Free tool
Break-Even Calculator
The revenue line where the lights stay on.
Break-even tells you the minimum you must sell before anything you do is profitable. Every founder should be able to say theirs from memory.
Last reviewed:
Your result
9 per month
Sales needed each month to break even
That is £6,750 of revenue.
- Contribution per sale
- £500
- Contribution margin
- 66.7%
- Break-even revenue
- £6,750
- Current monthly profit or loss
- -£1,500
- Sales above or below break-even
- -3
You are below break-even. Raising price or reducing direct cost moves the line faster than chasing volume.
Recalculate whenever you add a fixed cost — a hire, an office or a subscription bundle all raise the line permanently.
Read break-even as a modelled volume
The calculator divides fixed costs by contribution per unit. It assumes the selected price, variable cost and fixed-cost period are compatible, and it does not model capacity, tax, financing, refunds, changing product mix or collection delays.
Treat the output as the volume required under the stated assumptions. Test a lower-price, higher-cost and lower-volume case, then compare the cash timing with the rolling forecast before committing to extra stock, staff or borrowing.
- A zero or negative contribution means the normal break-even result is not meaningful.
- Use a unit that the business can actually measure and reconcile to its records.
- A break-even output is not a demand forecast or a recommendation to increase sales at any price.
Assumptions this tool makes
- Fixed costs stay the same regardless of sales volume within the range modelled.
- Contribution margin is assumed constant across all sales.
- Owner pay is treated as a fixed cost, because it is.
The formulas used
- contribution_per_unit = price - variable_cost
- break_even_units = fixed_costs / contribution_per_unit
- break_even_revenue = break_even_units x price
Estimates only. This is a planning aid, not regulated financial advice, tax advice or a personal recommendation. Figures are rounded deliberately to avoid false precision. Your answers stay in your browser: nothing you type here is sent to us, to a partner or to an advertising platform. Read the full disclaimer.