Break-even calculator
Fixed costs divided by what one sale contributes: the number of units, and the revenue, at which the month stops costing you money. The single most useful number a small business can know by heart.
Break-even revenue
€72,595 / month
- Contribution per unit
- €37.00
- Contribution margin
- 46.8%
- Break-even units per month
- 919
- Break-even per working day
- 44
- Profit at 20% above break-even
- €6,800
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The number
Break-even is a contribution question
Only the gap between price and variable cost pays for your fixed costs. Cutting the price by 10% on a 47% contribution margin does not cost you 10% — it costs you a fifth of the contribution, and pushes break-even up by a quarter.
Break-even units = fixed costs ÷ (price − variable cost per unit)
Getting it right
- Use one month of fixed costs and one month of sales — mixing horizons is the usual error.
- For a service business, replace “unit” with a billable day or a project of average size.
- Your own salary belongs in fixed costs, or the break-even is one you cannot live on.
Templates that go further
Monitor margin
One calculation is a snapshot. Foreqast keeps the margin live as purchase prices, fees and shipping costs move under it.
Questions
Break-even calculator — What people ask about it
What counts as a fixed cost?
Anything you would still pay next month if you sold nothing: rent, salaries, software, insurance, accountancy. Ad spend is a judgement call — it is fixed if you would keep spending it, variable if you would switch it off.
My products all have different margins — what do I enter?
Use a weighted average price and variable cost across your actual sales mix. If the mix moves a lot, the break-even moves with it, which is a reason to run the contribution margin template per product instead.
One number is an average. Your cash moves day by day.
Connect your accounting data and Foreqast keeps this calculation live — with every committed cost on the date it actually lands.