Break-even calculator
Type fixed costs, a price per unit and a variable cost per unit to see how many units cover all costs.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Published tables are revised: the source has the last word.
Work it out
How the answer is worked out
Break-even units = fixed costs divided by (price per unit minus variable cost per unit).
The whole-unit figure is that result rounded up to the next whole number, the first count that reaches or passes break-even. Sales at break-even = the break-even units times the price per unit.
A unit can be a job, an hour or a load, as long as the price and the variable cost use the same unit and the fixed costs cover the same period.
What the sources say
University of Missouri Extension's break-even publication says variable costs change directly in proportion to production volume, with direct materials, shipping charges and part-time wages as examples. It says fixed costs stay the same when volume changes, with rent, interest on debt, insurance, equipment, professional fees and full-time salaries as examples. It prints break-even point in units as fixed costs divided by selling price per unit minus variable cost per unit, and notes that its examples keep variable cost per unit and total fixed costs unchanged.
On the same topic, BDC's glossary entry defines the break-even point as the level of sales where total revenue equals total expenses. It writes break-even in sales as indirect costs divided by the gross margin percentage, and in units as that figure divided by the unit sales price. It adds that a service business can count hours in place of units.
The two forms give the same number: the gross margin percentage is the price minus the variable cost, divided by the price, so indirect costs divided by it and then by the price comes out as indirect costs divided by price minus variable cost. BDC's pricing steps work the same idea through a worked example that ends at 3,846 break-even units. The Missouri publication's worked example ends at 1,678 units, and the calculator shows 1,678 as the whole-unit count for that example's own fixed costs, price and variable cost.
The page suggests no price and holds no cost. The three boxes start empty.
Arithmetic only. The answer is only as good as the numbers entered. It is not a plan or a safe working load for any job.
Sources
- University of Missouri Extension, Break-even Pricing, Revenue and Units (G648), revised August 2026, read October 8, 2026
- BDC, glossary entry on the break-even point, read October 8, 2026
- BDC, 7 steps to setting the right price for your products or services, updated August 01, 2023, read October 8, 2026
- BDC, glossary entry on gross margin, read October 8, 2026