Break-even Calculator

This break-even calculator tells you how many units you need to sell, and how much money that brings in, before your sales cover all of your costs. Type your fixed costs, your selling price and the variable cost of each unit, and the answer appears as you type, with the working shown underneath. Fixed costs can be one total, or listed one by one (rent, wages, software) so you can see what goes into the number.

It goes further than the single answer. Add your expected sales to see your margin of safety (how far sales could fall before you make a loss) and the profit at that volume. Add a profit goal to see how many units it takes. A chart draws your sales and costs at every volume, shades the loss and profit zones and marks the break-even point. The What if it changes? table shows break-even and profit when your price, variable cost or fixed costs move up or down by 10% and 20%.

If you sell more than one product, the Several products tab works out break-even for your whole sales mix, using a weighted average contribution, and splits it per product. Everything is calculated in your browser.

1. Pick your currency and whether your figures are per week, month, quarter or year.
2. Type your fixed costs, or press List them one by one to add each cost separately.
3. In One product, type the selling price and variable cost per unit. Break-even appears straight away.
4. Optionally add your expected sales and the profit you want, then read the chart and the What if it changes? table.
5. Selling several things? Open Several products, type each product’s price, variable cost and mix, and press Copy table or Download CSV.

• Break-even in units (rounded up to whole sales) and in money, with the sum written out.
• Contribution per unit and contribution margin ratio.
• Margin of safety in units, money and as a percentage of expected sales, plus profit or loss at that volume.
• Units and sales needed to reach a profit goal you choose.
• An accessible chart of sales, total costs and fixed costs, with loss and profit shading, a marked break-even point and a readout you can move with the arrow keys.
• A what-if table for price, variable cost or fixed costs at −20%, −10%, +10% and +20%.
• Sales mix mode for up to 12 products, by percentage share or by expected units, with a per-product split and CSV download.
• Itemised fixed costs, any of 30 currencies, and weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly figures.

• Be honest about variable costs. Card fees, packaging, delivery and marketplace commission are all per sale, and leaving them out makes break-even look easier than it is.
• Owner’s pay belongs in fixed costs if you need it to live. Otherwise break-even only means the business pays for itself, not for you.
• Price is usually the strongest lever. Check the What if table: a 10% price rise often cuts break-even far more than a 10% cut in fixed costs.
• A margin of safety under about 10–20% means a slow month could tip you into a loss, so plan a cash cushion.
• In sales mix mode, switch the mix column to units I expect to sell to see profit and margin of safety for your real forecast.