Taxes, payroll and business
Business break-even calculator
Calculate the sales needed to cover your costs and reach your profit target.
Before sales tax · profit before income tax · totals rounded to dollars
Your business
All costs and volume refer to the selected period. Changing periods keeps your inputs; adjust them for your new scenario.
Rent, insurance and other costs independent of volume. Include fixed salaries and employer costs here; volume-dependent payroll belongs in variable costs.
A unit can be a product, an order, a billable hour or a service. Include every cost linked to that sale: purchases, commissions, shipping and variable labour.
Your result
Minimum sales to cover your costs · Per month
$25,000
- Minimum volume
- 250 units
- Contribution per unit
- $60
- Contribution rate
- 60 %
- Units below break-even
- 0
At your expected volume
- Sales
- $50,000
- Variable costs
- $20,000
- Fixed costs
- $15,000
- Profit before income tax
- $15,000
To reach your target
- Required volume
- 417 units
- Required sales
- $41,700
Your target is met at the expected volume.
| Scenario | Units | Sales | Total costs | Profit before income tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| −20 % | 400 | $40,000 | $31,000 | $9,000 |
| Your scenario | 500 | $50,000 | $35,000 | $15,000 |
| +20 % | 600 | $60,000 | $39,000 | $21,000 |
Method and sources
Unit contribution = price − variable cost. The minimum number of units to cover fixed costs is rounded up. For a target, divide fixed costs + desired profit by unit contribution. Required sales use that whole-unit volume, and expected profit = volume × contribution − fixed costs.
Constant prices and costs, one product or a stable average sales mix. Do not include a cost in both fixed and variable costs. This profit before income tax is not a bank balance: payment delays, taxes, investments and principal repayments are not modelled.
BDC · Break-even pointConstant prices and costs, one product or a stable average sales mix. Do not include a cost in both fixed and variable costs. This profit before income tax is not a bank balance: payment delays, taxes, investments and principal repayments are not modelled.