Break-even & cash
Break-Even Sales Calculator
How much do I have to sell before this place makes a dollar?
Split your costs into the ones that move with sales and the ones that arrive whether you open or not. Break-even is the sales figure where what is left over from the first group exactly covers the second.
Your numbers
Pre-filled with a worked example so you can see how it behaves. Type over any field with your own figures. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
The answer
How this is calculated
Total variable cost % = cost of goods % + variable labour % + other variable %
Contribution margin ratio = 1 − total variable cost %
Break-even sales = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin ratio
Break-even covers = break-even sales ÷ average check
What this does not tell you
- Salaried management belongs in fixed costs, not variable labour. Putting it in the wrong bucket moves break-even substantially.
- This is a monthly model. A venue with heavy seasonality should run it against a realistic month, not an annual average.
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