Telebehavioral Health Break-Even: $158K Monthly Revenue Target

Fixed costs $38.2K/mo Fixed overhead

Contribution margin 78% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $49.0K/mo Monthly revenue goal

Break-even timing Month 1 Launch month

Break-even calculator

Test monthly revenue against variable expenses and fixed monthly costs to see where the platform breaks even.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Higher revenue gives more room to cover direct and fixed costs. $ Low revenue High revenue Variable expenses These are direct costs that rise as session volume grows. $ Low costs High costs

Money available to cover fixed costs $6,962,888 $8,470,667 revenue - $1,507,779 variable expenses

Margin ratio

82%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly overhead the contribution margin has to cover. $ Lean overhead Heavy overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which telebehavioral health expenses are fixed and which move with sales at break-even?

Cost classification

Break-even gets unreliable when session-linked costs are mixed with overhead. With first-year revenue of $14.94M, practitioner payouts, hosting, acquisition, and processing must move with revenue, while monthly compliance and platform overhead stay fixed.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Practitioner Commission Payouts	Variable	Model as 60% of first-year revenue, tied to completed treatments.	Treating practitioner payouts as payroll.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Cloud Hosting Infrastructure	Variable	Model as 30% of first-year revenue, tied to platform usage.	Burying usage-based hosting in fixed software.
Digital Patient Acquisition	Variable	Model as 100% of first-year revenue for launch demand generation.	Assuming paid demand stays flat.
Payment Processing Fees	Variable	Model as 30% of revenue, tied to collected patient payments.	Ignoring card and collection drag.
Cybersecurity and Data Protection	Fixed	Carry as $4,500 per month from Month 1 through Month 60.	Treating security as optional launch spend.
Professional Liability Insurance	Fixed	Carry as $6,000 per month across the planning range.	Tying base coverage to each session.
Telehealth Platform Maintenance	Fixed	Carry as $12,000 per month before adding session-linked costs.	Moving platform overhead with every treatment.
Patient Success Manager, Credentialing Specialist, Senior Software Engineer, and Marketing Manager wages	Semi-fixed	Add full-time equivalents in steps as provider count and patient volume rise.	Spreading every hire as a smooth percent of revenue.

How does break-even shift from lean launch to Year 1 base and Year 5 full scale?

Scenario table

The lean case sits at break-even, so even small swings in volume or pricing matter. Year 1 base and Year 5 full both cover fixed load well, but the margin cushion gets much larger as scale builds.

These figures are planning assumptions from the model, not a promise of actual results.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean launch threshold	$158.5k	$34.9k	$123.6k	78.0%	$0.0k	Near break-even; any slip turns it negative.
Year 1 base case	$1.245M	$274.9k	$123.6k	78.0%	$847.5k	Month 1 break-even is covered with a strong cushion.
Year 5 full scale	$33.833M	$4.940M	$266.5k	85.4%	$28.627M	Scale adds a wide cushion, even with higher staffing.

What could break the break-even cushion for this telebehavioral health service?

Stress test

The launch case has a wide cushion, but lower revenue, higher clinician payouts, or more overhead can still compress it fast. Watch for fewer than 1,245 monthly sessions, slower collections, and acquisition spend above the 10% Year 1 assumption.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change; monthly revenue is $1,245,000 and variable expense is 22%.	$158,462	$1,086,538 cushion	The launch plan clears break-even by a wide margin.
Revenue shortfall	Monthly revenue falls 10% to $1,120,500.	$158,462	$962,038 cushion	A softer top line still stays well above break-even.
Fixed-cost pressure	Monthly fixed overhead rises 15% to $142,140.	$182,231	$1,062,769 cushion	More overhead lifts break-even, but the cushion remains strong.
Margin pressure	Variable expense rises from 22% to 27%.	$169,315	$1,075,685 cushion	Higher clinician payouts push break-even up and cut margin.
Combined pressure	Revenue falls 10%, variable expense rises to 27%, and fixed overhead rises 15%.	$194,712	$925,788 cushion	Three hits together still clear break-even, but the cushion shrinks fast.

Is the telebehavioral health launch ready to add clinicians and paid spend?

Founder checklist

Before you add clinicians or scale ads, test the live session load, the recurring cost base, and the cash cushion against the model. The business only looks ready if Year 1 demand, 78% contribution margin, and the $1.004M Month 1 cash need all hold up in real operations.

1Session demand9.8K/mo

Verify booked sessions can reach about 9.8K a month before you hire ahead of volume, because that is the Year 1 operating load in the model.

2Fixed load$123.6K/mo

Confirm recurring overhead stays near $123.6K a month, or the platform needs much more volume to cover the base.

3Unit margin78% CM

Keep the contribution margin near 78% after commissions, hosting, acquisition, and payment fees, since this is what funds fixed cost.

4Provider ramp275 providers

Finish credentialing and onboarding before you rely on insurance volume, because Year 1 already assumes 275 providers across the five care roles.

5Paid CAC10.0%

Prove referral and paid acquisition can stay near the modeled 10.0% of revenue before you scale spend, or margin slips fast.

6Cash cushion$1.004M

Hold at least $1.004M in cash at launch and keep the $480K build separate, since Month 1 is the low point.