Skip to content
LEAR
Back to calculations
Break-Even Units illustration

Small Business · Planning

Break-Even Units

Preview

Run any calculator free during your 14-day trial. Subscribe to save deals, export one-click PDF reports, and keep your full project history.

Subscribe to unlockCompare plans

Run any calculator free during your 14-day trial. Subscribe to save results, export branded reports, and sync across web and mobile. Billing via PayPal.

Use break-even units to find how many units you need to sell before fixed costs are covered and you start making a profit.

Browse all calculators

Interactive workbench

Product break-even

Fixed CostsPrice−Variable Cost per Unit

$12,000 fixed costs at a $30 unit contribution means 400 units to break even.

Step 1 of 4

Variables and units

  • Fixed Costs

    Total fixed costs for the period.

    currency

  • Price per Unit

    Selling price of one unit.

    currency

  • Variable Cost per Unit

    Cost that varies with each unit sold.

    currency

Common mistakes

  • Putting variable cost above price.
  • Leaving fixed overhead out of fixed costs.

Step-by-step example

Product break-even

  1. 1. Start with the example inputs

    • Fixed Costs$12,000
    • Price per Unit$50
    • Variable Cost per Unit$20

  2. 2. Apply the formula

    Fixed CostsPrice−Variable Cost per Unit

  3. 3. Run the numbers

    400

    $12,000 fixed costs at a $30 unit contribution means 400 units to break even.

What this result means

You need to sell 400 units before fixed costs are covered; everything after that contributes profit. If the number looks unreachable at realistic demand, the levers are price, unit variable cost, or the fixed costs themselves.