Simple Practice Setup for Therapists Before Your First Client

I’ve relied on SimplePractice since 2016.

And when you’re opening a private practice, having one place for scheduling, paperwork, notes, billing, and client communication can make the business side feel a lot less scattered.

But there’s a difference between opening a SimplePractice account and actually getting it ready for a client.

You can create the account in minutes. Then you notice the settings.

Your services need fees. Your forms need reviewing. Your client portal needs to look like your practice. Your reminders need to go out at the right time. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, you may find yourself thinking, “Did anyone teach this part in grad school? ”

Probably not.

If you’re looking for a SimplePractice setup for therapists, this guide walks through the settings I would check before the first real client enters the system. It also works if you already have a practice and want to know how to set up SimplePractice while moving from another EHR.

SimplePractice’s current onboarding guide starts with practice information, clinician details, account security, services, and your subscription plan. From there, you can build the parts your clients will actually interact with.

Here’s what that process looks like.

How Do You Set Up SimplePractice?

The easiest way to set up SimplePractice is to work from the inside out.

Start with the information that makes your account function. Then move into the parts your clients see.

Setup Area	What You’re Checking	When to Do It
Practice information	Practice details, locations, billing information	First
Account security	Two step verification	First
Services	Session type, fee, length	First
Availability	Hours and appointment request times	Before scheduling
Client Portal	Client access and forms	Before onboarding
Documentation	Intake forms and note templates	Before first client
Notifications	Appointment and document reminders	Before scheduling
Billing	Rates, invoices, payments	Before charging
Insurance	Payer and billing details	If applicable
Telehealth	Video settings and test call	Before virtual sessions
Data transfer	Existing client information	If switching EHRs
Demo workflow	Full practice run	Last

SimplePractice divides its own setup process in a similar way. Its newest instructions move from the basic account setup into documentation, the Client Portal, payments, insurance, and then a practice workflow using a demo client.

That order matters.

You don’t want to invite a real client into a portal you haven’t looked at yourself.

Step 1: Set Up Your Practice and Clinician Information

Start with the boring stuff.

I know. Very glamorous.

But your practice information feeds into documents, client communication, scheduling, and billing, so this is not the section to speed through.

Add your practice details.

Review your practice name, phone number, office locations, billing address, and time zone.

If you offer both in-person and telehealth appointments, make sure your locations reflect how you actually see clients.

SimplePractice’s account setup instructions place practice details and clinician information at the beginning of the setup process.

Take a minute to check spelling too.

Your practice name showing up incorrectly on a client document is the kind of tiny thing that somehow becomes very annoying later.

Turn on two-step verification.

Set up two-step verification before adding real client information.

SimplePractice recommends an authentication app as its strongest verification option.

For practices subject to HIPAA, the federal Security Rule requires administrative, physical, and technical safeguards for electronic protected health information.

Your software is one piece of protecting information. Your own account habits matter too.

Step 2: Add Your Services, Fees, and Availability

Before SimplePractice can schedule your sessions correctly, it needs to know what you offer.

Create your services.

Add the services you actually expect to schedule.

That may include an initial intake, individual therapy, couples therapy, family therapy, or another service that fits your practice.

For each service, SimplePractice lets you enter information such as the service code, description, rate, and default session length. Its client billing guide explains that practice-wide rates can then populate when new appointments are created.

This is a good time to compare the fee in SimplePractice with the fee listed everywhere else in your practice.

Your website says $200.

Your intake paperwork says $200.

SimplePractice should probably not still say $175 because you forgot to update it three months ago.

Set your availability.

Your SimplePractice availability is not always the same thing as every hour you’re willing to work.

You can create blocks that control when clients may request appointments online.

SimplePractice’s availability setup guide explains that these blocks work with online appointment requests so clients only see times you’ve made available.

If you don’t want clients requesting appointments online, that’s okay too.

Your setup should match how you actually want to run your practice.

Step 3: Set Up the SimplePractice Client Portal

The Client Portal is one of the areas I would spend a little extra time on because this is where your setup stops being something only you see.

Clients can use the portal for forms, documents, appointments, billing, and other account tasks.

Before sending a single invitation, log in mentally as the client.

What will they see?

Does it make sense?

Does the language sound like your practice?

Choose your client portal link carefully.

SimplePractice allows you to customize the domain used for your client portal.

Do this before sending the link to clients.

SimplePractice specifically recommends setting and locking the portal link before you distribute it because changing the domain later also changes the URL clients use. This is one of those five-minute decisions that can save you twenty emails later.

Decide whether clients can request appointments.

