My margin is negative — what now?

You're losing money on every sale. Either raise prices, cut variable costs (cheaper materials/suppliers), or rethink the product. Selling more won't help — it'll just lose money faster.

Should I include taxes in fixed costs?

Income tax: no (it's a percentage of profit, not fixed). Property tax / business license fees: yes. Sales tax: no — you collect and remit it, it's not your cost.

Break-Even Calculator

Units (and revenue) you need to sell to cover your fixed costs.

Result

Break-even units

217 units/month

Break-even revenue$10,633.00
Per-unit contribution margin$37.00
Contribution margin %75.5%
Total variable costs at break-even$2,604.00
Per-day equivalent (30-day month)7.2 units

How to use this calculator

Add up all your monthly fixed costs (rent, salaries, software, insurance — anything that doesn't change with sales volume).
Enter the price you charge per unit (or per subscriber for SaaS).
Type the variable cost per unit (materials, payment processing, hosting per user).

About this tool

The break-even number is the most basic question in business: how many units do you need to sell each month to cover your fixed costs? Subtract variable cost from price to get your contribution margin (the dollars per sale that go toward fixed overhead and profit). Divide your monthly fixed costs by that margin and you have the break-even number — sales above this turn into actual profit. If your margin is zero or negative, you can't break even — fix that before scaling.

Frequently asked

Anything that's the same whether you sell 1 unit or 1000: rent, salaried staff, monthly software, insurance. NOT: materials, shipping, payment fees, hourly contractors paid per project.