Break-Even Calculator
This calculator works out how many sales you need to make before your business starts turning a profit, the point where your income exactly covers your costs with nothing left over and nothing lost. Running a business without knowing this number means flying blind, so it is one of the first sums any owner or would-be owner should do. You enter three figures: your fixed costs (rent, salaries, insurance and anything else you pay regardless of sales volume), the price you charge per unit, and the variable cost of making or supplying each unit. From these the calculator works out your contribution margin, the amount each sale leaves over after covering its own variable cost, and uses it to show the break-even point in units and in sales revenue, updating instantly as you adjust any figure. If your price is at or below your variable cost, it warns you that break-even is impossible until you raise the price or cut costs, since every sale would then lose money rather than contribute to it. Use it when setting prices, planning a new product, or checking whether a sales target actually clears your costs. Selling below break-even keeps you in the red regardless of volume, while every sale beyond it becomes profit. Treat the result as a guide, since real costs and prices can shift once you are trading.
How break-even is calculated
Each sale contributes its price minus its variable cost towards your fixed costs. That is the contribution margin. Divide the fixed costs by the contribution margin per unit and you get the number of units needed to cover everything. Multiply that by the price for the break-even sales figure.
Worked example
With $20,000 of fixed costs, a $50 price, and $30 variable cost, each sale contributes $20. You need 20,000 divided by 20, which is 1,000 units, to break even. That is $50,000 in sales. Every unit after that adds $20 of profit.
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