Break-Even Calculator

Calculate the break-even point in units and revenue with fixed costs, variable costs, and pricing analysis.

How to Use Break-Even Calculator

1

Enter fixed costs

Input your total fixed costs like rent, salaries, and subscriptions.
2

Set variable costs

Enter the cost per unit for materials, shipping, and labor.
3

Enter selling price

Type the price per unit to calculate the break-even point.
4

View the results

See the number of units and revenue needed to break even.

Tested tool guide Tested browser tools Checked August 16, 2026

What Break-Even Calculator does, with a checked example

Break-even analysis identifies where sales revenue equals total costs, leaving neither profit nor loss. Enter fixed costs, variable cost per unit, and selling price per unit to calculate the required unit volume and corresponding revenue. The calculation depends on contribution margin, which is the selling price minus variable cost for each unit. A frequent mistake is entering total variable costs instead of a per-unit amount, which can make the result meaningless.

Worked example

A concrete input and expected output from the current implementation.

Input

Fixed costs: $1,200
Variable cost per unit: $8
Selling price per unit: $20

Expected output

Contribution margin per unit: $12
Break-even point: 100 units
Break-even revenue: $2,000

Each unit contributes $20 - $8 = $12 toward fixed costs. Dividing $1,200 by $12 gives 100 units, whose $2,000 revenue equals $1,200 of fixed costs plus $800 of variable costs.

How the result is produced

Unit break-even point

The calculator subtracts variable cost per unit from selling price per unit. The difference is contribution margin per unit, or the amount from each sale available to cover fixed costs. Fixed costs divided by that margin gives the unit volume where total contribution equals fixed costs.

Break-even revenue

Break-even revenue is the calculated unit break-even point multiplied by selling price per unit. When the mathematical result includes a fraction of a unit, the exact revenue figure describes the theoretical crossing point. A business that can sell only whole units generally needs to round unit volume upward to cover all costs.

Good uses

Estimating how many products a new shop must sell each month before earning an operating profit.
Comparing proposed selling prices to see how each price changes the required sales volume.
Testing whether a higher per-unit supplier cost makes an existing sales target insufficient.

Limits and checks

The result assumes selling price and variable cost per unit remain constant across the relevant sales volume.
It does not establish whether the required number of units can actually be produced or sold.
A zero or negative contribution margin means additional sales cannot recover fixed costs under the entered assumptions.

Common questions

Should wages be entered as fixed or variable costs?

It depends on how the wages behave. Salaries that remain unchanged as output varies normally belong in fixed costs. Piece-rate labor or hourly labor incurred specifically for each additional unit may belong in variable cost per unit. If staffing changes in steps, a single break-even calculation may not represent every production level accurately.

Does reaching break-even mean the business has enough cash?

No. Break-even describes the relationship between revenue and the costs included in the calculation. It does not by itself model payment timing, loan principal, inventory purchases, taxes, or working-capital needs. A business can break even on this basis while still experiencing a cash shortage.

References and verification

The example and behavioral notes were checked against the browser implementation. Standards and primary references below define the relevant format, formula, or platform behavior.