Calculate your break-even point in units and dollars instantly. Determine profit thresholds, contribution margins, and safety margins for your business.
Last updated: 18 October 2026
This break even calculator is a break even point calculator for US businesses: it shows how many units your business must sell, and how much sales revenue it must generate, before it starts making a profit. Use it as a break even analysis calculator when you need the break even point in units and the break even point in dollars side by side. Enter fixed costs, your selling price, and variable cost per unit to get your break-even point in units and dollars, plus contribution margin, a target-profit figure, and margin of safety. All calculations run in your browser; nothing is sent to a server.
The chart plots total revenue and total cost against units sold. Where the two lines cross is your break-even point. An accessible data table with the same numbers follows the chart.
| Units | Total revenue | Total cost | Profit |
|---|
Break-even units if each input changes on its own, holding the others constant. Use this panel to see how to lower your break even point — cut fixed costs, cut variable cost, or raise price (if the market allows).
| Input changed | Change | New value | Break-even units (exact) | Break-even units (rounded up) | Break-even revenue |
|---|
Every symbol used in the calculations on this page:
Break even units = FC ÷ (P − VC) | Break even revenue = FC ÷ ((P − VC) ÷ P)
Contribution margin is what each sale contributes toward fixed costs first, then profit. The break even analysis formula simply divides the fixed-cost bill by that per-unit contribution. Divide by the ratio instead of the per-unit margin and you get the same point in dollars: that is the break even sales figure.
All examples on this page are clearly labeled hypothetical. They reuse the test fixtures built for this calculator and exist to show the arithmetic, not any real business.
Inputs: fixed costs $10,000.00 per month, price $20.00 per unit, variable cost $10.00 per unit.
Inputs: fixed costs $5,000.00, price $20.00, variable cost $5.00.
Inputs: fixed costs $12,000.00, price $45.00, variable cost $18.50, target profit $5,000.00, expected sales 800 units.
Inputs: price $10.00, variable cost $10.00 (or any case where variable cost is at or above price). Contribution margin is zero or negative, so no volume ever covers fixed costs. The calculator returns an explanation instead of a number — a negative or infinite break-even figure would be meaningless.
Inputs: fixed costs $0.00, price $20.00, variable cost $10.00. Break-even is 0 units; any positive volume is immediately profitable at $10.00 contribution per unit.
Break-even analysis formula inputs — classification comparison. Getting this split right matters more than any rounding detail.
| Question to ask | Fixed cost | Variable cost |
|---|---|---|
| Does the total change when you sell one more unit? | No — total stays the same in the relevant range | Yes — total rises with each unit |
| Common US small-business examples | Rent, base salaries, insurance, software subscriptions, equipment leases | Materials, packaging, payment-processing fees, shipping, sales commissions |
| Per-unit behavior as volume rises | Falls (the same cost is spread over more units) | Stays roughly constant per unit |
| Effect on break-even units | Higher fixed costs raise the break-even point | Higher variable cost shrinks contribution margin and raises the break-even point |
| Risk profile | Higher fixed costs mean a higher break-even and more risk if sales dip | Higher variable costs mean lower margin but a lower break-even |
The break even point in units and the break even point in dollars state the same target two ways. Your break even sales figure is the revenue needed at the break-even point.
Break-even sales — two ways to state the same point, each useful for a different decision.
| Aspect | Break-even point in units | Break-even point in dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Formula | Fixed costs ÷ contribution margin per unit | Fixed costs ÷ contribution margin ratio |
| Best for | Production plans, sales quotas, capacity decisions | Revenue targets, budgeting, bank conversations |
| Rounding | Rounded up to a whole unit (a fraction cannot be sold) | Shown to the cent; built on exact units, not rounded-up units |
| What it ignores | Price mix and discounts | Whether a whole physical unit can actually be sold |
| Decision it supports | “Can my team sell 453 units this month?” | “Do I need about $20,377 in sales to cover costs?” |
Each dollar of sales first covers variable cost; what remains is contribution margin. Once cumulative contribution margin equals fixed costs, the break-even point is reached and further sales generate profit.
These exclusions are scope limits of a simple cost-volume-profit model, not defects of your data. If your business has several products or step-fixed costs, treat the output as an estimate with limitations and build a fuller model before committing fixed costs.
The break-even point is the sales level where total revenue equals total costs, so profit is exactly zero. Below it the business loses money; above it every additional unit adds contribution margin to profit. The term is standard cost-volume-profit vocabulary in managerial accounting.
Break-even units = fixed costs / contribution margin per unit, where contribution margin per unit = selling price per unit - variable cost per unit. This is standard cost-volume-profit analysis taught in managerial accounting texts such as OpenStax Principles of Accounting. Example (hypothetical): $10,000 / ($20 - $10) = 1,000 units.
Break-even revenue = fixed costs / contribution margin ratio, where the contribution margin ratio = contribution margin per unit / selling price per unit. Equivalently, break-even revenue = break-even units x selling price. Example (hypothetical): ratio = $10 / $20 = 50%, and break-even revenue = $10,000 / 0.50 = $20,000.
You cannot sell a fraction of a unit in most businesses, so the whole-unit break-even figure is rounded up to the next whole unit. Selling that whole unit guarantees costs are covered. The calculator also shows the exact decimal figure used for revenue. Break-even revenue is built from that exact number, matching the rounding convention documented in the method section.
Margin of safety is how far expected sales can fall before the business reaches break-even. It is calculated as (expected sales - break-even sales) / expected sales, and can be shown in units or as a percentage. That is the margin of safety formula this page reports: units and percentage of expected sales, computed from exact (not rounded-up) break-even units.
If the selling price is less than or equal to the variable cost per unit, contribution margin is zero or negative and no break-even point exists. Every unit sold adds to the loss or does nothing, so the calculator reports that no break-even exists instead of a number. The fix is structural: raise price, cut variable cost, or rethink the product.
Yes. In a spreadsheet, put fixed costs in one cell, price and variable cost in others, then use =FC/(P-VC) for units and =FC/((P-VC)/P) for revenue. For the whole-unit figure use =ROUNDUP(FC/(P-VC),0). No spreadsheet file is offered on this page; the formulas above are all you need.
This tool does not apply income taxes or other profit taxes. For tax questions about classifying costs, see IRS Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business (irs.gov/publications/p334). Tax-adjusted break-even is outside this calculator’s scope.
Once you know your break-even point, these Varnda tools help with the surrounding money decisions:
Related Varnda tools not linked here (profit margin, markup, and discount calculators) can be found from the Varnda home page. Pricing tools help you set the price that feeds this break-even model.
This business break even calculator answers one concrete question: how much must I sell to stop losing money, and is that realistic at my price and cost? Enter your fixed costs, price, and variable cost above to get your break-even point in units and dollars, the sales needed for a target profit, and your margin of safety. Then pressure-test the number in the sensitivity table before you commit to rent, equipment, or hiring.
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