Overhead percentage

Overhead percentage is every dollar the practice spends to operate (staff, supplies, lab, rent, marketing, admin and everything else) divided by collections, before doctor compensation comes out. It is the single number that determines whether a busy practice is actually a profitable one, and it is the target Ryan builds the numbers curriculum around: under 60% of collections, which leaves a healthy 40%-plus to pay the dentists and still show a profit.

The percentage is only the headline; the useful work is in the six or so categories underneath it, because "overhead is high" tells you nothing actionable and "lab is at 12% against a healthy 8–10%" tells you exactly where to start. Staff wages typically run 25–28% of collections, supplies 5–6%, lab 8–10%, facility 5–7%, marketing 3–5%, and admin and everything else 5–8%: a general practice sitting meaningfully outside any one of those bands almost always has a specific, fixable cause rather than a mysterious one.

Recalculate overhead the moment collections move, not just at year-end. A category that looked fine at last year's collections can quietly drift out of its healthy range as the top line grows or shrinks under it.