Break-even calculator — units and sales you need to cover your costs

How to use the break-even calculator

1. Enter Fixed costs for the period — a month, a quarter or a year.
2. Enter the Selling price per unit and the Variable cost per unit.
3. Optionally enter a Target profit for the same period.
4. Pick a Currency. Results update as you type.
5. Read the break-even units and revenue, then check the Profit at different volumes table, which you can download as CSV.

What it does and when to use it

The break-even point is the sales level where income exactly covers costs — no profit, no loss. It answers questions like: is this price high enough, and how many tickets must this event sell?

Run it before setting a price, when costs change, or when testing a new product. Try a few prices: a small rise in price often cuts the break-even volume a lot, because all of the rise goes to the contribution margin.

To set the price itself, the profit margin calculator converts between cost, price, margin and markup. For one-off spending such as a marketing campaign, the ROI calculator fits better, and sellers on marketplaces can get their real variable cost per sale from the Etsy fee calculator.

How it works

• Contribution margin per unit = price − variable cost
• Contribution margin ratio = contribution margin ÷ price × 100
• Break-even units = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin, rounded up to a whole unit
• Break-even revenue = exact break-even units × price
• Units for a target profit = (fixed costs + target profit) ÷ contribution margin, rounded up

The table lists nine volumes from 0 up to about 1.6 times the larger unit figure, with revenue, total cost (fixed + units × variable) and profit at each.

Worked examples

Default figures. Fixed costs $50,000, price $25, variable cost $15. Contribution margin $10 (40%), so Break-even units: 5,000 and break-even revenue $125,000.00. The table shows a profit of $0.00 at 5,000 units and $10,000.00 at 6,000.

Adding a target. Same figures with a $20,000 target profit: ($50,000 + $20,000) ÷ $10 = Units for $20,000.00 profit: 7,000.

A small workshop in pounds. Fixed costs £12,000, price £40, variable cost £22, target £6,000. Contribution margin £18 (45%). 12,000 ÷ 18 = 666.67, so break-even is 667 units and Break-even revenue: £26,666.67. The target needs 18,000 ÷ 18 = 1,000 units.

Limits and tips

• It assumes one product, or one average unit (an hour or a session works for services). With several products, use a weighted average price and variable cost.
• Fixed costs are assumed flat. If you would need extra staff or space above some volume, run the calculator again for that range.
• The result is a planning estimate, not accounting or tax advice.