Break-Even Point Calculator
Work out how many units you need to sell each month to cover your fixed costs and start making profit.
How to use
- 1
Add up your monthly fixed costs. These are the bills that arrive whether you sell anything or not — rent, salaries, software, insurance, accountant. Trade license costs divided by 12.
- 2
Enter your selling price per unit. If you sell different things at different prices, use the price of your most common product or service.
- 3
Enter the variable cost per unit. This is what each ADDITIONAL sale costs you — materials, packaging, transaction fees, sales commission. Costs that go up with volume.
- 4
Optionally enter a target profit. Want to know how many units you need to sell to make AED 30,000 profit a month? Enter 30,000.
- 5
The result shows your break-even number of units (and revenue), plus what you'd need to hit your target profit. Daily targets too, assuming a 30-day month.
- 6
Reality check: if your break-even is more than you currently sell, you have a clear gap to close — either grow sales, raise prices, or cut fixed costs.
Frequently asked questions
The sales level where you stop losing money and start making it. If your fixed costs are AED 50,000/month and each sale contributes AED 120 toward covering them, you need 50,000 ÷ 120 = 417 sales just to break even. The 418th sale is the first dollar of profit.
Fixed costs stay the same regardless of how much you sell — rent is rent whether you sell 0 or 1,000 units. Variable costs scale with each sale: materials, payment processing fees, packaging, commission. Salaries are often fixed unless you pay purely on commission.
Selling price minus variable cost. It's what each individual sale contributes toward covering your fixed costs. If you sell something for AED 200 with AED 80 of variable cost, contribution margin is AED 120 per unit. The bigger this number, the fewer units you need to break even.
Three levers: raise your selling price, cut variable costs (negotiate better material prices, switch suppliers, eliminate processing fees), or reduce fixed costs (sublease space, drop unused subscriptions, defer hires). Most businesses focus on revenue but fixed-cost reductions improve break-even fastest.
Yes if you're treating yourself as an employee with a fair market salary. For a more conservative view: include your full market salary. For a 'minimum viability' view: include just what you need to survive. The difference shows you the gap between 'paying the bills' and 'genuinely viable'.
Something you can realistically reach within 6-12 months of normal operations. If you need 500 sales a month to break even and you currently average 150, you have a serious gap. If break-even is 200 and you do 350, the business is profitable and the question is how much you can grow it.
Yes. For a service business, 'unit' = billable hour or per-client engagement. For SaaS, 'unit' = a monthly subscription. Variable costs are usually low for these (mainly payment processing), so contribution margin is high and break-even comes from a smaller customer count.
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Source: Standard managerial-accounting break-even formula · Last verified 2026-06. This tool provides estimates only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Always verify your specific situation with the relevant UAE authority or a licensed advisor before taking action.