Break-Even Calculator
Enter your fixed costs (rent, salaries, subscriptions — costs that don't change with volume) and your price and cost per unit. The calculator shows exactly how many units you need to sell before you start making a profit.
You need to sell 625 units (₹1,25,000 in revenue) to cover ₹50,000 in fixed costs.
Revenue vs. total cost
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How to calculate your break-even point
Break-even analysis answers one question: how many units do you need to
sell before your business stops losing money and starts making a profit?
The formula is
break-even units = fixed costs / (price per unit − cost per unit).
The denominator — price minus cost — is called the contribution
margin: how much each unit sold contributes toward covering your
fixed costs, after its own direct cost is paid. Once enough units are sold
to cover all fixed costs, every additional unit is pure profit (minus its
own unit cost).
Worked examples
Example 1: a small café has ₹50,000 in monthly fixed costs (rent, staff, utilities), sells a set meal for ₹200, and it costs ₹120 in ingredients and packaging to make. Contribution margin = ₹200 − ₹120 = ₹80. Break-even units = ₹50,000 / ₹80 = 625 meals per month, generating ₹1,25,000 in revenue at the break-even point.
Example 2: a small manufacturer has ₹2,00,000 in monthly fixed costs, sells a product for ₹850, and it costs ₹550 to produce. Contribution margin = ₹850 − ₹550 = ₹300. Break-even units = ₹2,00,000 / ₹300 = 666.67 units, meaning 667 units must actually be sold (you can't sell a fraction of a unit) for revenue of ₹5,66,950 to fully clear fixed costs.
What if price is lower than cost?
If your price per unit is less than or equal to your cost per unit, the contribution margin is zero or negative — every single sale loses money, so no volume of sales can ever break even. This calculator detects that case and shows a plain-language warning instead of a meaningless "Infinity" or negative-units result, which is what the raw formula would otherwise produce from a division by zero or a negative denominator.
Reading the chart
The chart plots two straight lines as unit volume increases: total revenue (price × units) and total cost (fixed costs + cost per unit × units). Below the break-even point, the cost line sits above the revenue line — you're operating at a loss. The blue dot marks where the two lines cross: your exact break-even volume and revenue.
Once you know your numbers, put your pricing and offers on a free BizGo business page so every customer sees them clearly — see the box above to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions
Break-even units = fixed costs / (price per unit − cost per unit). For example, ₹50,000 fixed costs with an ₹80 contribution margin (₹200 price − ₹120 cost) breaks even at 625 units.
Contribution margin is price per unit minus cost per unit — how much each sale contributes toward covering fixed costs before it becomes profit. A higher contribution margin means fewer units needed to break even.
You can never break even — every sale loses money regardless of volume. This calculator shows a warning instead of a meaningless result in that case.
Break-even units is often a fraction (e.g. 666.67) — in practice you'd need to sell the next whole unit (667) to fully clear costs, even though the exact mathematical break-even point is fractional. This calculator shows both the exact figure and the practical rounded-up unit count.
Cost per unit should already include all costs that scale with each sale (materials, packaging, per-unit commission). Costs that don't change with volume — rent, salaries, subscriptions — belong in fixed costs instead.
