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Break-Even Units, Months & Safety

Find how many units (or months) cover your fixed costs, see contribution margin per sale, and check margin of safety vs current volume. Simple static math — not a full P&L or tax engine.

Find break-even

Units BE Months BE Contribution Safety % 40+ currencies
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Units to break even

Fixed costs ÷ contribution per unit (price − variable cost). Rounds up to whole units for planning.

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Enter fixed costs, price, and variable cost.

Months to break even

If you sell a steady monthly volume (or earn monthly contribution), how many months until fixed costs for the period are covered? Uses period fixed ÷ monthly contribution.

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Enter fixed costs and monthly volume.

Contribution margin

Per-unit contribution $ and %, plus total contribution at a volume you choose.

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Enter price, variable cost, and volume.

Margin of safety

How far current sales sit above break-even. Safety % = (current − BE) ÷ current. Negative means below break-even.

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Enter costs and current volume.

Price needed to break even at volume

Given fixed costs, variable cost, and target units, solve minimum price.

Optional
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Enter fixed, variable, and units.

Profit at volume

Profit = units × (price − variable) − fixed.

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Enter volume and costs.

Sales $ for a profit goal

Required sales = (fixed + profit goal) ÷ contribution margin %.

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Enter fixed, profit, CM%.

Margin of safety ($)

MoS $ = actual sales − break-even sales.

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Enter actual and BE sales.

Startup cash need

Cash ≈ fixed costs + inventory buy.

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Enter fixed, inventory, buffer.

Contribution margin per unit

CM = price − variable cost.

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Enter price and variable cost.

How BELab works

Break-even is the volume where contribution covers fixed costs — profit starts after that.

Pair with MarginLab for markup/margin, RoasLab for ad break-even, Seller fees for marketplace drag. Not accounting or tax advice.

FAQ

What if variable cost ≥ price?

Contribution is zero or negative — you cannot break even by selling more at that price. Raise price, cut variable cost, or change the offer.

Is this the same as RoasLab break-even?

RoasLab is ad-efficiency (ROAS/CPA). BELab is classic unit economics and margin of safety for a product or service line.

Live FX?

No. Currency only relabels amounts.

What if my variable cost is higher than price?

Contribution is negative — selling more loses more money. Raise price, cut variable cost, or change the offer before chasing volume.

What is a good margin of safety?

Higher is more cushion above break-even. Targets vary by industry; use the percent to compare scenarios, not as a universal rule.

What costs count as fixed vs variable?

Fixed stays roughly constant (rent, salaried overhead). Variable scales with each unit (COGS, shipping, payment fees). Misclassifying costs warps break-even.

How is contribution margin different from gross margin?

Contribution focuses on price minus variable costs per unit (what fights fixed costs). Definitions vary — keep your inputs aligned with how you run the business.

Can break-even be in months instead of units?

Yes if you know monthly unit volume. Units to break even ÷ units per month ≈ months to break even when volume is steady.

What if I have multiple products?

Use a blended contribution or run each product separately. A hero SKU can subsidize others — blended BE can hide a losing line.