This calculator shows how many units you need to sell to achieve a specific profit target after covering all costs.
It builds on break-even analysis by adding your desired profit, giving you a clear and actionable sales goal. This is essential for pricing strategy, business planning, and scaling.
If your required units are too high, it indicates your pricing or cost structure needs improvement.
The result shows how many units you must sell to cover fixed costs and achieve your target profit.
If this number is high, your pricing or cost structure may need improvement. Lowering costs or increasing price can significantly reduce the required units.
Units = (Fixed Costs + Target Profit) ÷ Contribution per unit
Contribution per unit is calculated as price minus variable cost. This determines how much each sale contributes toward profit.
This calculator is essential for setting realistic business goals. It shows whether your current pricing and costs can support your desired profit level.
For ecommerce businesses, this becomes critical when factoring in advertising costs, platform fees, shipping, and VAT. If your contribution margin is too low, your required sales volume may become unrealistic.
Improving contribution margin — even slightly — can dramatically reduce the number of units required to hit your profit target.
Example 1:
Fixed £2,000, Target £1,500, Contribution £15 → Units = 234
Example 2:
Fixed £5,000, Target £3,000, Contribution £20 → Units = 400
Example 3:
Low contribution margin leads to very high required sales volume.
The profit you aim to achieve after all costs.
You must sell whole units to reach your goal.
Yes, it is widely used for pricing and planning.