Calculate break even

Find the whole number of sales needed for unit contribution to recover fixed costs.

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ToolBreak Even Calculator

Input

Output

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How it works

Contribution per unit is selling price minus variable cost, and fixed costs divided by contribution are rounded upward because a partial sale cannot cover the remaining amount. The 10% profit target repeats the calculation with 110% of fixed costs; no price or cost defaults are invented.

Formula

break-even units = ceiling(fixed costs ÷ (price − variable cost))

Revenue at break-even uses the rounded whole-unit quantity, so it can exceed fixed cost by less than one contribution.
Contribution percentage divides unit contribution by selling price.

Worked example

A product at 25 with 10 of costs

5,000 of fixed costs to cover

Input

											Fixed costs: 5000
Price per unit: 25
Variable cost per unit: 10

Output

												Units to break even: 334
Revenue at break even: 8350
Contribution margin: 15
Contribution margin percent: 60
Units for ten percent profit: 367

When to use this

Product launches, ticketed events, and food-service pricing compare fixed setup costs with the margin earned on each unit sold.

Edge cases

If variable cost equals selling price, contribution is zero and processing stops because no sales volume covers fixed costs.
If variable cost exceeds price, processing stops rather than presenting a negative break-even quantity.
With zero fixed costs, break-even is 0 units even though the per-unit contribution remains positive.