⚖️ Break-Even Calculator

How many sales to cover your costs — break-even in units and revenue

£
Rent, salaries, insurance, software
£
£
Materials, packaging, payment fees, postage

Break-Even Point

—
units per month to break even
Break-Even Revenue—
Contribution Per Unit—
Per Day (30-day month)—
Every unit beyond break-even contributes its full contribution margin straight to profit.

The Break-Even Formula

Break-even units = fixed costs ÷ (price − variable cost per unit). The denominator is your contribution margin — what each sale contributes toward covering fixed costs. With £5,000 fixed costs, £50 price and £20 variable cost, you need 5,000 ÷ 30 = 167 units/month.

Using Break-Even for Decisions

  • Pricing: see instantly how a price change shifts the units you need
  • New premises: add the extra rent to fixed costs — can you realistically sell the additional units?
  • Hiring: a £2,500/month employee at £30 contribution = 84 extra sales needed

Margin of Safety

Once trading, your margin of safety = (actual sales − break-even sales) ÷ actual sales. Below 20% is a warning sign that a modest downturn puts you into losses.