Calculate how much you need to sell using your costs and assumptions

Methodology and author

Define context, complete inputs, produce, review and adapt. Designed and signed by Julio Alonzo. Designed and signed by Julio Alonzo.

Requirements and limitations

Calculation basis: all amounts are USD and cover the same 12-month period. Fixed costs and the target are period totals; price and variable cost are per unit sold. Taxes, financing, receipts, payments, inventory and capacity are not modeled. The result is simplified operating profit, not cash flow. Contribution per unit = price − variable cost. Theoretical break-even = fixed cost / contribution. Target units = (fixed cost + profit target) / contribution. Revenue = units × price. The model assumes constant prices, unit costs and fixed costs within the range analyzed. Multiproduct mix consists of unit shares, not revenue shares, and must total 100%. Weighted price and cost use this constant mix. Aggregate units are a theoretical combination of the three lines and may be fractional. Individual lines are not rounded and a feasible whole-unit mix is not promised. Single-product mode: select one of the three lines. Whole units are rounded up and the resulting actual profit is shown. The theoretical figure is the unrounded threshold. With zero fixed costs, break-even at zero volume is zero; this does not mean selling at a negative contribution is profitable. Operating days = theoretical units / units per operating day. The rate must be positive and steady. All costs of the selected period are covered; these are not calendar dates or a receipts forecast. Planned volume is used to calculate revenue, costs and profit for that same period. Scenario 1 conservative: price ×0.90 and variable cost ×1.10; 2 base: ×1 and ×1; 3 aggressive: price ×1.10 and variable cost ×0.95. Factors are editable and purely illustrative. Fixed cost remains constant. One selection drives both models, examples and dashboard. Sensitivity: native two-variable Data Table. Columns = additional price factor, rows = additional variable-cost factor. It recalculates break-even units for the selected mode. The 1×/1× point reconciles to the active model. The table does not change fixed cost, mix or scenario. No finite solution means zero or negative contribution cannot cover a positive fixed-cost-plus-target amount. Review indicates missing or invalid data or an outstanding check. Checks are terminal and do not feed financial formulas. Review losses, assumptions and data before using results. The native Microsoft Excel interface was not tested.

Cutoff date: 2026-10-12