Business Break-Even Calculator
Estimate how many units cover fixed costs, how many achieve your target profit, and how price or variable-cost changes affect the result.
Break-even sensitivity
Cells show whole units needed to cover the same fixed costs. Rows change selling price; columns change variable cost per unit. Both are rounded to cents before recalculating. A dash means no finite break-even volume. These changes do not predict how demand responds.
| Price change / variable cost change | -20% | -10% | 0% | +10% | +20% |
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How the calculation works
Contribution per unit = selling price - variable cost per unit. Contribution ratio = contribution / selling price. Break-even units = fixed costs / positive contribution, rounded up to a whole unit. Target-profit units = (fixed costs + target profit) / positive contribution, rounded up.
Theoretical break-even revenue = fixed costs / contribution ratio. Revenue at whole-unit break-even uses the rounded unit count × selling price, so it can be higher than theoretical revenue. Target-profit revenue uses rounded target units. Prices and costs use exact cent arithmetic.
For example, $1,000 fixed costs, $60 variable cost and $100 selling price give $40 contribution per unit, 40% contribution ratio and 25 break-even units ($2,500 revenue). A $500 profit target requires 38 units and produces $520 profit.
With positive fixed costs, a zero or negative contribution cannot reach break-even through more sales. With no fixed costs, zero units break even; positive profit still requires positive contribution. A ratio at zero selling price is undefined.
This is a single-product or constant-product-mix model with constant price, unit variable costs and fixed costs. It excludes capacity limits, demand changes, step costs and unentered expenses. Target profit is before income tax unless you have explicitly included it in your cost assumptions.