Behavioral Health Center Break-Even Analysis: $104K Monthly Revenue

Fixed costs $17.7K/mo Rent and overhead

Contribution margin 91% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $19.5K/mo Monthly revenue target

Break-even timing Month 14 Forecast break-even

Break-even calculator

Test monthly revenue, variable expenses, and fixed costs against the break-even point for a behavioral health center.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Monthly intake from care has to be strong enough to cover direct and overhead costs. $ Low sales High sales Variable expenses These costs rise with volume, like processing fees, referral costs, supplies, and therapy materials. $ Low direct cost High direct cost

Money available to cover fixed costs $146,400 $160,000 revenue - $13,600 variable expenses

Margin ratio

92%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly overhead your margin has to cover before profit starts. $ Low overhead High overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which behavioral health center expenses are fixed, and which move with treatment volume?

Cost classification

Your break-even gets shaky if payroll and treatment-linked supplies get lumped into rent. Fixed items set the monthly hurdle, while variable and semi-fixed items decide how much each added session actually covers.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Facility Rent	Fixed	Carry at $10,000 per month from Month 1 through Month 60.	Treating rent as session-linked when it stays due at low volume.
Utilities	Fixed	Carry at $1,500 per month inside the current facility plan.	Modeling utilities as a revenue percentage instead of monthly overhead.
Electronic Health Record (EHR) System Licensing	Fixed	Carry at $2,000 per month before calculating break-even coverage.	Forgetting software subscriptions because they are smaller than payroll.
Payment Processing Fees	Variable	Apply at 2.5% of first-year revenue, then use the forecast rate by year.	Using gross session revenue and ignoring collection fees.
Marketing & Referral Commissions	Variable	Apply at 4.0% of first-year revenue, falling to 3.0% by the mature year.	Putting acquisition spend in fixed overhead when it moves with volume.
Clinical Supplies	Semi-variable	Model at 1.5% of first-year revenue, tapering to 1.0% by Year 5.	Assuming supplies are fixed just because they are bought in batches.
Direct Therapeutic Materials	Semi-variable	Model at 1.0% of first-year revenue, then 0.8% in later years.	Leaving materials out of contribution margin for each treatment type.
Clinical Payroll	Semi-fixed	Add payroll in hiring steps, including 2 LCSW therapists, 2 counselors, 1 psychiatrist, 1 psychologist, and 1 group facilitator in Year 1.	Excluding payroll from break-even fixed coverage.

How does break-even change from a lean launch to a scaled behavioral health center?

Scenario table

Higher utilization spreads the same staffing and facility base across more visits, so break-even shifts fast. The Year 2 case clears it; the Year 5 case builds a much wider cushion.

These are planning assumptions, not guarantees, and actual results can move with utilization, staffing, and payer mix.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean Year 1 launch case	$851K	$77K	$946K	91.0%	-$172K	Still below break-even, so launch loss risk stays high.
Base Year 2 traction case	$1,601K	$136K	$1,192K	91.5%	$273K	Break-even is cleared, but cushion still depends on steady utilization.
Stronger Year 5 scaled case	$5,861K	$399K	$2,308K	93.2%	$3,154K	Scaled volume gives a wide cushion if staffing stays full.

What breaks the break-even plan for this behavioral health center?

Stress test

Year 2 has about a $299K cushion over break-even. A 10% revenue miss still leaves room, but higher rent and a 2-point margin hit shrink that fast; the combined case leaves only about a $26K gap.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$1.30M	$299K cushion	The base plan sits above break-even, but not by a huge margin.
Revenue shortfall	Year 2 revenue falls 10%.	$1.30M	$139K cushion	A modest intake miss cuts the cushion by more than half.
Fixed-cost pressure	Facility rent rises by $10K a month.	$1.43M	$167K cushion	Rent creep eats a big piece of operating room.
Margin pressure	Variable expenses rise by 2 points.	$1.33M	$269K cushion	Small fee pressure still matters at this scale.
Combined pressure	Revenue falls 10%, variable expenses rise by 2 points, and rent adds $10K a month.	$1.47M	$26K gap	The plan is almost at break-even, so collections and intake have no room to slip.

Will this behavioral health center clear break-even before you sign the lease and hire the full team?

Founder checklist

Only sign the lease and hire the full team if referrals can support about $104K a month and the opening workload holds at plan. Year 1 EBITDA is -$136K, so this launch needs tight control on payroll, cash, and workflow.

1Demand proof$104K/mo

Verify referral and intake volume can support about $104K in monthly revenue before you sign the lease, or the center starts behind break-even.

2Opening payroll$94.6K/mo

Verify 1 psychiatrist, 1 psychologist, 2 LCSW therapists, 2 counselors, 1 group facilitator, 1 admin assistant, 0.5 billing specialist, and 0.5 marketing coordinator plus rent and software, because that stack lands near $94.6K a month.

3Margin mix91% CM

Verify variable costs stay near 9% of revenue, so you keep about 91% contribution margin to cover fixed overhead.

4Capacity ramp60%-90%

Verify each role can move from the model's 60% to 90% utilization path, or you'll add headcount before the schedule is full.

5Launch cash$550K

Verify the $280K build-out, furniture, IT, EHR setup, therapy equipment, security, and website spend can be funded and cash still reaches the $550K minimum by Month 13.

6Workflow readyBefore open

Verify EHR, billing, credentialing, intake, and collections work end to end before opening, because slow claims turn into cash drag fast.