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Break-Even Revenue Calculator
Estimate revenue needed to cover fixed costs for a month, quarter, or year using your variable-cost percentage and contribution margin.
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Estimates use unrounded numbers. Displayed amounts round to cents.
What this means
Contribution margin is the share of sales left after variable costs, available to pay fixed costs. It is not the same as operating profit margin. At break-even, that contribution exactly covers the fixed costs for the chosen period.
Worked example
With $10,000 monthly fixed costs and an illustrative 60% variable-cost share, contribution margin is 40%. Break-even monthly revenue is $25,000: $15,000 covers variable costs and $10,000 covers fixed costs, leaving zero operating profit.
How the math works
Contribution margin ratio = 1 − variable cost percentage / 100. Break-even revenue = fixed costs ÷ contribution ratio. Variable costs at break-even = revenue × variable cost percentage / 100.
About this estimate
Costs and revenue use the same selected period. Variable costs scale proportionally with revenue; capacity changes and step costs are not modeled. No financing, payment timing, taxes, or cash-flow schedule is inferred. Variable cost input must be 0–100%. At 100%, positive fixed costs cannot be recovered; above 100% is rejected as outside this model.
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Formula v1.0.0 · Reviewed · Tool ID: break-even-revenue