Break-Even Point Calculator

Find out exactly how many units you need to sell — and how much revenue you need — before your business starts turning a profit.

Currency Symbol

Total Fixed Costs (per month)

Selling Price per Unit

Variable Cost per Unit

Break-Even Point

0 units

Break-Even Revenue

$0.00

Contribution Margin / Unit

$0.00

Contribution Margin %

0.00%

How Break-Even Analysis Works

Break-Even Point (Units)

The number of units you must sell so total revenue equals total costs — the point where you neither profit nor lose money.

Break-Even Units = Fixed Costs / (Price − Variable Cost)

Contribution Margin

How much of each sale is left over to cover fixed costs, after variable costs are paid.

Contribution Margin = Price − Variable Cost

How to use the Break-Even Point Calculator

Enter your total fixed costs per month: everything you pay whether you sell one unit or a thousand. Rent, salaries, insurance, software subscriptions, loan repayments, your own drawings if you take a fixed amount.

Enter the selling price per unit (net of sales tax) and the variable cost per unit: what each extra sale costs you in materials, packaging, shipping you absorb, transaction fees and commission.

Read the four results: break-even units, break-even revenue, contribution margin per unit and contribution margin as a percentage of price. Change one input and watch the units move; that sensitivity is the useful part.

The formula

Each unit sold contributes its price minus its variable cost towards the fixed costs; that difference is the contribution margin. Break-even units = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin per unit. Break-even revenue = break-even units × price. Contribution margin % = contribution margin ÷ price. The calculator uses these directly and shows units unrounded; in practice you cannot sell 0.4 of a unit, so round up.

Worked example

A small roastery pays $4,000 a month in fixed costs, sells a bag of coffee for $25 and spends $15 per bag on beans, packaging and postage. Contribution margin is $10 per bag (40%), so break-even is 4,000 ÷ 10 = 400 bags, or $10,000 of revenue, every month before a single dollar of profit. If beans go up and the variable cost becomes $17, the margin drops to $8 and break-even jumps to 500 bags: a $2 change per unit moved the target by a quarter. Raising the price to $27 instead brings it back down to 400. That is the kind of trade-off the calculator is for.

Common mistakes

Mixing periods. Fixed costs must be monthly if you want a monthly break-even. Annual rent divided by twelve, not the annual figure.

Forgetting yourself. If you need $3,000 a month to live, that is a fixed cost of the business, even if you never write yourself a payslip. Leaving it out produces a break-even that "works" while you go unpaid.

Calling a variable cost fixed. A cost that grows with every sale (card fees, marketplace commission, delivery) belongs in the per-unit field. Putting it in fixed costs understates the break-even as volume rises.

Price including sales tax. VAT or sales tax collected is not yours; use the net price.

A price at or below variable cost. The contribution margin is zero or negative and break-even does not exist; the calculator shows that, and no volume will fix it.

When this calculator is the wrong tool

It assumes one product, or one average product, at one price. A business selling several products with different margins needs a weighted average contribution margin, which this page does not compute. It also assumes costs stay linear: if you would need a second oven or a second employee at 600 units, that step is not modelled. For setting the price of a single item from its cost, use the Profit Margin & Markup Calculator; for the return on a one-off investment rather than an ongoing operation, the ROI Calculator.

Good to know

Everything is computed in your browser and nothing is stored or sent. The currency symbol is a label only. If you want a number to plan around, add a safety margin to the result: break-even is the floor, not the target.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I calculate my break-even point for free?

Enter your fixed costs, price per unit, and variable cost per unit into the Break-Even Point Calculator — it instantly shows how many units you need to sell before you start making a profit, no signup required.

What is the break-even point formula?

Break-even units = Fixed Costs ÷ (Price per Unit − Variable Cost per Unit). The calculator does this math for you and also shows the break-even revenue.

What's the difference between break-even point and contribution margin?

Contribution margin is the amount each unit sold contributes toward covering fixed costs (price minus variable cost); break-even point is how many of those units you need before fixed costs are fully covered.