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Therapy fee calculator (India)

Start from what you need to earn and work back to a fee per session. The calculator allows for weeks you don't work and sessions that don't get paid, which is where most back-of-the-envelope fees go wrong. It runs in your browser, so nothing you enter is sent to us.

What you'd take home if the practice were a salary.

Room rent, supervision, training, memberships, software.

A caseload you can keep up all year, not your busiest week.

Holidays, festivals, illness, training. Six weeks leaves 46 working weeks.

No-shows and late cancellations you don't charge for. If your policy charges them, count only the ones you waive.

GST

Leave this off for therapy sessions: clinical care is usually exempt, and you can't charge GST unless you're registered. It applies to things like corporate workshops or paid supervision.

Charge at least

₹1,450

a session. The exact break-even is ₹1,449, rounded up to the next ₹50.

How that's worked out

  1. Income for the year: ₹50,000 × 12 = ₹6,00,000
  2. Practice costs for the year: ₹30,000 × 12 = ₹3,60,000
  3. The fees need to bring in ₹6,00,000 + ₹3,60,000 = ₹9,60,000 a year
  4. Working weeks: 52 − 6 = 46
  5. Sessions booked: 16 × 46 = 736
  6. Sessions paid: 736 × (100% − 10%) = 662.4
  7. Fee: ₹9,60,000 ÷ 662.4 = ₹1,449, quoted as ₹1,450

The same income at other caseloads

Sessions a weekFee needed
12₹1,950
16₹1,450
20₹1,200
25₹950

Why the number is higher than you expect

A therapist who wants ₹50,000 a month and sees 16 clients a week might divide 50,000 by 64 sessions (four weeks of 16) and charge about ₹800. That sum assumes every week is a working week, every booked session is paid and the practice costs nothing to run. With ₹30,000 a month of rent, supervision and software, six weeks off and one session in ten going unpaid, the same goal needs about ₹1,450 a session. The defaults above show that case, so you can change one number at a time and watch what moves.

The table of other caseloads is there for the opposite temptation: keeping the fee low and adding sessions. If your fee only works at 25 or 30 sessions a week, it depends on a pace that few therapists keep up for long.

The result is a floor

The figure is the least that pays for your practice and your life at the caseload you entered. Your local market and your experience set how far above it you can go. The guide to setting therapy fees in India covers typical fees by city and experience, sliding scales, raising fees with existing clients, and a cancellation policy that cuts the unpaid share.

GST and income tax

Leave GST off for therapy sessions. Most solo therapists aren't registered, because registration is only compulsory once aggregate turnover passes ₹20 lakh in a financial year, and clinical care is usually exempt health care even above that. If you are registered and the service is taxable, such as a corporate workshop or paid supervision, tick the GST box: the tax is added on top of your fee, because it goes to the government and isn't income. The GST and invoicing guide explains the threshold and the exemption.

The income goal is before income tax. If you'd rather work from take-home pay, add your expected income tax to the monthly costs, and check the figure with a chartered accountant.

Track whether the fee is working: try Therapy Manager free

Therapy Manager records each session as attended, cancelled or a no-show, applies your cancellation charges, and shows what you've actually earned each month, so you can see your real unpaid share instead of guessing it.

Try Therapy Manager free