If you want clients or prospective clients to request sessions online, turn on online appointment requests and review the settings.

SimplePractice allows practices to decide whether new clients can request appointments, which client types can submit requests, how far ahead they can request, and whether additional information is collected. Every request still needs to be approved or declined by the practice.

If you already gave clients portal access before switching this feature on, SimplePractice notes that you may need to update individual client permissions.

That’s an easy setting to miss.

Step 4: Set Up Intake Forms, Consent Documents, and Notes

This is the part where an EHR starts feeling like your actual practice rather than an empty account.

SimplePractice lets you manage documentation templates, intake documents, and shareable forms from its documentation settings.

Review the paperwork clients receive.

Your intake package may include documents such as

• Intake questionnaire

• Informed consent

• Practice policies

• Financial agreement

• Cancellation policy

• Telehealth consent

• Privacy documents

• Credit card information forms

The exact paperwork you need depends on your practice, license, location, services, and professional requirements.

Do not assume that because a template exists inside an EHR, it automatically meets every rule that applies to you.

Review your documents before sending them.

Read them as though you were the client.

Make sure your actual fee is there. Make sure the cancellation policy matches what you currently enforce. Make sure an old address or outdated policy didn’t sneak into something you copied years ago.

Set up your note templates.

Next, review the documentation you’ll use after sessions.

SimplePractice supports documentation such as progress notes, diagnosis and treatment plans, and other clinical documents through its current getting started resources.

Choose the templates that make sense for how you document.

You do not need seven note templates because seven exist.

You need the ones you’ll actually use.

Clarity beats a giant template library you never touch.

Step 5: Set Up Appointment Reminders

Appointment reminders are another setting that looks small until a client says, “I never got the reminder.”

SimplePractice can send appointment reminders by email, text, or voice depending on the settings and plan being used. Its current appointment reminder guide lists reminder timing options of 24, 36, 48, or 72 hours before the appointment.

There are two places to pay attention.

First, set reminders at the practice level.

Then check the individual client settings.

SimplePractice states that turning reminders on for the practice does not automatically mean every client receives them. They also need to be enabled for that client.

If you work with clients in different time zones, add the correct time zone to the client profile. SimplePractice uses the client’s assigned time zone for reminder timing. If one is not assigned, it falls back to the practice time zone.

Tiny setting.

Very big difference when your client lives three hours away.

Step 6: Set Up Billing and Online Payments

Billing is where I really don’t want you guessing.

Before seeing your first client, decide how money will move through your practice.

Add your rates and payment information.

SimplePractice allows you to create an online payments account by verifying contact information and supplying business, banking, personal, and identity information.

You can also record payments made outside its integrated payment system, including cash, check, or an external card payment.

Then confirm the rates attached to each service.

Do not wait until after the first appointment to find out your default session rate was entered incorrectly.

Understand your billing documents.

An invoice, statement, receipt, and superbill do different jobs.

An invoice tells the client what they owe.

A statement shows account activity across a period of time.

A superbill contains information a client may use when seeking out-of-network reimbursement.

SimplePractice’s billing document guide explains the information included in each document.

Set up superbills if needed.

If you run a cash pay practice and clients may submit claims to their insurance company for possible out-of-network reimbursement, review your superbill settings before you need the first one.

SimplePractice superbills can include provider information, CPT codes, diagnosis codes, dates of service, charges, payments, and insurance information.

A diagnosis must be entered before SimplePractice can create a superbill that includes the required diagnosis information.

And remember that giving someone a superbill does not promise reimbursement.

The client’s benefits and insurance company determine what may be reimbursed.

Step 7: Add Insurance Settings If You Bill Insurance

If your practice is fully cash pay, you may not need this section.

If you bill insurance, give yourself extra time before submitting your first claim.

SimplePractice’s insurance billing guide covers credentialing, billing information, client insurance profiles, payer enrollments, claims, and recording insurance payments.

One basic setting is the client billing type.

A client can be marked as self-pay or insurance, which affects how balances are calculated in the account.

If you plan to bill an insurance payer as an in-network provider, SimplePractice notes that credentialing with that payer comes before filing claims.

Give this part-time.

Insurance setup is not where you want your “I’ll figure it out later” energy showing up.

Step 8: Prepare SimplePractice Telehealth

If you see clients virtually, test your telehealth setup before the first paid session.

Not five minutes before.

Before.

SimplePractice recommends checking your computer or device, browser, camera, microphone, speakers, internet connection, and physical environment before offering video sessions. Its current telehealth preparation guide recommends a minimum internet speed of 10 Mbps for good call quality.

SimplePractice also recommends holding a practice telehealth appointment before your first real one.

