Break-even calculator
Load public case assumptions, keep the stated unit and service mix, and test the monthly commitments. This quick check is separate from each 60-month forecast.
Default example: Coffee shop. Unit: paid café ticket. These are illustrative public case assumptions.
The stated ingredient, packaging and payment-cost mix stays fixed.
Read unit economics · Read the monthly forecast
- Contribution per unit
- Whole units / month covering operating commitments
- Whole units / month including scheduled debt
- Average per trading day including debt
- Sales at the whole-unit debt threshold
Whole-unit volumes round upward only after exact decimal calculation. Money rounds half-up to cents for display. A positive threshold is not proof of capacity or demand; equality covers the entered commitments and does not promise a profit.
Public assumptions and source context
All commitments are monthly and include the stated paid roster and owner work. Prices and contributions come from public case input formulas or saved educational model outputs, not supplier quotes or industry averages. Finite source formulas remain exact; repeating source coefficients use 28 decimal digits. Coefficients load without display rounding, and the table displays money rounded to cents.
| Case and unit | Price / unit | Contribution / unit | Variable cost / unit | Full monthly fixed | Monthly debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General auto repair shop billed repair hour The labor-plus-parts ratio stays fixed; technician and owner pay are in monthly fixed costs. Monthly forecast | $225.00 | $157.25 | $67.75 | $28,207.33 | $2,048.34 |
| Bookkeeping service business-specific operating constraints Client tiers have distinct delivery and owner-review hours, with onboarding work and stepwise hiring. The public workload margin allocates paid labor and is not the company contribution numerator. Use the complete paid roster and client-cohort forecast. Monthly forecast | Business-specific calculation required. Read the unit and capacity table. | ||||
| Catering company business-specific operating constraints Drop-offs and staffed buffets have different guest guarantees, worker ceilings and preparation demands. Busy months add flexible prep hours; advance deposits and cancellation refunds have their own timing. Use the event-group and paid-capacity tables. Monthly forecast | Business-specific calculation required. Read the unit and capacity table. | ||||
| Child care center business-specific operating constraints Preschool payroll changes at each classroom step. Cash after debt is positive at enrollment 34–36 and 39–48 in the public case, with a return to negative cash at 37–38. A single linear threshold would be misleading. Monthly forecast | Business-specific calculation required. Read the unit and capacity table. | ||||
| Coffee shop paid café ticket The stated ingredient, packaging and payment-cost mix stays fixed. Monthly forecast | $8.25 | $5.43 | $2.83 | $18,979.20 | $1,982.26 |
| Commercial cleaning company business-specific operating constraints Employee minimum shifts and paid owner coverage change the company cost curve. The public marginal account contribution is a replacement-labor bid test, not a linear whole-company break-even numerator. Use the account-by-account table. Monthly forecast | Business-specific calculation required. Read the unit and capacity table. | ||||
| Commercial print shop short marketing print job Short-job-only commitment test at the stated sheet count, setup, spoilage and finishing scope. Full paid operator/owner work and overhead are retained, with no credit for medium or longer jobs. Check setup hours, staff capacity and invoice collections in the monthly forecast. Monthly forecast | $258.44 | $182.47 | $75.97 | $16,431.20 | $2,066.25 |
| Counter-service restaurant fulfilled meal order Gross receipt less refunds, channel fees, food, packaging and variable utilities. Keep the stated dine-in/pickup/marketplace mix and mature shift roster. Monthly forecast | $15.50 | $8.78 | $6.72 | $29,289.76 | $2,510.86 |
| CPA practice business-specific operating constraints Recurring accounting and seasonal tax engagements use different productive hours, preparer/owner review and collection calendars. A fee per client cannot represent this mix and seasonal roster. Use the service workload and monthly cash tables. Monthly forecast | Business-specific calculation required. Read the unit and capacity table. | ||||
| General dental practice business-specific operating constraints Dentist and hygiene episodes consume different clinician hours, including dentist checks and multi-visit crowns. A single average patient price would erase those resource constraints and payer collection timing. Use the episode and clinician-capacity tables. Monthly forecast | Business-specific calculation required. Read the unit and capacity table. | ||||
| Electrical contractor two-person crew clock hour One crew clock hour is two person-hours. Keep the public service/install mix and avoid deducting the same paid roster twice. Monthly forecast | $315.50 | $227.46 | $88.04 | $17,082.40 | $1,308.63 |
| Food truck fulfilled order Year 1 neutral schedule: 22 scheduled service windows, 95% availability; owner/assistant pay, site fees and travel are in commitments. The peak helper is excluded only below its stated trigger. Monthly forecast | $15.60 | $10.60 | $5.00 | $14,983.55 | $1,494.11 |
| Full-service restaurant guest cover The stated menu mix and full paid roster stay fixed. Check seating and shift capacity separately. Monthly forecast | $38.00 | $23.30 | $14.70 | $48,821.67 | $3,964.52 |
| Hair salon booked service hour This is booked service time, not an appointment count. Employee and owner compensation stay in fixed costs. Monthly forecast | $95.00 | $74.15 | $20.85 | $23,010.10 | $1,189.36 |
