floor

Break-even timing Month 1 Launch breakeven

Break-even calculator

Use this to test whether monthly revenue covers variable expenses and the fixed monthly cost base.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue is the cash coming in each month before costs. $ Low High Variable expenses These are the costs that rise with service volume. $ Low High

Money available to cover fixed costs $384,675 $451,833 revenue - $67,158 variable expenses

Margin ratio

85%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly cost base the service has to cover. $ Low High

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which expenses are fixed and which move with sales in an autism support service?

Cost classification

Break-even is only reliable when rent, staffing steps, and session-linked fees sit in the right buckets. With first-year revenue of $1.426 million and break-even in Month 1, underused staff can still hide real cash strain.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Integrated Care Center Rent	Fixed	Use $12,000 per month in the fixed overhead base.	Treating space as flexible before the lease changes.
Utilities and Facility Maintenance	Fixed	Use $2,500 per month for the relevant planning range.	Spreading it across sessions and understating slow-month loss.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant IT and Security	Fixed	Use $1,200 per month as required operating overhead.	Calling underused software harmless because it supports care.
Professional Liability Insurance	Fixed	Use $1,800 per month before calculating contribution margin.	Excluding coverage from break-even because it is not clinical labor.
Medical Supplies and Sensory Materials	Variable	Model at 4.0% of first-year revenue, falling to 3.0% by the mature year.	Using a flat dollar budget when session volume drives usage.
Electronic Health Record Transaction Fees	Variable	Model at 2.5% of first-year revenue, falling to 2.0% by the mature year.	Putting usage fees into fixed software overhead.
Therapist Labor for Billable Sessions	Semi-variable	Link labor to treatments, capacity, and supervision load by role.	Treating underbooked clinicians as fully productive from Month 1.
Case Management, Intake, and Administrative Headcount	Semi-fixed	Add headcount in steps as caseload and operating scale rise.	Smoothing new hires evenly instead of modeling capacity jumps.

How does break-even change from lean to base to full capacity for this autism support service?

Scenario table

As staffing and revenue scale up, the break-even cushion gets wider because fixed overhead rises more slowly than sales. The profit view looks safe in all three cases, but payer delays can still push cash break-even later.

Planning assumptions only; payer timing and staffing mix can move cash break-even even when profit break-even is covered.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean opening team	$118.8K	$24.4K	$51.9K	79.5%	$42.6K	About $53.6K of monthly cushion, so profit break-even is already covered.
Base Year 2 staffing	$235.8K	$44.1K	$57.3K	81.3%	$134.4K	About $165.3K of monthly cushion, so break-even risk is low.
Full Year 5 capacity	$1,023.3K	$133.0K	$85.6K	87.0%	$804.7K	About $924.9K of monthly cushion, so profit break-even is not the constraint.

What pushes this autism support service below break-even?

Stress test

The plan keeps a solid cushion at the base case, but it gets squeezed fast if referrals slow, billable sessions fall, or payroll and overhead rise. The tightest watch item is low Registered Behavior Technician utilization, because it hits revenue and staffing at the same time.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$653K	$535K cushion	Healthy cushion if utilization holds.
Revenue shortfall	Revenue falls 15% to about $1,010K.	$653K	$357K cushion	Fewer billable sessions cut the cushion fast.
Fixed-cost pressure	Fixed costs rise 10% to about $571K.	$718K	$470K cushion	Payroll, rent, or admin creep pushes break-even up.
Margin pressure	Variable expense pressure rises from 20.5% to 25.5%, cutting contribution margin from 79.5% to 74.5%.	$697K	$491K cushion	Higher therapist pay or low Registered Behavior Technician utilization erodes margin.
Combined pressure	Revenue falls to about $1,010K, fixed costs rise 10%, and variable expense pressure rises to 25.5%.	$751K	$259K cushion	Slow referrals and added admin load can wipe out the cushion.

Is the referral pipeline strong enough to support the first lease, staff ramp, and cash burn?

Founder checklist

Don't lock the lease or hire plan until referral flow, supervision coverage, and cash all clear the model's break-even load. Year 1 only works if demand can keep 12 Registered Behavior Technicians busy and the $64K monthly break-even run rate is believable.

1Referral Flow12 RBTs

Verify referral volume can fill 12 Registered Behavior Technicians in the first operating year, or wages will outrun booked care.

2BCBA Coverage3 supervisors

Confirm 3 BCBA Supervisors can cover the Year 1 family load before you add more cases, because weak supervision caps safe growth.

3Lease Load$64K/mo

Test the lease against the roughly $64K monthly break-even run rate, since fixed costs sit near $50.9K a month before any growth.

4Launch Capital$310K

Budget the full $310K launch spend for buildout, sensory gym equipment, kits, IT, furniture, EHR setup, security, and signage before opening.

5Cash Cushion$820K

Hold minimum cash near $820K because the model bottoms out in Month 2, and any payer delay or slow ramp will hit fast.

6Ops Coverage1/1/1 FTE

Confirm 1 intake coordinator, 1 case manager, and 1 administrative assistant can keep scheduling and billing clean before you buy more platform seats.