Free tool
A session fee is not an income. Once unpaid leave, cancellations, room hire, supervision, tax and the hours you spend on admin are counted, the real figure is usually well below what people assume. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
Your caseload
Your costs
After costs, tax and National Insurance
£28,998
a year, from £39,330 of fees
Practice costs
£4,560
Income tax
£4,440
National Insurance
£1,332
Real hourly rate
£30
You work roughly 966 hours a year across 46 working weeks, including admin. That puts your real hourly rate at £30 against a headline fee of £60.
Most therapists price by looking at what others in their area charge. That sets the fee but says nothing about income, because the things between the two are invisible: the weeks you take off and are not paid for, the sessions cancelled too late to fill, supervision every month whether you are working or not, and the admin that happens after the client leaves.
Admin is the one people underestimate most. Notes, invoicing, chasing payment, emails and scheduling do not appear on any invoice, but they are hours worked. Counting them is what turns a headline fee into a real hourly rate, and the difference is often startling.
The practical uses of that number are deciding whether your fee is right, working out what a concession slot genuinely costs you, and seeing what an hour saved on admin is worth. See also what therapists can claim as expenses and the private practice setup checklist.
The admin hours are the ones you can change
You cannot easily raise your fee or work more weeks, but the admin is negotiable. NoteSono handles notes, invoicing, scheduling and CPD for UK private practice — you speak a short summary after the client has left and the note is written for you.
See how it worksFigures use 2026/27 rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland: personal allowance £12,570, basic rate to £50,270, higher rate to £125,140, and Class 4 National Insurance at 6% then 2%. Scotland sets its own income tax bands, so Scottish taxpayers will see a different result. This is a general estimate for sole traders, not tax advice, and it ignores other income, pension contributions, student loan repayments and any allowances beyond the standard personal allowance. Speak to an accountant about your own position.