Break-Even Calculator
How many units, or billable hours, you need to sell to cover your costs, and to reach the profit you want. The defaults are an example: change them to your own numbers.
2026 rates · verified Oct 21–29, 2026
Break even at
102 units a month
$2,856.00 of sales · contribution margin $18.19 a unit (65.0%)
Margin of safety: 77.3%
| Contribution margin | $18.19 a unit (65.0%) |
|---|---|
| Units to break even | 102 units |
| Sales to break even | $2,856.00 |
| Units for your target profit | 267 units |
| Sales for your target profit | $7,476.00 |
| Margin of safety | 77.3% · $9,744.00 |
| Profit at expected sales | $6,334.60 |
$12,600.00 sales − $4,050.00 variable costs − $365.40 fees − $1,850.00 fixed = $6,334.60
- Over a year: 1,221 units, not 12 × 102 = 1,224. Each period is rounded up to a whole unit on its own.
Revenue Total costs Fixed costs Loss Profit
Revenue meets total costs at 102 units a month ($2,856.00 of sales). Your $3,000.00 target profit takes 267 units. Expected sales: 450 units.
Show the chart’s numbers
| Point | Units | Revenue | Total costs | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No sales | 0 units | $0.00 | $1,850.00 | -$1,850.00 |
| Break-even | 102 units | $2,856.00 | $2,850.82 | $5.18 |
| Target profit | 267 units | $7,476.00 | $4,469.80 | $3,006.20 |
| Expected sales | 450 units | $12,600.00 | $6,265.40 | $6,334.60 |
| End of the chart | 500 units | $14,000.00 | $6,756.00 | $7,244.00 |
What moves break-even
| Change | Break-even (units a month) |
|---|---|
| Your numbers | 102 |
| Price −10% ($25.20) | 120 |
| Price +10% ($30.80) | 89 |
| Variable cost +10% ($9.90) | 108 |
| Variable cost −10% ($8.10) | 97 |
| Fixed costs +10% ($2,035) | 112 |
| Fixed costs −10% ($1,665) | 92 |
A 10% price cut moves break-even the most: from 102 to 120 units.
Your inputs
Calculated in your browser. Your numbers never leave your device.
What break-even means
Break-even is the point where your sales cover all your costs: you’ve made no profit, but you’ve stopped losing money. The key number is the contribution margin: what each sale leaves after the costs that come with it. A candle that sells for $28.00 and costs $9.00 to make, with a 2.9% card fee, leaves $18.19. Every sale’s margin goes toward your fixed costs first; once they’re covered, the rest is profit.
Fixed and variable costs
Variable costs rise with each sale: materials, packaging, shipping, card and marketplace fees, a commission. For a service, it’s what each billable hour costs you: per-hour software, mileage to a client, supplies. Fixed costs stay the same whether you sell a lot or nothing: rent, insurance, your website and software subscriptions, phone and internet, an accountant.
Your own pay goes in one place only. Either enter it as the target profit, or count it as a fixed cost and leave the target at $0, but not both.
How this is calculated
- Contribution margin = price − variable cost − (percentage costs × price). It’s worked out in full and rounded to the cent for display only.
- Break-even = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin. Products are rounded up to a whole unit, because you can’t sell part of one; billable hours are shown to one decimal.
- Sales to break even = the units shown × the price.
- Target profit: the same, with (fixed costs + target profit) ÷ contribution margin.
- Margin of safety = (expected sales − break-even) ÷ expected sales: how far sales can fall before you lose money.
- Profit at expected sales = expected sales × contribution margin − fixed costs.
- Monthly and annual results are each worked out from their own totals (a month × 12, a week × 52), so a year can need a few units less than 12 × a month.
