Break-even calculator
Enter your monthly fixed costs, your price per unit and your variable cost per unit to see how many units you need to sell before you make a cent of profit, and what that is in revenue. It also shows the contribution each sale makes, which is the number that actually drives the answer.
Rent, salaries, software — costs that do not move with volume
Break-even volume is rounded up, because you cannot sell part of a unit and still cover the fixed cost.
Contribution is the number that matters
Break-even is fixed costs divided by the contribution per unit, where contribution is price minus variable cost. Contribution is what each sale leaves behind to pay the rent.
If contribution is zero or negative, there is no break-even point at any volume: every extra sale makes the loss bigger. Selling more will not fix it, and this is the single most useful thing a break-even calculation tells a struggling business.
Getting fixed and variable right
Fixed costs are the ones that do not move with volume: rent, permanent salaries, software subscriptions, insurance. Variable costs move with each unit: materials, packaging, delivery, transaction fees, sales commission.
The commonest error is treating staff cost as entirely fixed when part of it is overtime driven by volume. Split it, or your break-even point will look better than it is.
Questions
How do I calculate the break-even point?
Divide total fixed costs by the contribution per unit, where contribution is the selling price minus the variable cost per unit. The result is the number of units you must sell to cover fixed costs.
What is contribution margin?
Contribution margin is the contribution per unit expressed as a percentage of the selling price. It tells you what proportion of each sale is available to cover fixed costs and profit.
What if my contribution is negative?
Then you never break even. Each sale increases the loss. You must raise the price or reduce the variable cost per unit.
A calculator answers one question once. Digital 9 Labs builds the system that answers it continuously — your real numbers, updated as the work happens, without anyone reopening a spreadsheet.