CalcVerse

Break-even Calculator

The break-even point is where total revenue equals total costs: no profit and no loss. Each unit sold contributes its price minus its variable cost towards your fixed costs.

  • Last updated
  • Formula tested against reference values

Your numbers

Result

Break-even units
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Calculating…

Break-even revenue
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Contribution per unit
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Contribution margin ratio
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How to use this calculator

  1. Enter or choose fixed costs (for the period).
  2. Enter or choose price per unit.
  3. Enter or choose variable cost per unit.
  4. The break-even units updates as you type. Use Copy result or Share to keep it.

Formula

Units=Fixed costsPrice−Variable cost

Break-even units = Fixed costs ÷ (Price − Variable cost per unit)

Fixed costs
costs that do not change with volume (rent, salaries)
Variable cost
cost of making or delivering one more unit

Worked example

  1. Contribution per unit = 50 − 30 = 20.
  2. Units = 10,000 ÷ 20 = 500.
  3. Revenue = 500 × 50 = $25,000.

Selling 500 units covers the $10,000 of fixed costs; every unit after that earns $20 profit.

What the result means

Units are rounded up, because selling 499.5 units is not possible and 499 would still lose money. Raising price or cutting variable cost lowers the break-even point much faster than cutting a small fixed cost.

Assumptions and limits

  • Price and variable cost per unit are constant at every volume.
  • Volume discounts, step-changes in fixed costs and multiple products with different margins need a more detailed model.

Questions

What if the variable cost is higher than the price?

Then every sale loses money and there is no break-even point. The calculator reports this instead of returning a number.