Grounds ToolkitBusiness Profitability
What Revenue Is Needed This Period to Cover Fixed and Labor Costs?
Enter fixed costs, crew size, hours, and wage. This shows strict break-even revenue and what it takes to hit a target margin instead.
How this is calculated
Labor cost for the period is crew size times hours per week times weeks, at the loaded labor rate (see Loaded Labor Rate). Total costs add that to fixed costs. Break-even revenue equals total costs, target margin revenue divides total costs by one minus the target margin, the same relationship Minimum Profitable Job Price uses at the job level.
Worked example
A 3-person crew works 40 hours a week for 4 weeks at a $20 wage (26.00 loaded), that's 480 crew-hours costing $12,480. Added to $2,000 in fixed costs, total costs are $14,480, the strict break-even point. At a 35% target margin, revenue needs to reach $22,276.92 instead.
Guide: The Break-Even Revenue Guide, break-even versus the larger target-margin number, worked through weekly.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as fixed costs?
Costs that do not change with how much work gets done this period, like insurance, loan payments, rent, or software. It excludes labor, which this calculator adds separately based on crew size and hours.
Why show two numbers, break-even and target margin revenue?
Break-even revenue covers costs with zero profit, useful as a floor. Target margin revenue is what it actually takes to run the business at a healthy margin, the number that matters day to day.
Does this include equipment or material costs?
Only if you fold them into fixed costs. This calculator adds labor automatically from crew size and hours, everything else goes into the fixed cost figure you enter.
What period should I use?
Whatever matches how you think about the business, commonly a month or a season. Just make sure fixed costs and the weeks entered cover the same period.