Break-Even Point Calculator

Calculate break-even units, revenue requirements, and project sales volumes for target profits.

Basic Inputs

Itemize Cost Rows

Fixed Costs

Price per Unit

Variable Cost / Unit

Target Monthly Profit

Break-even units

500

Break-even revenue

$25,000

Contribution margin

$20 (40%)

Sales Target for $5,000 Profit

Units Required

750

Revenue Required

$37,500

Intersection Chart

Revenue Total Cost Fixed Cost

Finding your break-even point

The break-even point is where total revenue exactly covers total costs — no profit, no loss. Each unit sold contributes its contribution margin (price minus variable cost) toward your fixed costs, so break-even units = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin.

To achieve a specific target profit, fixed costs must be added to that target before dividing by the margin:(Fixed Costs + Target Profit) ÷ Contribution Margin. By itemizing your costs and mapping revenues relative to variables on an intersection chart, pricing structures can be easily optimized client-side.

Built and maintained by Meet Shah · Last updated 1 August 2026

What this tool is used for

Finding the unit volume that covers fixed and variable costs.
Working out the revenue needed to break even.
Seeing how a price change moves the break-even point.
Comparing two cost structures on the same product.
Producing a volume figure a plan must reach before it earns anything at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is contribution margin the number that matters, not profit per unit?: Because fixed costs do not change with volume, so every unit's price minus its VARIABLE cost is what is left to chip away at them. Break-even units = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin. Dividing by a 'profit per unit' that already had fixed costs spread into it double-counts them and gives a number that is too low.
What happens if variable cost is above the price?: The calculator refuses to produce a break-even point, and that refusal is the answer: with a negative margin, every additional sale increases the loss. No volume fixes it — the fix is the price or the unit economics. A negative unit count would look like a number when it is a contradiction.
How does the target-profit figure change the formula?: The target is added to fixed costs before dividing: (fixed + target) ÷ margin. Treating a profit goal as just another fixed obligation is exactly right arithmetically. With £10,000 fixed, £50 price and £30 variable, break-even is 500 units and a £5,000 profit target needs 750.
What does the margin percentage tell me that the margin does not?: How much price headroom you have. Margin ÷ price shows the share of each sale that survives variable costs — 40% in the example above. Two products with the same £20 margin behave very differently if one sells at £50 and the other at £500, because a discount of the same percentage does far more damage to the thin one.
Why itemise costs instead of entering two totals?: Because the classification is where break-even models usually go wrong. Itemising forces a decision on each line — rent and salaries do not move with volume, materials and shipping do — and a cost filed on the wrong side shifts the break-even point in the wrong direction. The totals feed the same formula either way.

Common errors and gotchas

Misclassifying a cost as fixed when it scales with volume, which moves the answer a long way.
Forgetting that break-even is a point in time, not a state, and costs change.
Ignoring capacity, so the break-even volume exceeds what you can produce.
Using an average price when the actual mix has several prices.
Treating break-even as a target rather than a floor.