| HVAC service and installation blended service/install job Keep the published service-call and installation mix. Changing that mix requires a separate labor and materials calculation. Monthly forecast | $665.77 | $321.26 | $344.51 | $22,145.67 | $1,717.96 |
| Independent insurance agency business-specific operating constraints New commissions, renewals, return commissions and carrier collection delays belong to different policy cohorts. Staffing also changes with the active book. Premium volume is not agency revenue; use the commission and licensed-capacity tables with the monthly forecast. Monthly forecast | Business-specific calculation required. Read the unit and capacity table. | ||||
| Residential landscaping service route visit Keep the stated visit scope and travel burden. This steady-month check does not represent the seasonal cash path. Monthly forecast | $185.00 | $158.45 | $26.55 | $13,509.67 | $1,057.21 |
| Self-service laundromat paid wash with expected drying Use the published Month 12 blended mix, including attached dryer sales and refunds. This is one paid wash, not one dryer cycle. Monthly forecast | $8.18 | $6.86 | $1.32 | $10,959.60 | $5,814.63 |
| Local freight trucking company paid vehicle-day One truck and qualified driver on the stated local route. Keep the billed waiting, empty mileage and fuel assumptions. The full owner/driver roster stays fixed; invoice collections and downtime need the monthly forecast. Monthly forecast | $902.50 | $770.69 | $131.81 | $17,326.48 | $2,579.27 |
| Employee-operated nail salon completed blended booking Keep the public classic/gel/pedicure/combo mix. Fixed costs include all paid technician and owner payroll plus overhead. Monthly forecast | $78.00 | $70.34 | $7.66 | $27,052.72 | $1,754.15 |
| Neighborhood grocery store business-specific operating constraints The basket contribution is a useful unit measure, but checkout and stocking workloads add paid staffing steps. Inventory, card receivables and supplier terms change cash separately. Use the published basket/roster threshold and the complete monthly ledger. Monthly forecast | Business-specific calculation required. Read the unit and capacity table. | ||||
| Neighborhood gym active member-month Keep the stated personal-training attachment. This check does not model joins, churn or peak attendance. Monthly forecast | $71.00 | $64.87 | $6.13 | $24,826.67 | $3,039.47 |
| Painting contractor interior bid person-hour Interior repaint basis, including the published materials markup and variable costs. Full company roster is retained; exterior/weather mix and collection timing are outside this check. Monthly forecast | $75.20 | $68.48 | $6.72 | $19,350.00 | $925.06 |
| Pet grooming salon completed blended pet service Keep the public dog/cat/service mix and first-year rates. Paid owner/groomer/support work is in the full monthly roster. Monthly forecast | $110.00 | $99.54 | $10.46 | $29,958.63 | $1,321.51 |
| Physical therapy clinic completed therapy visit Keep the published payer mix, expected net realization and one-to-one visit scope. All clinician, administration and paid owner work remains in monthly commitments. This steady-collection test does not forecast delayed insurance receipts or cancellations. Monthly forecast | $121.75 | $111.75 | $10.00 | $31,072.67 | $2,158.96 |
| Residential remodeling contractor completed reference project Keep the stated project scope, subcontracting and paid crew. Collections and deposits need the monthly forecast. Monthly forecast | $38,000.00 | $15,620.00 | $22,380.00 | $25,035.00 | $1,453.66 |
| Retail bakery sold pan loaf Loaf-only commitment test at first-year prices and base sale-through. Ingredients are converted from produced to sold loaves. The full bakery roster, overhead and operating utilities are retained; bun and cookie revenue is excluded. Whole-tray capacity still requires the bakery forecast. Monthly forecast | $7.50 | $5.83 | $1.67 | $23,732.05 | $2,158.96 |
| Roofing contractor reference roof replacement Roof-only commitment test: retain the full monthly roster and overhead, with no credit for repair-job sales. Weather, collection timing, supplier prepayments and subcontract capacity require the full forecast. Monthly forecast | $15,000.00 | $5,857.40 | $9,142.60 | $18,041.33 | $1,214.41 |
| Self-service car wash paid wash session Keep the stated wash duration, resource use and uptime. This is not a tunnel-wash model. Monthly forecast | $10.00 | $8.02 | $1.98 | $12,701.33 | $2,643.01 |
| General veterinary clinic completed blended outpatient visit Keep the stated wellness, illness and extended-visit mix at Year 1 prices. Expected collectible revenue is used once; all veterinarian, technician and owner payroll remains fixed. Whole visit classes, clinician capacity and delayed collections require the monthly model. Monthly forecast | $242.25 | $170.65 | $71.60 | $40,900.80 | $3,040.84 |
What this quick check measures
Contribution equals the defined unit’s price less its variable costs. Operating units cover the entered monthly roster, owner pay and overhead. The debt threshold adds scheduled principal and interest once. It measures a steady-month commitment test before income taxes, depreciation and changing working capital.
Trading-day averages are optional. Members are member-months; a crew clock hour and a person-hour are distinct units. Mixed services retain their stated mix. A loaf-only or roof-only test excludes revenue from the other products listed in its scope. Read each case’s limits before editing.
Keep the monthly forecast alongside this result
This tool does not run the 60-month financial model. It does not model opening delays, ramp-up, seasonality, churn, capacity, staffing changes, inflation, taxes, inventory, receivables, payables or cash recovery. Use the linked business forecast for those questions. Include paid owner work in operating commitments, and keep loan interest out of fixed operating costs when the combined payment is in the debt field.