Break-even calculator 2026
The break-even point is the sales volume at which revenue exactly covers costs and profit is zero. You find it by dividing fixed costs by the contribution margin per unit — the selling price less the variable cost — because each unit sold contributes that much towards the fixed costs.
- Break-even revenue
- €25,000.00
- Contribution per unit
- €10.00
- Contribution margin ratio
- 40%
- Units for the target profit
- 1,000
Rates and thresholds
- Contribution per unit
- price − variable cost
- Break-even in units
- fixed costs / contribution
- Break-even in revenue
- units × price
- Margin of safety
- (sales − break-even) / sales
What counts as a fixed cost and what as a variable cost?
A fixed cost does not move with sales volume: rent, insurance, bookkeeping, monthly software fees and office salaries are payable even if you sell nothing. A variable cost arises with each unit sold: materials, packaging, delivery, card-processing fees and piece-rate pay. The same cost can be either, depending on the business — an hourly worker is a variable cost, the same person on a monthly salary is a fixed one.
Should VAT be part of the break-even calculation?
No. For a VAT-registered business, VAT passes through: it comes in from the customer and goes out to the tax authority without ever being the company's income. Break-even is calculated on VAT-exclusive figures, on both the price and the variable-cost side. A business that is not VAT-registered cannot reclaim input VAT, so the VAT on its purchases is part of the variable cost.