Trident Help

Finance

Break-even point

How many units must you sell before income covers your costs?

Open in Trident

Fixed costs (rent, equipment) stay the same however much you make. Variable costs rise with each unit. Every sale contributes price minus variable cost towards the fixed costs, so the break-even quantity is fixed cost ÷ (price - variable cost).

Example: fixed costs 3,000, each unit costs 15 to make and sells for 20.

Classic Financial II

Start on the main screen: Press 2ND then CPT (QUIT) to leave a worksheet and return to the plain calculator. ON/OFF also drops back to the standard screen and clears an error.

  1. Open the break-even worksheet (2nd, 3). Enter FC = 3000, VC = 15 and P = 20, pressing enter and down each time.

    2NDBRKEVN33000ENTER↓15ENTER↓20ENTER↓

  2. Set the profit PFT to 0, then in the Q line type 0 and enter. