Break-Even Calculator and Profit Planner
Find the sales needed to cover your costs, plan a target profit and compare two business scenarios. Results, charts and calculations update as you type.
Build your business plan
Currency changes formatting only. No exchange-rate conversion is performed.
Changing the period scales fixed costs, sales quantity, target profit and capacity. Unit prices and variable costs per unit stay unchanged. All results use the selected period.
Enter prices and costs on the same tax basis, normally excluding recoverable VAT or sales tax. Profit is before income tax, financing and any costs you have not entered.
Try an illustrative example
Examples are fictional, not industry benchmarks. All example amounts use your selected currency.
Plan A
Turn this off for divisible units such as billable hours or kilograms. Minimum quantities are rounded up only for whole items.
Plan B
Turn this off for divisible units such as billable hours or kilograms. Minimum quantities are rounded up only for whole items.
Itemize costs for Plan A
Fixed costs
Variable costs per unit
When enabled, the itemized totals replace the two cost fields in Plan A. Percentage sales fees are added separately once. Disabling itemization retains the current totals.
Your break-even results · Plan A
Revenue, costs and break-even point
Break-even lies outside this chart range. Use the numeric result; no false marker is drawn at the chart edge.
This slider changes expected sales in Plan A. You can also enter a quantity above its displayed range.
Horizontal axis: sales quantity. Vertical axis: monetary amount in your selected currency for the selected period. The intersection is exact; rounded minimum sales are shown separately.
Plan your target profit
Fixed costs plus the desired operating profit are divided by contribution per unit. Whole-item quantities are rounded up before calculating achievable revenue.
How far are you from break-even?
A positive margin is the sales you could lose before reaching break-even. A negative margin is the shortfall. The percentage uses expected sales as its denominator and is undefined at zero sales.
What changes if your assumptions change?
Each scenario changes one assumption in Plan A. Sales-based fees are recalculated from the changed price. Whole-item sales quantities are rounded down in the lower-sales scenario.
Profit at different sales levels
These rows show different sales volumes under the same prices and costs. They are not a time forecast.
Where the sales revenue goes
Revenue minus variable costs gives total contribution; subtract fixed costs to find operating profit or loss. The bar shows the relative sizes of costs and any positive profit.
See the full calculation
Plan A
F = Fixed costs; p = Selling price; v = Full variable cost per unit; q = Sales quantity; f = Sales-based fee (%); T = Target operating profit for the period; S = Safety margin in units; Π = Operating profit / loss.
Compare Plan A and Plan B
Both plans use the same currency and reporting period. Higher contribution or lower break-even is not a guarantee of demand or profitability.
Plan B · See the full calculation
Multiple products and sales mix
Enter unit-based sales shares that total 100%. The calculation assumes a constant sales mix and uses weighted average price and variable cost. Quantities per product are continuous planning estimates, not a guaranteed feasible whole-item sales bundle. Include transaction fees in each product’s variable cost.
Use the results with the right assumptions
This is a cost-volume-profit planning model, not an accounting statement or investment payback forecast. It assumes stable unit prices, variable costs and sales mix within a relevant capacity range. Fixed costs can rise in steps when you hire staff or expand facilities. Price changes may change demand. Review your own records and repeat the analysis for realistic scenarios.
Calculation references
Break-even questions
Why are exact and minimum quantities different?
The algebraic break-even point may be fractional. If you sell indivisible products, you must round the required quantity up. Revenue at that whole-item minimum can be above exact break-even revenue.
Is contribution the same as markup?
No. Contribution is selling price minus variable cost per unit, including sales-based fees. Contribution margin ratio divides this contribution by selling price. Markup uses a cost base instead.
What if selling price is below variable cost?
Every additional unit adds a loss before fixed costs. With positive fixed costs, there is no profitable break-even quantity in this model. Review the price or cost structure rather than relying on more sales.
Does break-even tell me when an investment pays back?
No. This tool finds sales needed to cover costs in one reporting period. Investment payback also needs upfront cash outflows, cash flow timing and recurring cash inflows.
How do I choose the reporting period?
Use one consistent period for fixed costs, expected sales, target profit and capacity. Unit price and variable cost per unit are independent of the reporting period. The selector scales period-based values together.
Can I use this for several products?
Yes, if you specify a stable unit-based sales mix totaling 100%. The weighted calculation provides planning estimates. A changing mix or indivisible product bundles may require a more detailed sales plan.
Calculations run in your browser. These input values are not submitted to this calculator’s server or saved by the calculator.