Calculator
Break Even Calculator: units and revenue to cover your costs
Find out how many units you must sell, and how much revenue you need, before your business covers its costs. Instant, private, free.
Runs 100% in your browser. No signup, no uploads.
Units to sell
0
Revenue to break even
£0.00
Contribution per unit
£0.00
Contribution margin
0%
What break even means
Break even is the point where revenue equals costs: no profit, no loss. Below it you lose money, above it you make it. The calculator returns the units you must sell and the revenue those units bring in.
The math: contribution per unit is the selling price minus the variable cost per unit. Divide your fixed costs by that contribution to get the units. If fixed costs are 10,000.00 and each sale contributes 25.00, you need 400 units.
Fixed costs are the ones that stay the same regardless of sales: rent, salaries, software. Variable costs scale with each unit: materials, packaging, payment fees. Getting the split right matters more than the arithmetic.
Reading the results
The calculator shows four figures. Units to sell is your target. Revenue to break even is units times price. Contribution per unit is what each sale contributes to fixed costs and profit. Contribution margin is that amount as a percentage of price.
A high contribution margin with a high break even means the business is healthy once it gets going but needs volume. A low break even with a thin margin means you start making money early but every sale adds little.
Use the margin calculator alongside this one to check your pricing before committing to the sales target. Lowering the price raises the break even; raising it lowers the number of units but may reduce demand. That trade off is a business decision, and the numbers here make it visible.
Common questions
What is the break even formula?
Break even units = fixed costs divided by (selling price minus variable cost per unit). Fixed costs of 12,000.00 with a 30.00 contribution need 400 units.
What is contribution margin?
The selling price minus the variable cost per unit, often shown as a percentage of price. It is what each unit contributes to covering fixed costs and profit.
Are salaries fixed or variable costs?
Salaried staff are usually fixed costs; commission and piecework are variable. The classification depends on whether the cost changes with the number of units you sell.
Does break even include VAT?
No. Work in net prices. VAT is collected on behalf of the tax authority and is not part of your cost structure.
What if my break even looks unreachable?
Then either the price is too low, the fixed costs are too high, or the variable costs are eating the margin. Test each one with the margin and markup calculators to see where the fix is.