Break-Even Calculator
The most important number in a small business: how much you must sell before you make a cent. Enter fixed costs, price and variable cost per unit.
Your results
Worked example
A product with $4,000 monthly fixed costs, $50 price, $30 variable cost
Margin: 50 - 30 = $20 per unit. Break-even: 4,000 ÷ 20 = 200 units, which is 200 × $50 = $10,000 of monthly revenue. For $2,000 profit: (4,000 + 2,000) ÷ 20 = 300 units.
How this calculator works
contribution margin = price - variable cost per unit. break-even units = fixed costs ÷ margin, rounded up with epsilon-safe ceiling, because selling a fraction of a unit short of break-even still loses money. target-profit units = (fixed costs + target profit) ÷ margin.
If the margin is zero or negative, there is no break-even at any volume: every sale loses money or adds nothing toward fixed costs, and the calculator says so instead of printing a meaningless number. Per-sale platform fees belong in variable cost; the Etsy fee calculator on this site can supply that figure for marketplace sellers.
Common questions
What counts as a fixed cost?
Costs that continue whether you sell one unit or one thousand: rent, insurance, software subscriptions, base salaries, loan payments. If a cost grows with each sale (materials, packaging, transaction fees, shipping), it is variable and belongs in the per-unit figure.
My business sells services, not units. Does this still work?
Yes: treat a billable hour, a job or a contract as the unit. Price is your rate or average job value; variable cost is the direct cost of delivering one (subcontractors, materials, travel, per-job fees).
Why does it round the units up?
Because 199.2 units does not exist. At 199 units you are still short of covering fixed costs; unit 200 is the first profitable one. Rounding up is the honest direction for a break-even.
More seller tools
Selling on Etsy? Work out the fees on each sale with the Etsy Fee Calculator. Shipping parcels? Check billable weight first with the Dimensional Weight Calculator.
Estimates only, using the costs and prices you enter. Taxes, seasonality and financing costs are outside this simple model. Not financial or business advice.