Free finance template
Break-even for a new site
Fixed costs, contribution per order, the orders a day to break even, profit and the safety margin.
It opens with this template loaded and runs in your browser. You don't need an account to use it; a free account saves your work and exports it.
The job it does
Before opening a store, a route or a service: how much volume it needs to pay for itself. It comes with its own checks, so after you change it you can see at a glance that it still does the job.
What's inside
This is the template exactly as the Finance Lab opens it, read-only. Open it to run it, change it and export it.
- 1 sheet
- 6 formulas
- Exports to Excel, CSV and PDF
Break-even is where contribution pays exactly for the fixed costs: fixed costs ÷ contribution per order. ROUNDUP because half an order does not exist. Move orders per day and watch profit cross zero.
- No formula errors anywhere
- B11 is a formula, not a typed number
- B12 is a formula, not a typed number
- B14 is a formula, not a typed number
| Number | Value |
|---|---|
| Break-even orders a day | 157 |
| Profit per month | -$750 |
| Verdict | loses money |
- Orders per day: 150 (from 50 to 400)
- Contribution per order: $4.10 (from 1 to 10)
- Rent per month: $7,000 (from 2000 to 16000)
| Row | A | B |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New dark store: break-even | |
| 2 | Contribution per order | $4.10 |
| 3 | Rent per month | $7,000 |
| 4 | Staff per month | $10,400 |
| 5 | Utilities per month | $1,800 |
| 6 | Orders per day (expected) | 150 |
| 7 | Days open per month | 30 |
| 9 | Fixed costs per month | $19,200 (formula =SUM(B3:B5)) |
| 10 | Break-even orders per month | 4,683 (formula =ROUNDUP(B9/B2,0)) |
| 11 | Break-even orders per day | 157 (formula =ROUNDUP(B10/B7,0)) |
| 12 | Profit per month | -$750 (formula =B6*B7*B2-B9) |
| 13 | Safety margin | -4.7% (formula =IF(B6>0,(B6-B11)/B6,0)) |
| 14 | Verdict | loses money (formula =IF(B12>=0,"breaks even","loses money")) |
The lesson behind it
Learn why it works, with a podcast and a quiz for each lesson.
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