Do it.

Send a practice link to someone you know. Test the sound. Test the camera. See what happens when they click the link.

SimplePractice creates a unique link for each telehealth appointment. Clients can receive that link through appointment reminders or access the session through their Client Portal. 

That link is not meant to become one permanent meeting room that clients bookmark forever.

Switching From Another EHR to SimplePractice

If you already have a private practice, your SimplePractice setup will look a little different.

You’re not building from zero.

You’re moving a living practice.

And that means I would not cancel your old system on Monday and hope everything magically lives in the new one by Tuesday.

SimplePractice has a process for moving client data from other EHR systems, but not every part of a client record is handled through the same transfer process.

Its current client transfer FAQ states that the transfer handled by the SimplePractice team does not include clinical documentation or billing records.

The same guide provides export instructions or directions for several common EHR systems.

Before switching, make a written list of what has to move.

Think about client information, appointments, clinical notes, intake documents, billing history, insurance information, secure messages, and payment methods.

Then confirm which pieces SimplePractice can bring over and which ones you’ll need to handle separately.

Do not assume.

That is the fastest path to discovering something important after the old account is already closed.

Test Everything Before Your First Real Client

Once you think your SimplePractice setup is finished, don’t immediately throw a real client into it.

Practice first.

SimplePractice includes a demo client named Jamie D. Appleseed for testing common workflows.

Use that account to walk through what a normal client experience will look like.

Send intake documents.

Preview the Client Portal.

Schedule an appointment.

Create a progress note.

Test telehealth if you use it.

Check how the appointment appears on your calendar.

Then look at billing.

You’re trying to catch the awkward stuff before your clients do.

Maybe the reminder message sounds weird.

Maybe the intake package has an extra form.

Maybe the rate is wrong.

Maybe your calendar is displaying availability you never meant to offer.

Fixing those things with Jamie D. Appleseed is a lot more relaxing than discovering them while onboarding your first $200 session.

Simple Practice Setup Checklist

Before you consider your account ready, check that your practice information is correct, two-step verification is active, your services and rates are entered, availability reflects your schedule, the Client Portal has been reviewed, intake documents are ready, note templates make sense, reminders work, billing settings are correct, insurance information is ready if you use it, telehealth has been tested, and you’ve completed at least one demo workflow.

You do not need to make every SimplePractice setting perfect before opening your practice.

You need the settings your clients depend on to be correct.

You can adjust the rest as your practice grows. 

Your EHR Is One Step in Building the Practice

SimplePractice can hold a lot of the day-to-day pieces of your practice, but opening the EHR is not the same thing as opening the business.

You still have fees to decide.

Paperwork to review.

Business systems to put in place.

A first client call to prepare for.

And probably at least seventeen browser tabs you would love to close.

Ready for the rest of the steps?

If SimplePractice is getting checked off your list but you’re still wondering what comes next, the Private Practice Roadmap walks you through the business foundation, finances, paperwork, EHR setup, and first client steps in order.

And if you’re not sure which Private Practice Pro resource fits where you are right now, contact our team here and tell us what you’re working on.

You don’t have to figure the whole practice out today.

You only need the next step.

Frequently Asked Questions About SimplePractice Setup

What should I set up first in SimplePractice?

Start with your practice details, clinician information, two-step verification, and at least one service. Those are the first account items in SimplePractice’s current official onboarding sequence. After that, move into forms, the Client Portal, scheduling, billing, and the settings clients will interact with.

Do I need to set up the Client Portal before adding clients?

You can create client profiles before inviting them to the Client Portal. But I would review the portal first so you know exactly what clients will see. SimplePractice recommends setting the portal domain before sharing it because changing the domain later also changes the client access link.

Can I use SimplePractice for a cash-pay therapy practice?

Yes. SimplePractice supports self-pay billing, client invoices, online payments, and superbills. Its billing guide explains how clients can be marked as self-pay or insurance, while superbills can be created for clients who want documentation for possible out-of-network reimbursement.

Can I transfer existing clients into SimplePractice?

SimplePractice offers ways to transfer client information from another EHR, but the exact process depends on the system you’re leaving and the type of data being moved. Its transfer FAQ states that clinical documentation and billing records are not part of the team-assisted client data transfer, so review what needs to be moved before closing your former account.

How do I know my SimplePractice account is ready for clients?

Run a complete test with SimplePractice’s built-in demo client. The current demo workflow guide lets you practice sending intake documents, previewing the Client Portal, scheduling, creating a progress note, and checking other common workflows. If that process works from beginning to end, you’re much less likely to discover a missing setting with your first real client.