Setting up SimplePractice step by step

This lesson sets up an electronic health record for a new solo practice, in order, using SimplePractice as the worked example. I use it here as the worked example, not as an endorsement over any other platform; the sequence (practice details, locations, services, availability, forms, payments, insurance) is the same in any EMR. Screens change often, so each step links the SimplePractice help article it comes from, and that article is the source of truth whenever what you see disagrees with what I wrote. It assumes you have worked through the practice setup checklist and have your NPI, license details, and forms ready.

Plans, as listed in September 2026

SimplePractice sells three solo tiers. The figures below are the prices as listed on its pricing page in September 2026; check the page before you budget.

The Subscription plan and pricing FAQs article confirms the same tiers, a 30-day free trial with no card required, and that insurance billing and the add-ons are billed on top of the base fee. The pricing page also flagged a change to insurance claim pricing: electronic claims filed at $0.39 per claim on every tier from October 1, 2026, and manual coverage checks at $0.15 each. If you file claims, read that section of the page before choosing a tier.

The setup, in order

1. Start the free trial. Sign up through the Getting started with SimplePractice hub, which links the training videos. The trial runs 30 days with no card, and SimplePractice's help article says it opens on the Plus tier, so you see every feature before choosing what to pay for. The same page describes signing up as agreeing to the Terms of Service and the Business Associate Agreement.

2. Enter your practice details. The Navigating your Operations settings article (updated around December 2025) lays out the three settings groups: Profile for your personal and security information, Practice for the practice name, locations, and billing address, and Team for group practices. Go to Settings, Practice, Practice details, and enter the name, address, and logo as they appear on your disclosure statement.

3. Add your office location and check the Video Office. Follow Adding office locations: Settings, Practice, Practice details, then Add a location. Each location takes a name, an address, a color, an insurance Place of Service code, and a public-view setting. A Video Office is created for you under Telehealth on the same page. Telehealth appointments must be assigned to that Video Office for clients to receive video links and reminders, and only one telehealth location is active at a time.

4. Set up telehealth. The article is Getting started with telehealth, with the Telehealth FAQs beside it. I could not read the getting-started article with the tools I had, so I will not summarize it; work through it directly and pair it with your telehealth consent from step 9.

5. Create your service codes. Creating and using service codes covers the codes that decide how each appointment is billed. Selecting CPT codes in the software requires a separate AMA CPT license. SimplePractice's pricing page FAQ, "Are there any other fees?," states this license costs $20 per clinician per year ($18.50 AMA royalty plus $1.50 processing).

6. Set default rates. Setting default rates for clinicians lets you set a practice-wide rate per code so new appointments fill in the fee automatically. Match these to the fees on your Good Faith Estimate.

7. Turn on appointment requests, then build your availability. First enable the feature under Settings, Scheduling and inquiries, Client portal permissions, per Enabling online appointment requests. Then follow Setting up availability for the first time (updated around January 2026): open the calendar, click the gear icon, choose Set up appointment requests, define blocks by day, time, location, and services offered, review, and save. Every request lands in a Requests queue for you to approve or decline by hand; nothing books itself.

8. Set up the Client Portal. Setting up the Client Portal covers the client-facing side: intake forms, shared documents, billing, and appointment requests.

9. Build your intake and consent forms. Managing intake forms (updated around March 2026) explains how forms go out through the portal, how to start from a template or from scratch, and how to set defaults that attach to every new client's intake packet. Default consent form templates lists what ships with the account by specialty. Your Oregon disclosure statement is not among them; add it and make it a default.

10. Choose your note templates. Using pre-built templates and your template library describes five categories: scored measures, intake forms, progress notes, diagnosis and treatment plans, and other documents. Starter accounts are limited to the Simple Progress Note or SOAP and DAP templates, and customizable notes and assessments are not available on Starter; confirm that in the article if a custom note format matters to you.

11. Turn on online payments. Getting started with online payments sets up the integrated, Stripe-based card processor. SimplePractice's pricing page FAQ states a rate of 3.15% plus $0.30 per successful card, FSA, or HSA transaction.

12. Decide on AutoPay. Getting started with AutoPay is optional and requires online payments to be on first. SimplePractice's help article says it charges the client's stored default card overnight (between midnight and 6am practice time) after an invoice is created, and it can be turned on practice-wide or per client. Say so in your fee agreement if you use it.

13. Set up insurance billing and submit enrollments. Start with Getting started with insurance billing, then the Enrollment FAQs and Submitting enrollments to file claims and receive Payment Reports. An enrollment tells a payer you intend to send electronic claims or receive electronic payment reports (ERAs) through SimplePractice's clearinghouse. It is not credentialing; you must already be paneled with the payer. SimplePractice's help article says enrollments can take several weeks and that there is no fee for the enrollment or for receiving ERAs, which is separate from the October 2026 per-claim pricing above. Start this step early.

14. Publish a Therapy Finder profile if you want one. SimplePractice has renamed its Monarch directory to Therapy Finder; Getting started with Therapy Finder covers it. A profile is included on all paid plans. Enable it under Marketing, Directory, then edit and publish under Marketing, Profile. Ranking uses what the article calls "a dynamic algorithm" based on completeness, availability, location, and undisclosed factors. It is separate from the Professional Website feature.

15. Connect calendar sync. Getting started with calendar sync describes two tiers. Basic sync pushes SimplePractice appointments, view-only, to Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, or Microsoft 365 Outlook (Apple is one-way only) and is available on Essential and Plus. Advanced sync is Google-only, two-way, shows personal events inside SimplePractice, and is Plus only.

16. Confirm the BAA and read the security page. SimplePractice BAA, Terms of Service, and Trust and Security information is where the agreement lives. Download a copy for your BAA folder. I could not read this article directly, so it, not this lesson, is your reference for what the agreement says.

Two questions to settle before the trial ends

Oregon's record retention rule runs seven years from the date of last service, so before you pay for a first month, find out how you would export every chart, note, and signed form if you ever leave. I did not find a help article on export, so ask support and keep the answer. Second, add up the real monthly cost: the plan, the CPT license, card processing, and per-claim fees from October 2026 if you bill insurance. The base price is the smallest of those numbers.

This is not legal, tax, or accounting advice, and it is not a product recommendation. I wrote down the steps and linked the article behind each one; SimplePractice's help center is the authority on its own software, and a CPA or attorney is the authority on your situation.

Further reading

• Getting started with SimplePractice: video training. The company's own index of setup videos, organized in roughly the same order as this lesson.
• SimplePractice pricing. The live price list, including the add-ons and the October 2026 insurance claim changes.
• Subscription plan and pricing FAQs. Which features sit on which tier, and what is billed separately from the plan.
• SimplePractice BAA, Terms of Service, and Trust and Security. The agreement itself and the company's security claims; read it before the trial, not after.
• HHS: Sample Business Associate Agreement Provisions. Template language to compare the SimplePractice BAA against, clause by clause.
• The Oregon solo practice setup checklist. The lesson before this one, with the documents you will be uploading here.