How to calculate break-even for your retail store

ParallelPOS · Updated June 2026

Break-even is the simplest number that tells you whether a day, a week or a product is actually making money. Here's how to calculate it — and how to see it live.

The formula

Break-even sales = Fixed costs ÷ (1 − variable-cost ratio). In plain terms: how much you need to sell to cover everything before you start keeping profit.

Fixed vs variable costs

A quick example

If your fixed costs are $10,000/month and your products cost 60% of their price (a 40% margin), you break even at $10,000 ÷ 0.40 = $25,000 in monthly sales. Everything above that is profit.

Stop calculating it by hand

The numbers change constantly, so a static spreadsheet is always out of date. ParallelPOS tracks break-even from your live sales and flags the moment you cross into profit — with an AI copilot that catches margin dips before they hurt.