Worked example
A candle maker in Alberta, registered for GST, sells candles at $28.00. Each costs $7.50 in materials, $1.20 in packaging and a $0.30 per-sale fee, plus the 2.9% card fee. Fixed costs are $1,850 a month, and they’d like a $3,000 profit a month. They expect to sell 450 candles a month.
| Price per candle | $28.00 |
|---|---|
| Materials, packaging and per-sale fee | −$9.00 |
| Card fee (2.9% of the price) | −$0.81 |
| Contribution margin per candle | $18.19 |
| Break-even: $1,850 ÷ $18.188 = 101.7, rounded up | 102 candles |
| Sales to break even: 102 × $28.00 | $2,856.00 |
| For a $3,000 profit: $4,850 ÷ $18.188 = 266.7, rounded up | 267 candles |
| Sales for that profit: 267 × $28.00 | $7,476.00 |
| Margin of safety: (450 − 102) ÷ 450 | 77.3% · $9,744.00 |
| Profit at 450 candles a month: $12,600.00 − $4,050.00 − $365.40 card fees − $1,850 fixed | $6,334.60 |
The margin is shown as $18.19, but the calculator divides by the full 18.188: the cent rounding is for display only. Over a year, $22,200 of fixed costs needs 1,221 candles, not 12 × 102 = 1,224: each period is rounded up on its own.
The table under the results shows that a 10% price cut, to $25.20, would move break-even from 102 to 120 candles, more than any other change. Price usually matters most because a price cut comes straight out of the margin, while the same cut in costs is a smaller share of it.
Reading the margin of safety
A margin of safety of 77.3% means sales could fall by that much before the business stops covering its costs. A thin margin (under 10 or 20%) means a slow month or a lost client puts you below break-even. If expected sales are below break-even, the calculator says by how many units or hours.
GST/HST and break-even
If you’re registered for GST/HST, the tax you charge isn’t revenue: you collect it and send it to CRA. So enter prices before tax, and enter costs without the GST/HST you get back as input tax credits. If you aren’t registered, you can’t claim that tax back, so enter costs including it.
You can stay unregistered as a small supplier while your taxable sales are $30,000 or less in a calendar quarter and over the last four quarters together (CRA). Past that you must register and charge GST/HST. If your expected sales (or your target, without expected sales) would pass the limit and you aren’t registered, the calculator says so and shows break-even with the tax taken out of your current price.
What this calculator assumes
- A constant price and constant variable cost per unit at every volume; no bulk discounts or price breaks.
- Fixed costs that stay fixed across the range shown. In real life a big jump in sales can need more space or help.
- Profit before income tax, and no Quick Method for GST/HST.
- For a mix of products or services, one average price and cost.
Frequently asked questions
Should I include my own pay?
Yes, once: either put what you want to pay yourself in as the target profit, or add it to your fixed costs and leave the target at $0. Doing both counts your pay twice. Many people start with the target profit, because then the plain break-even shows the point where the business stops costing you money.
What about income tax?
The target profit here is before income tax. As a sole proprietor your profit is taxed as your income, with both halves of CPP on top. The self-employed tax calculator shows what you’d keep from it; the link under the results carries your profit there.
Does this work if I sell more than one product?
Use an average price and an average variable cost for the mix you usually sell, and read the answer as units of that average mix. If the mix changes (more of the cheap item, less of the expensive one), break-even changes with it.
Why is break-even rounded up?
You can’t sell part of a candle: at 101.7 you haven’t covered your costs yet, so the answer is the next whole unit. Hours are different, since you can bill part of an hour, so services show hours to one decimal without rounding up.
What if I use the Quick Method for GST/HST?
This calculator doesn’t model it. With the Quick Method you remit a set percentage of what you charge instead of claiming input tax credits, so your costs and what you keep differ a little from what’s shown. CRA explains it in Guide RC4058, Quick Method of Accounting for GST/HST.
Rates for tax year 2026, verified to · Page updated
Sources
Federal
- CRA – When to register for and start charging the GST/HST · checked
- CRA – Input tax credits · checked
- CRA – Guide RC4058, Quick Method of Accounting for GST/HST · checked
- CRA – GST/HST calculator (and rates) · checked
Provincial and territorial
- Government of B.C. – Provincial sales tax (PST) · checked
- Manitoba Finance – Retail sales tax (cut from 8% to 7% July 1, 2019, per Budget 2019) · checked
- Revenu Québec – Tables of GST and QST rates · checked
- Government of Saskatchewan – Provincial sales tax (6% since March 23, 2017, per Budget 2017-18) · checked