Calculate& Decide

Business calculator

Break-Even Calculator

This calculator divides fixed costs by the contribution earned on each unit and rounds up to a sellable whole unit.

Updated · Inputs stay in your browser

Educational estimate: This result is not financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. Check real terms and consider qualified advice for important decisions.

Enter your values

Choose the symbol used to display amounts.
Costs that do not change with unit volume.
Revenue from one unit.
Cost added by one unit.

Your values stay on this device. Nothing is sent to Calculate & Decide unless you deliberately use your device's share feature.

What this result means

This calculator divides fixed costs by the contribution earned on each unit and rounds up to a sellable whole unit. The results panel explains the main number and the quantities that produced it, so you can check whether the estimate answers your real question.

Formula used

Break-even units = Fixed costs ÷ (Selling price per unit − Variable cost per unit).

Step-by-step calculation

  1. Validate every required value and reject values outside the stated field limits.
  2. Convert rates and time periods to the units required by the formula.
  3. Calculate with full JavaScript number precision; do not round intermediate values.
  4. Round only the displayed result and explain the practical meaning.

Worked example

With $12,000 fixed costs, a $50 selling price, and $30 variable cost, contribution is $20 and break-even is 600 units.

Assumptions and limitations

  • Selling price and variable cost stay constant.
  • All units produced are sold.
  • Fixed costs remain fixed over the relevant volume range.

How to use this calculator

  1. Choose a currency symbol when the tool uses money.
  2. Enter values in the units shown beside each field.
  3. Select Calculate, then read both the main result and interpretation.
  4. Change one uncertain input at a time to understand sensitivity.
  5. Use Copy result or Share only when you choose to move the result outside this page.

Common mistakes

  • Using gross price without accounting for per-sale fees.
  • Rounding down when products cannot be sold fractionally.
  • Assuming costs remain linear at every scale.

Frequently asked questions

Why must price exceed variable cost?

Otherwise each sale does not contribute toward fixed costs, so ordinary break-even is impossible.

Why is the result rounded up?

A fraction of a unit usually cannot be sold, and rounding down would leave some cost uncovered.

Does break-even include profit?

No. It is the volume where modeled revenue equals modeled cost.

Methodology and sources

Formula definitions and edge-case behavior are documented on our Methodology page. No external data is fetched by this calculator.

See the site-wide calculation methodology and editorial standards. Formula errors can be reported through the error-reporting instructions.

Published and reviewed .