Break-Even Calculator
Calculate how many units you need to sell to cover your costs.
Business inputs
Enter costs, pricing, and expected sales to estimate break-even performance.
Currency
Costs that usually stay the same regardless of sales volume.
Revenue earned from each unit sold.
Cost that changes with each unit sold.
Optional profit goal above break-even.
Used to estimate profit and margin of safety.
Break-even units
334 units
Units needed to cover total fixed costs.
Break-even revenue
£16,700.00
Sales revenue needed to reach zero profit.
Contribution margin
£30.00
Selling price minus variable cost per unit.
Margin ratio
60.0%
Contribution margin as a percentage of price.
Units for target profit
500 units
Units needed to reach £5,000.00 target profit.
Revenue for target profit
£25,000.00
Sales revenue needed for the target profit.
Expected profit
£5,000.00
Based on 500 expected units sold.
Margin of safety
33.2%
166 units above break-even.
Support
Business support layer
Formula based
Uses standard break-even formulas based on fixed costs, selling price, and variable cost.
Estimate only
Results are planning estimates and do not include taxes, financing costs, refunds, discounts, or demand limits.
Decision focused
Use break-even analysis to test pricing, cost structure, sales targets, and profit goals.
Interpretation
What these break-even results mean
Break-even sales volume
You need to sell about 334 units to cover £10,000.00 in fixed costs.
Revenue target
Your break-even revenue is approximately £16,700.00 based on the current price and cost inputs.
Profit after break-even
After break-even, each additional unit contributes about £30.00 toward profit before other costs.
Expected sales status
At 500 expected units, the scenario is currently marked as profitable.
Break-even basics
How break-even analysis works
Fixed costs
Fixed costs are expenses that usually do not change with sales volume, such as rent, salaries, software, and insurance.
Variable costs
Variable costs rise with each unit sold, such as materials, packaging, shipping, and transaction fees.
Selling price
Selling price is the revenue earned per unit before subtracting variable cost.
Break-even point
Break-even happens when total revenue equals total costs, meaning profit is zero.
Cost structure
Fixed costs vs variable costs
Fixed costs
£10,000.00
Fixed costs must be covered regardless of sales volume. Lower fixed costs reduce the number of units needed to break even.
Variable cost per unit
£20.00
Variable cost reduces the contribution margin from each sale. Lower variable costs improve profitability per unit.
Pricing
Contribution margin and pricing power
Contribution margin
Contribution margin is the amount each sale contributes after variable cost is paid.
Margin ratio
Margin ratio shows the percentage of each sale available to cover fixed costs and profit.
Break-even risk
A low margin means you need more sales to cover fixed costs, which can increase business risk.
Use cases
Common break-even analysis use cases
Launching a product
Estimate how many units must sell before a new product covers its costs.
Testing pricing
Compare how different prices affect contribution margin and break-even volume.
Planning a service business
Estimate client volume needed to cover salaries, software, rent, and overhead.
Retail inventory
Estimate sales targets for stock, packaging, shipping, and store costs.
Startup planning
Understand how much revenue is needed before the business becomes self-sustaining.
Profit target planning
Estimate units and revenue needed above break-even to reach a profit goal.
Formula
Break-even formula explanation
Contribution margin
Contribution Margin = Selling Price − Variable CostContribution margin shows how much each sale contributes toward fixed costs and profit.
Break-even units
Break-Even Units = Fixed Costs ÷ Contribution MarginThis is the number of units needed for revenue to equal total costs.
Break-even revenue
Break-Even Revenue = Break-Even Units × Selling PriceThis is the sales revenue needed to reach zero profit.
FAQ
Break-even calculator questions
The break-even point is the sales level where revenue equals total costs. At that point, the business has no profit and no loss.
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