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What it costs to open a veterinary clinic, line by line.

Move the sliders to your building, your equipment and your first team. The total, the monthly burn and the working capital update as you go. Print it or download the numbers for your lender.

Total funding need$1,282,036

burn $47,214 / moequity $128,204to finance $1,153,832

Space

One- and two-doctor practices run 2,000 to 3,000 square feet, with two to three exam rooms per doctor.

Square feet2,500 sq ft

Build-out per square foot$256 / sq ft

The published 2,000 sq ft sample budget runs $256 per sq ft for the builder alone. Renovations can cost as much as new construction.

Architecture and engineering10% of construction

Veterinary architects quote 9 to 12% of construction.

Contingency15% of construction

The published sample budget carries 15%. Lower only after bids are in.

Rent

Asking rents are quoted triple-net: taxes, insurance and common-area charges come on top.

Asking rent per square foot, per year$25 / sq ft / yr

US retail average is $24.79; medical office runs slightly higher.

Taxes, insurance and common area per square foot$8 / sq ft / yr

Commonly $5 to $12.

Lease deposit3 months of rent

No published benchmark we would stand behind. Replace with your quote.

Equipment and systems

The only published line-item budget we found: $75,000 furniture and equipment and $30,000 business systems for a 2,000 sq ft practice.

Furniture and equipment$75,000

Exam, surgery, treatment, kennels, laboratory basics. Scale up for more rooms or a second surgery.

Imaging and dental equipment$15,000

A new digital dental imaging system is $6,000 to $16,000. Digital radiography and ultrasound have no reliable published price: add your quotes here.

Business systems and IT$30,000

Workstations, tablets, network, phones, terminal spares.

People at opening

Median pay per month from national wage data: veterinarian $10,842, technician $3,948, front desk $3,168.

Veterinarians

Technicians

Front desk

Payroll tax and benefits on top of pay22%

Employer payroll tax alone is 7.65%. The private-industry average with full benefits is 43%. A first location usually lands between 20 and 30%.

Owner draw per month$6,000

What you need to take home while the practice ramps. No published benchmark we would stand behind. Replace with your quote.

Revenue-based lines

Opening inventory is one month of drugs and supplies at 21% of revenue; marketing is 5% of first-year revenue.

Projected first-year revenue$750,000

The average established practice does about $1.5M with 2.76 full-time veterinarians. A first year with one doctor is usually well below that.

Opening inventory $13,125 · Marketing $37,500

Legal and accounting$7,500

No published benchmark we would stand behind. Replace with your quote.

Runway and financing

Start-up practice loans typically come with up to six months interest-only; the SBA requires at least 10% equity from start-ups.

Fixed monthly costs$3,500

Utilities, insurance, lab minimums, subscriptions. No published benchmark we would stand behind. Replace with your quote.

Working capital6 months of burn

Six months mirrors the interest-only window lenders offer start-ups.

Equity the lender asks for10% down

SBA 7(a) minimum for start-ups is 10% of total project costs. Some practice lenders finance up to 100%.

Total funding need

$1,282,036

$998,750 to open the doors, plus $283,286 to run the clinic for 6 months while it fills up.

$47,214
monthly burn from opening day: $128,204
equity at 10% down: $1,153,832
to finance

Benchmark check

$948,125

your project cost, before inventory and marketing

$1,005,000

the published 2,000 sq ft budget, scaled to 2,500 sq ft

Build-out and fit-up$640,000
Architecture and engineering, 10%$64,000
Contingency, 15%$96,000
Furniture and equipment$75,000
Imaging and dental equipment$15,000
Business systems and IT$30,000
Opening inventory, one month of drugs and supplies$13,125
Marketing, launch and first year$37,500
Lease deposit$20,625
Legal and accounting$7,500
Practice software before opening$0
Working capital, 6 months$283,286

Practice software is $0 before opening with the New Practice Program, then $249 a month, already inside the burn. Monthly burn: rent $6,875, payroll $36,590, fixed costs $3,500, software $249.

Defaults come from the sources below, not from quotes. Excludes land, financing fees and lender closing costs. Your architect, equipment vendor and lender each replace one line.

Where the defaults come from

Starting points, not quotes. Each default sits inside the range these sources report.

Wages: veterinarians, technicians, receptionists
National median annual wages: veterinarians $130,100, veterinary technologists and technicians $47,380, receptionists $38,010. Veterinary-industry wages run a few percent below these all-industry figures.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Payroll tax and benefits
Employer payroll tax floor is 7.65%. Across private industry, benefits add 43% on top of wages; a first location with light benefits usually lands between 20 and 30%.
BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation; IRS Topic 751, March 2026
Tenant-improvement budget for a 2,000 sq ft general practice
Sample budget from BDA Architecture and CMP Inc.: builder's budget $512,000 ($256 per sq ft), furniture and equipment $75,000, business systems $30,000, architecture and engineering $67,200, contingency $76,800; $803,500 all in.
Today's Veterinary Business, "Small Spaces, Mighty Places", February 2026
Ground-up construction and design fees
$225 to $350 per sq ft to construct a free-standing veterinary hospital, plus about $25 per sq ft for site work; architecture and engineering fees 9 to 12% of construction.
Bacon Group Architecture, 2026
How big a first hospital is
One- to two-doctor practices run 2,000 to 3,000 sq ft, with 100 to 120 sq ft per exam room and two to three rooms per doctor. The average established practice is 3,845 sq ft with 3.5 exam rooms and about $1.5M in revenue.
Blue Frog Design-Build; AVMA Economic State of the Profession, 2025
Commercial rent
Average US retail asking rent $24.79 per sq ft per year. Asking rents are usually triple-net: add taxes, insurance and common-area charges, commonly $5 to $12 per sq ft.
CBRE, US Retail Figures, Q2 2026
Drugs and supplies as a share of revenue
Cost of goods runs 20 to 22% of revenue in small-animal practice. The calculator sizes opening inventory as one month of that.
Simmons & Associates, 2025
Marketing spend
The SBA suggests 7 to 8% of revenue for small businesses; veterinary practices typically spend 0.5 to 5%. The calculator uses 5% of projected first-year revenue for launch plus year one.
SBA guidance, summarised by Beyond Indigo Pets, 2024
Digital dental imaging
A new digital dental imaging system runs roughly $6,000 to $16,000. Radiography and ultrasound have no reliable published price; get quotes.
Antech Diagnostics, undated
Equity injection on start-up loans
SBA 7(a) requires start-ups to inject at least 10% of total project costs, where total project costs are everything required to become operational.
SBA SOP 50 10 8, reviewed by Starfield & Smith, June 2025
Practice loan terms
Up to 100% financing for start-ups with up to six months interest-only. The calculator's six months of working capital mirrors that window.
U.S. Bank, veterinary practice financing, 2026

The software line stays at zero until you open.

Clinics opening on Bittsi pay nothing before opening day, then the Standard plan for $249 a month in year one, with no setup fee and a free terminal with Bittsi Pay.

See the New Practice Program Build your opening timeline