Break-Even Calculator

What Break-Even Calculator helps you do

Find the number of units and the revenue needed to cover fixed costs, then compare current profit with a price increase or a cost cut. Break-even is the point where contribution margin covers fixed costs. The page also tests two illustrative scenarios so a pricing decision is not based on one number.

Break-even math runs in your browser. No business figures are uploaded to Haivix.

How it works

These calculators apply standard finance formulas to the numbers you enter. Loans use the reducing-balance annuity formula, where the monthly rate is the annual rate divided by twelve and each payment covers that month's interest before reducing principal. Savings projections compound at the same monthly rate and treat contributions as arriving at the end of each period. Amounts are rounded to the currency's minor unit, with the final payment adjusted so the balance reaches zero. Nothing is fetched from a bank, credit bureau or rate feed, so the result is only as good as the inputs.

How to use Break-Even Calculator

1. Enter fixed costs, the selling price and the variable cost per unit.
2. Set the expected monthly sales volume.
3. Read the break-even units and revenue.
4. Review the scenario table for price and cost changes.

When to use it

• Work out how many sales are needed before a product is profitable.
• Judge whether a price rise or cost cut moves profit more.
• Set a sales target that covers fixed overhead.
• Test whether a discount still leaves a contribution.
• Compare two product ideas with different cost structures.
• Prepare a simple plan for a loan application or pitch.

When not to use it

• Do not use it for a multi-product business with shared costs without allocating them.
• Do not assume the price-increase scenario's 8% volume drop is a forecast.
• Do not treat it as accounting advice.

Example

With fixed costs of 8,000, a price of 50 and a variable cost of 22, contribution per unit is 28 and break-even is about 285.7 units. Revenue at break-even is about 14,286, and the contribution margin is 56%. At 500 expected sales the profit is 6,000.

What you can do with Break-Even Calculator

• Calculate break-even units and revenue.
• Show contribution per unit and margin percentage.
• Estimate profit at an expected sales volume.
• Compare current, price-increase and cost-cut scenarios.
• Handle fixed costs of zero.
• Run the math locally in the browser.

Example: compare total cost, not just the monthly figure

Check whether the quoted rate is flat or reducing. The same headline percentage can cost very differently depending on how interest is charged.

Confirm the term unit. A duration entered in months instead of years changes the payment by an order of magnitude.

Look at total interest as well as the monthly payment. A longer term lowers the payment and raises the total cost.

Model one extra payment rather than assuming it. The amortization table shows how much of the saving comes from principal versus a shorter term.

Treat the output as an estimate. Fees, insurance, taxes, variable rates and lender rounding can all move the real figure.

Do not treat a calculator as financial advice. For a binding quote, use the lender's own disclosure.

Check the currency and its minor units. The math is currency-agnostic, but formatting, rounding and the number of decimal places change the displayed result.

Write down the rate, term and assumptions you used. A later comparison is only meaningful if both runs share the same basis.

What to know before you start

• It assumes constant per-unit costs and prices, which rarely hold across large volumes.
• It is a planning aid and not financial or accounting advice.
• The scenario table uses fixed illustrative changes, not demand modelling.
• It handles one product at a time.

Common mistakes

• Using revenue instead of contribution in the denominator.
• Forgetting that variable cost must stay below price.
• Treating the scenario volume change as a market forecast.
• Mixing monthly fixed costs with annual sales.

Troubleshooting

If break-even is an error, the variable cost may exceed the price.

If the result is huge, fixed costs may include one-time items.

If profit is negative, expected sales are below break-even.

If the scenario table looks identical, the inputs may not have changed.

Related standards and documentation

• ISO 4217 defines currency codes and minor units.
• US Truth in Lending (Regulation Z) governs APR disclosure for consumer credit.
• The EU Consumer Credit Directive (2008/48/EC) defines the annual percentage rate of charge.
• The standard annuity formula relates principal, periodic rate, payment and number of periods.
• ISO 8601 defines the date and duration formats used by the schedule.