Enter fixed costs, price and variable cost to find how many units and how much revenue cover every cost, with a profit goal, margin of safety and a chart, all in your browser.
Break-Even Calculator
Enter fixed costs, price and variable cost to find how many units and how much revenue cover every cost, with a profit goal, margin of safety and a chart, all in your browser.
The Break-Even Calculator runs entirely in your browser. The costs, prices and volumes you enter stay on your device and are never uploaded.
The Break-Even Calculator answers a planning question: how much do I have to sell before I stop losing money? Enter your fixed costs, either as one number or as an itemised list such as rent and salaries, the selling price per unit and the variable cost per unit. It returns break-even units rounded up to whole units, the exact figure, break-even revenue, and the contribution margin per unit and as a share of price. Add a profit goal, before or after tax, expected sales and monthly volume to see the units needed for that goal, your margin of safety, operating leverage and months to break even. A chart shows revenue crossing total cost, a sensitivity table varies price and cost, and a second mode solves for the price or cost you need. Everything is calculated on your device.
Features
Break-even units rounded up to whole units, with the exact figure shown alongside
Break-even revenue plus contribution margin per unit and as a percentage of price
Itemised fixed and variable costs with a running total, or a single typed number
Target profit before or after tax, converted into the units and revenue you must reach
Margin of safety and degree of operating leverage from your expected sales
Months to break even from your monthly sales volume
Revenue, total cost and fixed cost chart with the break-even point and loss and profit areas
Sensitivity table for price and variable cost changes of 10 and 20 percent, plus solve-for-price and several-product modes
How to use the Break-Even Calculator
Enter your fixed costs, or switch to Itemised and list rent, salaries and other costs that do not change with sales
Enter the selling price per unit and the variable cost per unit
Read the break-even units and revenue, then open the optional box to add a profit goal, expected sales or monthly volume
Check the chart and the sensitivity table to see how fragile the break-even point is
Switch to Solve for price or Several products if you need a different question answered
Example
Input
Fixed costs: 10,000
Price per unit: 50
Variable cost per unit: 30
Target profit: 5,000 (before tax)
Expected sales: 800 units
Output
Contribution margin: 20 per unit (40% of price)
Break-even: 500 units, revenue 25,000
For a 5,000 profit: 750 units, revenue 37,500
Margin of safety: 300 units (37.5%)
Operating leverage at 800 units: 2.67
Each unit contributes 20 toward the 10,000 of fixed costs, so 500 units are needed.
Common errors & troubleshooting
The calculator says the business never breaks even. — The price is at or below the variable cost, so each sale loses money or earns nothing toward fixed costs. Raise the price, cut the variable cost, or check that you have not included fixed costs in the per-unit figure.
Break-even looks far too low. — Make sure salaries, rent, insurance and software are in the fixed costs, and that anything that rises with each sale, such as materials and card fees, is in the variable cost per unit rather than the fixed total.
An itemised row is flagged as not a number. — Type amounts with a dot for decimals and no letters, for example 1250.50. Thousands separators and currency symbols are ignored.
The break-even units are a decimal such as 666.67. — You cannot sell part of a unit, so the headline figure is rounded up to 667. The exact value is shown underneath for reference.
Frequently asked questions
How does the Break-Even Calculator work out the break-even point?
It subtracts the variable cost from the price to get the contribution margin per unit, then divides total fixed costs by that margin. With fixed costs of 10,000, a price of 50 and a variable cost of 30, each unit contributes 20, so 500 units break even.
Why does the Break-Even Calculator round break-even units up?
Selling 666.67 units is not possible, and 666 units would still leave you slightly below zero profit. Rounding up to the next whole unit guarantees you are at or above break-even, while the exact figure stays visible.
What is margin of safety in the Break-Even Calculator?
It is how far your expected sales are above break-even, shown in units, revenue and as a percentage of expected sales. A 37.5 percent margin of safety means sales can fall by that share before you make a loss.
How does the target profit option handle tax in the Break-Even Calculator?
If the goal is the profit you keep, the tool divides it by one minus the tax rate to find the pre-tax profit needed, then adds that to fixed costs. A goal of 3,000 after 25 percent tax needs 4,000 before tax.
Can the Break-Even Calculator handle several products at once?
Yes. Enter each product's price, variable cost and share of units sold. It averages the contribution margin using that mix, finds the total units needed, and splits them back into units and revenue per product.
What does solve for price do in the Break-Even Calculator?
It reverses the question: given fixed costs, variable cost, the units you expect to sell and an optional profit goal, it returns the price that makes the numbers work. A matching mode solves for the highest variable cost you can afford.
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