Free Break-Even Calculator: Profit per Sale and Sales Needed
For a small business or side business, two numbers matter most: how much you really keep from each sale after costs and fees, and how many sales a month it takes to cover your fixed costs. This calculator works out both, plus your profit at the number of sales you expect.
It runs in your browser. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere. The numbers filled in below are a made-up example; change them to yours.
How the math works
- Fees per sale = price × fee % + flat fee. Look up your own platform's and payment processor's current fees.
- Profit per sale (also called contribution margin) = price − cost per item − fees per sale. Margin = that ÷ price.
- Break-even sales = fixed costs per month ÷ profit per sale, rounded up to a whole sale.
- Profit = sales × profit per sale − fixed costs. It's before income tax and before paying yourself, and it leaves out your time.
Example (made up): a $25 item that costs $8 to make with 10% in fees keeps $14.50 per sale (58% margin). With $300 a month in fixed costs, it takes 21 sales ($525) to break even, and 40 sales a month makes $280 profit.
This is general information, not financial or tax advice.
Track the real numbers every month
The Small Business Bookkeeping Tracker ($12) is a spreadsheet where you log each sale or expense once, and your profit and loss, dashboard and deductible-expense summary fill in on their own. Works in Excel and Google Sheets.
Get the tracker on Gumroad – $12
This template is also in the Self-Employed & Small Business Bundle (what's inside): all 9 business tools for $29 (about $80 if bought one by one).
We make this template, so take that into account. The calculator above is free to use either way.
Related free guides
- How to Price a Product: Cost-Plus vs. Market Pricing
- How to Price Handmade Products for Profit
- Simple Profit and Loss Statement for a Small Business
- How to Sort Small Business Expenses Into Categories
More free tools: all calculators.
See all Cedar & Ledger templates