BizFormula

Pricing & Profit

Break-Even Calculator

Estimate how many units you need to sell—and how much revenue you need—to cover fixed costs.

Enter your values

Costs that do not change with the number of units sold.

$

The revenue received from selling one unit.

$

The cost that changes for each unit sold.

$

Results

Break-even units

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Enter your costs and selling price to calculate the actionable unit target.

Break-even revenue

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Revenue calculated from the raw break-even volume.

Contribution per unit

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Selling price less variable cost per unit.

Results are estimates based on the values entered and are provided for general planning.

Method

How to calculate break-even

This calculator uses the unit contribution-margin formula. Selling price minus variable cost gives the amount each unit contributes toward fixed costs. Fixed costs divided by that contribution gives the exact break-even volume.

Formula

Contribution per unit = Selling price per unit − Variable cost per unit
Raw break-even units = Fixed costs ÷ Contribution per unit
Actionable break-even units = ceiling(Raw break-even units)
Break-even revenue = Raw break-even units × Selling price per unit
Read the complete break-even point formula guide →

Assumptions

  • This is the unit contribution-margin method.
  • Fixed costs, selling price, and variable cost stay constant over the period.
  • Each unit sold has the same price and variable cost.
  • Standard break-even revenue uses raw break-even units, not the rounded actionable quantity.

The exact unit calculation retains full numeric precision before the sellable-unit result is rounded up. Units display as whole units; revenue and contribution display as currency with two decimals.

How to interpret the result

The rounded unit result is the minimum whole-unit sales volume that covers the entered fixed costs. Selling one fewer unit may leave some fixed costs unrecovered when the exact result is not a whole number.

Understanding contribution per unit

Contribution per unit is the selling price left after paying the variable cost of one unit. It is not the same as final profit: before break-even, contribution pays down fixed costs; after break-even, it contributes toward operating profit, assuming the inputs remain unchanged.

Break-even analysis is a planning model. If prices, discounts, product mix, or costs change with volume, calculate additional scenarios rather than treating one result as a forecast.

Frequently asked questions

It uses the unit contribution-margin formula: fixed costs divided by selling price per unit minus variable cost per unit.

When units cannot be sold in fractions, the exact result must be rounded up to the next whole unit to recover all entered fixed costs.

There is no positive break-even point because each sale contributes nothing or increases the loss. Price or variable cost must change first.

Fixed costs stay broadly unchanged as volume changes, such as rent for the period. Variable costs change with each unit, such as product materials or per-order fulfillment.

Keep calculating

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Use the profit margin calculator to verify contribution assumptions and the markup calculator to test alternative prices before comparing break-even scenarios.

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