Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Overhead ratio (before doctor pay)
56.1%
Total overhead
$1,235,000
Margin available for doctor pay & profit
$965,000
Margin percentage
43.9%
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How to use this
- 1Enter annual revenue ($).
- 2Enter support staff wages (non-doctor) ($).
- 3Enter rent, utilities, facility costs ($).
- 4Enter medical/dental supplies + lab ($).
- 5Enter marketing ($).
- 6Enter other fixed costs (insurance, admin, tech) ($).
- 7Read your overhead ratio (before doctor pay) on the right — it updates as you type.
- 8Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Overhead ratio — total practice expenses excluding doctor compensation, divided by revenue — is the number that determines how much room exists for doctor pay, debt service, and owner profit. This calculator sums the standard overhead categories (staff wages, facility, supplies, lab, marketing, and other fixed costs) and expresses the total as a percentage of collected revenue, benchmarked against the roughly 55-65% overhead ratio typical of well-run general veterinary and dental practices before doctor compensation.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Annual revenue: 2200000 $
- Support staff wages (non-doctor): 620000 $
- Rent, utilities, facility costs: 180000 $
- Medical/dental supplies + lab: 260000 $
- Marketing: 45000 $
- Other fixed costs (insurance, admin, tech): 130000 $
Results
- Overhead ratio (before doctor pay): 56.1%
- Total overhead: $1,235,000
- Margin available for doctor pay & profit: $965,000
- Margin percentage: 43.9%
What each field means
Inputs
- Annual revenue ($)
- The annual revenue used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 2200000 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Support staff wages (non-doctor) ($)
- The support staff wages (non-doctor) used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 620000 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Rent, utilities, facility costs ($)
- The rent, utilities, facility costs used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 180000 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Medical/dental supplies + lab ($)
- The medical/dental supplies + lab used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 260000 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Marketing ($)
- The marketing used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 45000 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Other fixed costs (insurance, admin, tech) ($)
- The other fixed costs (insurance, admin, tech) used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 130000 $ so you have a working example on load.
Results
- Overhead ratio (before doctor pay)
- Returned as a percentage and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Total overhead
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Margin available for doctor pay & profit
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Margin percentage
- Returned as a percentage. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
What overhead ratio is considered healthy?
55-65% of revenue for total overhead excluding doctor compensation is typical for both general veterinary and dental practices. Below 55% often means genuinely lean operations or possibly understaffing; above 68-70% usually squeezes doctor pay and owner profit below sustainable levels.
Why is doctor compensation excluded from overhead here?
Doctor pay is treated as a variable claim on the margin remaining after overhead, since it's often structured as a percentage of production (pro-sal) rather than a fixed cost. Separating it out lets you see how much of revenue is available to split between doctor compensation and owner profit before deciding on a pay structure.
Which overhead category usually has the most room to improve?
Supplies and lab costs, because they scale with case mix and are the most negotiable with vendors through group purchasing or better inventory control. Facility and staff wage costs are largely fixed in the short term and require a lease renegotiation or staffing model change to move meaningfully.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
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Monthly production needed to cover fixed and variable costs.
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Veterinary/Dental Practice Overhead Ratio Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/practice-overhead-ratio
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/practice-overhead-ratio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Veterinary/Dental Practice Overhead Ratio Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Veterinary/Dental Practice Overhead Ratio Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/practice-overhead-ratio) (2026).