Break-Even Point Calculator
Enter your fixed costs, the cost of each unit and its selling price: you'll see how many you need to sell each month not to lose money and, if you like, when you get your investment back.
Enter your fixed costs, variable cost and selling price.
Monthly figures, before taxes.
Results are estimates. Solvemis accepts no responsibility for the results obtained or for how they are used. Always double-check the result and talk to a qualified professional before making decisions.
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How it works
How to use it
- Add up your fixed costs for one month: rent, salaries, self-employed contribution, insurance, subscriptions.
- Enter the variable cost of each unit and its selling price, excluding VAT.
- To see your real result, add the sales you expect each month and, if there is one, the initial investment.
- You'll see the break-even units and revenue and, with your sales, the monthly result and the payback period. The chart marks where revenue and costs cross.
How it is calculated
The margin per unit is the price minus the variable cost. Break-even units are fixed costs divided by that margin, rounded up because you can't sell half units. With expected sales, the month's result is sales × margin − fixed costs, and the payback period is the investment divided by that result, rounded up to the next month.
Break-even point (units) = fixed costs ÷ (price − variable cost)
Sources
- Calculate your startup costs: break-even point — U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
About this calculator
What the break-even point is
It’s the sales volume at which revenue exactly covers all costs, fixed and variable. At that point you neither make nor lose money: each unit above it is profit and each unit below it, a loss.
An example with the calculator’s figures: with 1,000 € of fixed costs a month, a variable cost of 10 € per unit and a price of 30 €, each sale leaves 20 € towards the fixed costs. You need 50 units a month, which means 1,500 € of revenue, to cover them.
The contribution margin
That 20 € is the contribution margin: what each sale contributes after paying for what it costs. As a share of the price, it’s 66.7 %. It’s the lever that moves break-even the most:
- Raising the price from 30 € to 35 € lowers break-even from 50 to 40 units.
- Cutting the variable cost from 10 € to 8 € lowers it to 46.
- Trimming 200 € of fixed costs lowers it to 40.
If the price doesn’t exceed the variable cost, break-even is impossible: every sale loses money and selling more only increases the loss.
With your expected sales
Break-even tells you how much you need to sell; your expected sales tell you how much you really sell. With 80 units a month you make 30 × 20 € = 600 € a month above break-even. With 25, you’re 25 units short and lose 500 € every month.
That’s why there’s no “months until profitable” here: with monthly figures, either you’re profitable from the first month or you won’t be until something changes. What does take time is recovering an initial investment: at 600 € a month, a 6,000 € investment is recovered in 10 months.
What the calculation assumes
- Constant price and costs. In practice there are volume discounts, and some fixed costs rise beyond a certain size (another premises, another person).
- A single product. With several, use the average margin weighted by what each one sells.
- Before tax. Enter prices excluding VAT; the result is before income tax (IRPF) or corporate tax.
Frequently asked questions
What is the break-even point?
It's the number of sales at which revenue exactly covers all costs: you neither make nor lose money. Below it there are losses and above it, profits. With 1,000 € of fixed costs a month, a cost of 10 € per unit and a price of 30 €, break-even is 50 units a month.
How long will it take me to become profitable?
With monthly figures there is no timeline: if you sell above break-even you make money from the first month and, if you sell below it, you lose money every month. What does take time is recovering an initial investment: with 80 sales a month you make 600 € a month and 6,000 € invested is recovered in 10 months.
What counts as a fixed cost and what as a variable cost?
Fixed is what you pay even if you sell nothing: rent, salaries, insurance, software subscriptions. Variable is what each unit you sell costs: raw materials, shipping, payment gateway or marketplace fees.
Updated 30 September 2026
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