Break-Even Calculator
Free break-even point calculator for pricing and business planning. Enter fixed costs, selling price per unit, and variable cost per unit to see how many units you need to sell and what revenue covers your costs.
Rent, salaries, insurance, and other costs that don't change with each unit sold.
What you charge customers for one unit (before discounts).
Direct cost per unit sold—materials, packaging, delivery, or commission per item.
Units to break even
1,800 units
Break-even revenue
₹8,10,000
Contribution per unit
₹150
Contribution margin
33.3%
Costs at break-even (equals revenue)
Fixed costs
₹2,70,000 • 33%
Total variable costs
₹5,40,000 • 67%
What is break-even analysis?
Break-even analysis answers a basic business question: how much do you need to sell before you stop losing money? At the break-even point, total revenue equals total cost, so profit is zero. It is a core part of cost-volume-profit (CVP) thinking and helps with pricing, sales targets, and understanding how sensitive your plan is to changes in costs or price.
Fixed vs variable costs
Fixed costs stay roughly the same whether you sell 10 units or 1,000—think rent, core staff salaries, software subscriptions, or insurance for a period. Variable costs move with volume: raw materials per product, packaging per order, payment gateway fees as a percent of sales, or delivery per unit. This calculator uses a single variable cost per unit, which matches the standard textbook model used by many break-even calculators.
Break-even formulas
Contribution margin per unit is the amount each sale contributes toward fixed costs after covering its own variable cost:
Break-even revenue is break-even units multiplied by price. You can also write:
How to use this calculator
- Enter your fixed costs for the period you care about (month, quarter, or year—stay consistent).
- Set price per unit for your product or service.
- Set variable cost per unit so it reflects only costs that scale with each unit.
- Read units to break even and break-even revenue. The chart shows how fixed and total variable costs add up to that revenue at break-even.
Limitations and next steps
Real businesses often have stepped fixed costs, volume discounts, mixed product lines, and seasonality. This tool assumes one product, constant price and variable cost per unit, and fixed costs that do not change with volume—good for first-pass planning, not a substitute for detailed forecasts. Break-even analysis is also different from payback period on an investment, which depends on cash timing over periods.
Frequently asked questions
What is the break-even point in simple terms?
It is the sales level where you have covered all your costs and net profit is zero. Sell more than that (holding assumptions fixed) and you start making profit on the margin; sell less and you are underwater.
Why does the calculator say break-even is not achievable?
If price per unit is less than or equal to variable cost per unit, every sale loses money on variable costs alone, so you cannot climb out of fixed costs by selling more. You need a higher price, lower variable cost, or a different business model.
Should I round break-even units up?
If you only sell whole units, planning with the next whole number above the exact break-even quantity is often safer than rounding down. The calculator shows the exact mathematical break-even; use your judgement for discrete products.
Does break-even include GST or taxes?
This model uses your inputs as given. For operational break-even in India, align all figures the same way—either all inclusive of GST or all excluding it—and include taxes or duties in fixed or variable costs where they truly apply to your process.