Unit Break-Even
Find how many units you must sell to cover your fixed costs.
About Unit Break-Even
Break-even happens when contribution margin per unit times units sold equals total fixed costs. The result rounds up to whole units, meaning the first profitable unit is one more than this count. Knowing the exact unit volume needed to stop losing money lets owners set realistic sales targets and decide whether a product's fixed investment makes sense.
Formula
Unit Break-Even
Break-even units = fixed costs / (price - variable cost per unit)
- fixed costs
- Costs that stay constant regardless of volume
- contribution margin
- Amount each unit contributes after its variable cost
Worked example
With the default values below, Unit Break-Even returns Contribution Margin per Unit of $10.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Fixed costsminimum 0
- 6,000
- Price per unitminimum 0
- 25
- Variable cost per unitminimum 0
- 15
Results
- Contribution Margin per Unit
- $10.00
- Units to Break Even
- 600
- Break-Even Revenue
- $15,000.00
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Unit Break-Even
- 3Contribution Margin per Unit= 10.00
- 4Units to Break Even= 600
- 5Break-Even Revenue= 15,000.00
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
- This is an estimate for general information and not professional financial, tax or legal advice. See the full disclaimer for the limits that apply to this kind of calculator.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Unit Break-Even calculated?
Break-even units = fixed costs / (price - variable cost per unit) Break-even happens when contribution margin per unit times units sold equals total fixed costs. The result rounds up to whole units, meaning the first profitable unit is one more than this count.
Why does Unit Break-Even matter?
Knowing the exact unit volume needed to stop losing money lets owners set realistic sales targets and decide whether a product's fixed investment makes sense.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 3 inputs: Fixed costs, Price per unit, Variable cost per unit. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.