Free tools  /  Break-even calculator

Free tool

Break-even calculator

The single most useful number in a small business: how much you have to sell before you stop losing money. Answer it in units if you sell one main thing, or in sales value if you sell several.

Your numbers

Nothing you type here is stored.

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Everything you pay whether you sell anything or not.
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Total fixed costs a month₦0.00

Two things people miss. Costs billed once a year, like insurance or a licence renewal, still count. Divide the yearly figure by twelve. And sales commission is not fixed, so it belongs in variable costs rather than here.

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What a customer actually pays, after any standard discount.
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Only the costs that rise when you sell one more: materials, delivery, commission, payment fees.
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We will show what you need to sell to cover costs and hit this on top.
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Your break-even point will appear here

Fill in your fixed costs, price and variable cost, then press Calculate.

You need to sell 0 units
Break-even revenue ₦0.00
Contribution per unit ₦0.00
Contribution margin 0%
Units per working day 0
Where every ₦0 of revenue goes at break-even
Fixed costs Variable costs
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How this calculator works

The formula

Break-even units = fixed costs ÷ contribution per unit

Contribution per unit is your selling price minus your variable cost. It is what each sale leaves behind to help pay the rent. Divide your fixed costs by it and you have the number of sales you need.

If you sell several things

Break-even sales = fixed costs ÷ the share you keep

Counting units stops working the moment you sell a second product at a different margin. So stop counting units. Work out what share of every naira of sales survives the costs that rise with sales, then see how much sales it takes for that share to cover your fixed costs.

Margin of safety

The sales value mode asks for what you are actually selling, so it can tell you something the unit version cannot: how far sales could fall before you started losing money. Break even at ₦3.5m while doing ₦5m and sales could drop 30% before it hurt. That is the number worth knowing before a quiet season.

Fixed and variable, the usual mistake

Fixed costs do not move when sales move. Variable costs do. Mixing the two is the most common reason a break-even figure comes out wrong. Rent, salaries and software are fixed. Sales commission and the payment processor’s cut are not.

What these figures do and do not include

  • It is a monthly figure, based on the monthly fixed costs you entered.
  • The units mode assumes one average product. If you sell several at different margins, use the sales value mode instead.
  • The sales value mode assumes your future sales mix looks like your recent one. Sell more of a low-margin line and your real break-even rises even though this figure has not moved.
  • It measures profit, not cash. Breaking even on paper while customers pay you in 60 days will still leave you short of cash.
  • Units are rounded up, because you cannot sell part of a unit and be covered.
  • It ignores tax. Break-even here means covering costs, not what is left after tax.

Questions people ask

Ask yourself one question about each cost: if I sold nothing at all this month, would I still pay it? If yes, it is fixed. Rent, salaries, software, insurance. If it only happens because a sale happened, it is variable. Materials, packaging, delivery, sales commission, card processing fees.

Switch to the second mode at the top of the calculator. It stops counting units entirely and works off value instead: what share of every naira of sales is left after the costs that rise with sales, and how much sales it takes for that share to cover your fixed costs. You need three numbers off your profit and loss and nothing else, and it works whether you sell two products or two hundred. It also gives you your margin of safety, which the unit version cannot.

There is no fixed rule, but under 20% is worth taking seriously. It means one lost customer or one quiet month could tip you into a loss. What matters most is how much your sales normally swing. A business with steady repeat revenue can live on a thin cushion. One with lumpy project work cannot.

Then the calculator has done its job. You have three levers and only three: raise the price, cut the variable cost per unit, or cut fixed overheads. Raising the price usually moves the number fastest, because it lifts contribution on every single sale. Test each one here before you change anything in real life.

No, and the gap between the two is where a lot of profitable businesses quietly fail. Break-even is an accounting measure. If you pay suppliers in 14 days and customers pay you in 60, you can be well past break-even and still unable to make payroll. Watch both.

Knowing the number is step one. Hitting it is the job.

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