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Fixed costs divided by what a job really leaves behind - the number of jobs a month where the business stops costing you money.
Break-even is the most clarifying number a new business can know: the count of jobs, each month, where you stop losing money. Below it, every month eats savings. Above it, every additional job is mostly profit - because the fixed costs are already paid.
The math has one trap. Fixed costs do not divide by revenue; they divide by contribution - what a job leaves after its own materials, fuel, and helper hours. A $300 job with $60 of variable cost contributes $240, so $3,500 of fixed costs takes fifteen of them, not twelve.
The most common mistake is a break-even that skips the owner. If your fixed costs do not include your own pay, the business "breaks even" while you work for free. Put a real number for yourself in the fixed line - the point of the business is that it pays you.
If the answer says forty jobs a month and you can physically run twenty, the fix is price, not effort - the hourly rate calculator works out what those hours must bill. And when the monthly profit starts covering real life, the go full-time calculator tells you when the paycheck can go.
Fixed monthly costs divided by contribution per job, rounded up. A business with $3,500 of fixed costs whose average job leaves $240 after materials and fuel needs 15 jobs a month. The answer moves fastest when the job price moves, not the job count.
Job revenue minus the costs that job creates - materials, extra fuel, dump fees, helper hours. It is what the job actually hands the business. Dividing fixed costs by full revenue instead of contribution understates the jobs you need and is the classic break-even mistake.
Yes. A break-even that skips the owner means the business breaks even while you work for free. Put a real monthly number for yourself in fixed costs - the target is a business that pays you, then breaks even.
No. Nothing you type is transmitted or stored - the math runs in your browser. There is no account and no email.
See all contractor tools, or jump to follow-up that books the jobs your break-even needs.
Compare the hours and costs you quoted against what the job actually took.
Convert between the two, and find the markup that lands the margin you want.
Work back from the take-home you want, your overhead, and the hours you can actually bill.
A payment schedule from a job total - deposit, progress draw, and balance, the three payments you will actually collect.
Load payroll taxes, comp, benefits, and paid time off into the true hourly cost of a crew member.
Trade-by-trade launch costs, the monthly bills that start on day one, and your runway.
The all-in monthly cost, the cost on every job, and the extra jobs a month that carry it.
The profit that truly replaces a W2 - benefits and self-employment tax included.
Knowing the number is half; booking it is the other half. FEM drafts the follow-up for every sent estimate and reminds you when it is due, so the jobs that cover your fixed costs stop slipping away. Start free - no credit card required.
Build a real estimate freeSolo is $29.99/month with every office feature. Canvass is $59.99/month plus $19.99/month per rep seat.
