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Retail economics / cover the fixed costs

Dispensary Break-Even Calculator

Turn your cost structure into a monthly sales threshold. Then check what a specific sales volume would leave.

Browse Dispensary toolsFind your threshold
01 / Set the monthly basis

Three numbers. One threshold.

Use USD. Choose either a unit or an average basket for both selling price and variable cost. Include each cost once; the example is not an industry average.

Keep the cost buckets separate.

Fixed costs cover the month. Variable cost belongs to one sale. Split mixed expenses between those buckets rather than counting the same expense twice.

Keep discounts, tax treatment and product mix consistent with your chosen selling price. The model does not calculate them separately.

Check a monthly sales volumeSee the surplus or shortfall at your entered price and costs.

What if you sell this many?

Keep the three original assumptions. Enter whole units or baskets for one month.

Sales revenue—
Less variable costs—
Less monthly fixed costs—
Surplus / shortfall—

Enter a monthly sales count to check the model.

This is the result after the costs entered, not a demand forecast, net-income estimate or cash-flow projection. Recheck the assumptions if your sales mix or staffing changes.





What it calculates
Use the result as a scenario, not a black box
Find the sales volume required to cover fixed costs before profit begins. Enter monthly fixed expenses, average selling price and variable cost per sale to calculate contribution margin, break-even units and break-even revenue.
Break-even analysis compresses a complicated store into a simple question: how many average sales are needed to cover fixed costs? It is especially useful for scenario testing because you can see how changes in average order value, product cost or rent affect the required volume.
How the math works
Contribution per sale = selling price − variable cost. Contribution margin = contribution ÷ selling price. Break-even units = fixed costs ÷ contribution. Break-even revenue = break-even units × selling price.
Example
With $85,000 in monthly fixed costs, a $55 average sale and $30 of variable cost, each sale contributes $25. Break-even volume is 3,400 sales per month, equal to about $187,000 in revenue.
Review inventory assumptions with Inventory Turnover and keep supplier-side economics separate with Wholesale Margin.
For the broader retail plan, read Business planning tools, Startup budget planner and Setting up a dispensary.
The SBA break-even calculator uses fixed costs divided by the difference between price and variable cost. This tool rounds the resulting sales count up to a whole sale.



FAQ
Questions about this calculator
Should labor be fixed or variable?
It depends on how your staffing behaves. Core salaried labor may be fixed, while hourly coverage that scales with traffic may be partly variable.
Can I use average basket value instead of a product unit?
Yes. Treat each transaction as the unit and use average basket revenue and average variable cost per basket.
What if variable cost is higher than price?
Then contribution is negative and there is no positive break-even volume under that pricing structure.


From threshold to operating plan
Work on the next assumption.
Check price, the complete operating result and the staffing behind your sales volume.
Retail pricingProduct PricingCheck how a different price changes contribution per sale.Retail economicsDispensary MarginCompare the full sales and cost totals for one period.Retail laborBudtender StaffingTranslate transaction demand into service hours and coverage.