Business Overhead Expense (BOE) Insurance 2027 Calculator
Calculate the right BOE insurance benefit amount for your professional practice in 2027. Add rent, payroll, utilities, equipment leases, and debt service to determine the monthly benefit that keeps your office running if you become disabled.
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What is business overhead expense (BOE) insurance?
Business overhead expense (BOE) insurance — also called overhead expense disability insurance — reimburses a business owner for eligible operating costs of the practice if the owner becomes disabled. Unlike individual disability insurance (IDI), which replaces personal income, BOE keeps the lights on at the office while the owner recovers, attempts to sell the practice, or recruits a locum tenens replacement.
BOE coverage is essential for solo practitioners and small partnerships in revenue-dependent professions like medicine, dentistry, law, accounting, optometry, chiropractic, and veterinary medicine. Without it, fixed overhead costs (rent, payroll, equipment leases, loan interest) continue draining savings even when no revenue is coming in.
How to use this BOE insurance calculator
Add up every fixed monthly expense your business must pay regardless of whether the owner is working: rent or mortgage interest, non-owner payroll and benefits (front desk, admin, hygienists, assistants — NOT other revenue-generating physicians), utilities and communication, equipment leases, professional fees (legal, accounting, malpractice insurance), business loan interest, and other fixed costs (supplies, association dues, recurring software). Choose the benefit period (12, 18, 24, or 30 months) based on how long you'd need to maintain the practice during a transition.
The calculator sums monthly eligible expenses, projects the total lifetime benefit, estimates the approximate annual premium (~$1.20 per $10,000 of monthly benefit per month for healthy 4A-class professionals), and confirms the tax treatment.
Who needs BOE and how it integrates with other disability coverage
BOE is critical for: solo practitioners (no partner overlap), 2–3 partner groups (one disability is half the revenue), high-fixed-cost specialties (oral surgery, OB/GYN, ophthalmology with expensive equipment), and recently financed practices (large debt service). BOE is less critical for: large multi-physician groups with revenue redundancy, employed physicians (employer carries risk), and consultants with minimal fixed overhead.
Coordinate with IDI: always carry individual disability insurance (IDI) alongside BOE — IDI replaces YOUR personal income (60–70% of pre-tax), BOE pays the BUSINESS expenses. The two together ensure both you and the practice survive a disability. Some carriers (Guardian/Berkshire Life, Principal, Ameritas, Standard) offer combined IDI + BOE packages with multi-policy discounts.
Source: naic.org Business Overhead Expense Insurance overview; iii.org Disability Insurance Basics; IRC Section 162 deduction rules. Updated May 2026.