Calculate a Breakeven Point – How to

Calculate a Breakeven Point

Understanding Your Breakeven Point as a Small Business Owner

As a small business owner in the UK, it's important to understand your breakeven point. This is the point at which your total costs equal your total sales, and there is no net profit or loss. Knowing where this point lies can help you better plan for the future of your business and ensure that you remain profitable. Let's take a closer look at how to calculate your breakeven point and what it means for you.


Fixed Costs vs Variable Costs

The first step in understanding your breakeven point is to identify all of your fixed costs and variable costs. Fixed costs are expenses that remain constant regardless of sales activity, such as rent and insurance premiums. Variable costs, on the other hand, are expenses that vary with sales activity—for example, cost of goods sold or materials used in production. It's important to know how much each type of cost contributes to overall expenses so that you can accurately calculate breakeven point.


Calculating Breakeven Point

Once you have identified all of your fixed and variable costs, you can begin calculating your breakeven point. You will need to know three key pieces of information: total fixed costs, total variable cost per unit (the amount it takes to produce one unit), and sale price per unit (the amount charged for one unit). With these three numbers in hand, you simply divide the total fixed cost by the difference between the sale price per unit and the variable cost per unit—this will tell you how many units you need to sell in order to reach breakeven.


Understanding Implications

Knowing where your breakeven point lies gives you an indication of how much revenue needs to be generated in order for your business operations to become profitable. This information is invaluable when planning for growth or making decisions about pricing strategies; if prices are too low, they may not cover variable costs associated with producing one unit—and thus profits will not be realised until well past the breakeven point. On the other hand, if prices are too high then customers may not be willing to purchase—resulting in lower than expected sales volumes.


Breakeven points provide invaluable insight into a small business’s financial health and future potential success. By understanding both fixed and variable costs associated with production as well as sale prices per unit, UK small business owners can accurately pinpoint their respective breakeven points—giving them peace of mind knowing that their businesses remain profitable even during periods of low demand or unexpected economic downturns. With these insights on hand, UK small business owners have a greater chance of success moving forward!


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About the Author

Annette Ferguson 

Owner of Annette & Co. - Chartered Accountants & Certified Profit First Professionals. Helping online service-based entrepreneurs find clarity in their numbers, increase wealth and have more money in their pockets.

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