Break-Even Calculator
Enter your fixed costs for a period, your selling price per unit and your variable cost per unit to see how many units you need to sell, and how much revenue that is, to cover your costs.
Costs and price
Amounts are in dollars and cents. Use the same period, such as a month, for fixed costs and for the units you sell.
Costs that stay the same however much you sell in the period, such as rent or software.
What you charge for one unit, before any sales tax.
What each unit sold costs you, such as materials or payment processing fees.
Units to sell to break even
783 units
The exact break-even point is 782.61 units (to 2 decimal places). You can't sell part of a unit, so this is rounded up to the next whole unit.
Break-even revenue
$35,217.39
At 783 units, revenue is $35,235.00, which covers your costs with $9.00 to spare.
Working
- Contribution margin per unit (price − variable cost)
- $23.00
- Contribution margin ratio (margin ÷ price)
- 51.1%
- Break-even units (fixed costs ÷ margin per unit)
- 782.61
How break-even is worked out
Contribution margin per unit = selling price − variable cost per unit.
Contribution margin ratio = contribution margin per unit ÷ selling price.
Break-even units = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin per unit, rounded up to a whole unit.
Break-even revenue = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin ratio.
These are the break-even formulas in section 3.2 of OpenStax Principles of Accounting, Volume 2: Managerial Accounting (opened October 29, 2026). Rounding units up to a whole number is this calculator's own step.
In the example, fixed costs are 18,000.00 for the period, the price is 45.00 and the variable cost is 22.00, so each unit contributes 23.00 and the ratio is 51.1%. 18,000.00 ÷ 23.00 = 782.61 units, to 2 decimal places. You can't sell part of a unit, so you need 783: 783 × 23.00 = 18,009.00, which covers the fixed costs with 9.00 to spare. Break-even revenue is 18,000.00 ÷ (23.00 ÷ 45.00) = 35,217.39, rounded to the cent; revenue at 783 units is 35,235.00.
Amounts are in dollars and cents, and units are counted in the same period as your fixed costs. The calculator assumes the price and variable cost per unit stay the same at every volume and the fixed costs stay the same within the period. If you sell several products or services, an average price and variable cost give an estimate that is only as accurate as those averages.
Break-even counts sales, not cash: an invoice your client hasn't paid yet counts here but isn't in the bank. For cash timing, see how to manage cash flow. To check your pricing, try the profit margin calculator or the cost per unit calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
See revenue and costs together
In Billed you can record each expense with its category and receipt, and the income vs expense report sets your income against your expenses for the date range you choose.
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