BTHE BARATELLI INSTITUTE · Mentoring at Scale
FOR THE ONE-PERSON SERVICE BUSINESS

Run the practice numbers on yourself, before next quarter.

Billable utilization. Effective hourly rate. Fully-loaded cost recovery. Per-engagement margin. Owner take-home after self-employment tax, health insurance, and retirement contributions. The five numbers every Top 200 consulting firm tracks monthly — most solo operators have never seen them on one page about their own practice.

5
Practice metrics
$/hr
Effective billable rate
Util.
Billable utilization
Take-home
After tax + benefits
YOUR PRACTICE
1
Practice profile
2
Capacity & utilization
3
Cost structure
4
Engagement mix
5
Practice scorecard
STAGE 1 OF 5

Tell me about your practice

Four inputs. The defaults are a typical 3rd-year solo strategy consultant targeting $180K of revenue.

Drives the bench rates the scorecard compares you against.
S-corp election lets you split earnings between W-2 reasonable comp and distributions, saving SE tax on the distribution portion. Worth doing once net income clears about $60K.
STAGE 2 OF 5

How many billable hours do you actually have?

Solo operators routinely overstate this. The honest answer is the time left after sales, admin, marketing, learning, and the inevitable bad-weather week.

Total — client work plus sales, admin, marketing, learning.
52 minus vacation, sick, holidays. Be honest.
What fraction of working hours actually generate revenue. Solo consultants run 50–65%. Designers and creatives often run 45–55%. The rest is sales, admin, marketing, and biz-dev calls.
YOUR ANNUAL CAPACITY MATH
Hours per week × weeks per year
1,840
× billable utilization
× 55%
Billable hours per year
1,012
Effective rate to hit revenue target
$178/hr
STAGE 3 OF 5

The fully-loaded cost of being you

Every dollar of expense, self-employment tax, health insurance, and retirement contribution sits above your take-home line. Most solo operators forget at least three of these and price too low.

CRM, accounting, project management, email, design tools, etc.
Ads, content, networking dues, conference fees, LinkedIn Premium.
Coworking, home office allocation, or commercial rent.
E&O, general liability, accountant, attorney retainer.
Self-paid premium. Marketplace, COBRA, or spouse's plan reimbursement.
SEP-IRA, Solo-401(k), or DB plan annual contribution. 2026 SEP-IRA limit is $70K.
Effective rate across your taxable income, not marginal. Most solo operators land at 18–25%.
STAGE 4 OF 5

Your engagement portfolio

Five to eight typical engagements. Per-engagement margin and the kill criteria flag where you should renegotiate, reposition, or walk away.

Engagement name
Fee ($)
Hours
Type
Annual count
$/hr
STAGE 5 OF 5

Your practice on one page

The five numbers every consulting firm partner checks monthly — for the first time, on your own practice.

Take-home waterfall

From engagement revenue to the money that actually ends up in your account.

Engagement-level margin

Each engagement ranked by effective hourly rate. The kill criteria flag the bottom of your portfolio.

The honest review — what to do next

    WANT THE METHODOLOGY BEHIND THIS TOOL?
    This calculator is one chapter of CFO & Controller's Reference Guide.
    The tool gives you the answer. The guide gives you the argument — the case law, the worked examples, the negotiation playbook, the cross-check tables, the exception cases. Read the chapter and you can defend your number to a board, a buyer, an examiner, or a counterparty.
    The methodology behind this calculator is in Ch 33 Hiring & Comp (solo operating economics) of the reference guide.
    See the Guide → Browse all 22 guides
    PROFESSIONAL DISCLAIMER · PLEASE READ

    Educational and informational purposes only. This calculator and any output it produces are intended solely for general educational and decision-support purposes. They do not constitute investment, tax, legal, accounting, or any other professional advice, and they do not create a fiduciary, attorney-client, accountant-client, or advisor-client relationship of any kind.

    Estimates based on your inputs. All results are estimates derived from the data and assumptions you provide. Tax law, accounting standards, regulations, and the specific facts of your situation can materially change the answer. The Baratelli Institute, its affiliates, and any co-branding professional make no warranty of accuracy, completeness, currency, or fitness for any particular purpose, and disclaim all liability for decisions made in reliance on the output.

    Consult your own qualified professionals. Before acting on anything calculated here, consult your own attorney, CPA, financial advisor, or other qualified professional licensed in your jurisdiction who has reviewed your specific facts and applicable current law. The Baratelli Institute is a publisher of practitioner reference material. It is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, law firm, or accounting firm.

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