Break-even point
How much do you need to sell each month to avoid a loss? How many customers a day, and is there enough money to open?
What does this tool do? Shows how much you must sell each month to avoid a loss, how many customers you need a day and whether the money is enough for a new branch.
How it works
- Enter monthly fixed costs — example café: rent 3,000 ₼, wages 5,000 ₼, utilities 800 ₼, other 700 ₼.
- Enter variable costs (ingredients, packaging — 35% of sales in the example) and the average check (25 ₼).
- Result: you need at least 14,615 ₼ of sales a month, about 20 checks a day. With current sales of 18,000 ₼ the cushion before a loss is 18.8%.
New branch: how much money you need
Check the opening cost (fit-out, equipment), tax, the slow sales growth of the first months, the break-even point and how many months your money lasts.
Simplified tax is paid on turnover even in a loss-making month. Check the turnover threshold and VAT with your accountant; depreciation is not modelled — net profit is an estimate.
Existing or planned business
Fixed costs (monthly)
Variable costs and sales
Running cash
Sales are money coming into the till — not profit and not money you can spend. The tool counts stock, late customer payments, supplier credit, deposits, the loss of the first months and the reserve separately.
Break-even in plain words
Running a restaurant without knowing your minimum sales is risky.
What is the break-even point?
It is the monthly sales amount at which the restaurant neither earns nor loses. Every month below it ends in a loss.
Formula
Fixed costs
÷ Share left from each sale %
= Break-even sales (₼)
Share left % = 100% − variable costs %
Fixed and variable costs
Fixed costs don't change even when sales do.
Fixed costs
Rent, wages, insurance, loan payments, licences. Paid even with zero sales.
Variable costs
Ingredients, drinks, packaging, delivery. They grow as sales grow.
Left from each sale
What remains after variable costs (ingredients, packaging) pays the fixed costs.
Cushion
Shows how far current sales are above break-even. Below 20% means you are in the risk zone.
Cushion levels
DK Agency tip
Check break-even weekly, not monthly: problems usually start in the middle of the month, not at the end.
Read full articleOCAQ Panel
Break-even sales, the daily customer target and the sales gap — tracked automatically in the panel.