Travel Budget & Rules  

How much should a Partner Consultant Expect to be Paid?

Let’s review how the financials work:

Most consulting firms charge the client either a flat fee or hourly rate, then the partner consultant receives her hourly rate and the company keeps the remainder. Actually, this is how all businesses work if they’re profitable (duh).

There is an industry standard that says the consulting firm should pay the partner consultant no more than 50% of the client fee. Most of us who have worked with Henry Schein One for software training are familiar with how they structure compensation using this approach – as of July 2024, they charge dental practice clients about $150/hour for training and the trainer generally earns somewhere between $45-75/hour (based on their tier of expertise and achievement). As of Sept 2025, Denticon charges $135/hr for training and as of Jan 2026 this goes up to $150/hr.

Optimize Dental Consulting follows this same standard approach.

For partner consultants used to receiving a paycheck, let’s walk through the math. As of August 2024, a regional dental manager earns on average $75,000/year.

Based on working 40 hours/week, the hours worked per year are 2080 so we will take $75,000 / 2080 hours = $36/hour.

This also follows the general guideline of taking your yearly income divided by 2 and removing the $1000’s to find your hourly rate. So this would be $75k / 2 = $37.5/hour. Now, you can see your current hourly rate is about $36 - $37.50/hour.

Now, take your preferred annual salary range and do the same math:

$______________ Your preferred annual salary

Divide by 2080 hours

= $___________ per hour

What is your hourly rate?

Big idea: Move from $36/hr to a path toward $87.50/hr (50% of a $175/hr client rate) — that’s a 58% pay bump and, for the same $1,440/week, you’d work about 16.5 hours instead of 40 (~60% fewer hours).

How it works: Jill focuses on bringing in clients which means your hours can fluctuate week to week.

Level-up plan: We stair-step your rate to get to that 50% by building remote-work muscles: time management, clear video presence, leading group calls, agendas and notes, PM tools, tracking hours, and steady, professional communication. Be responsive beyond 8–5 when it’s needed, and use hours wisely.

More upside: Bring in a new client and earn referral fees; grow skills in marketing, personal brand, and sales to boost income further.

Team vibe: Collaborative, respectful, independent, and outcomes-driven. We keep our playbooks private, grow together, and aim for long-term financial and professional wins — capped off by an annual in-person retreat to learn, recharge, and set bigger goals.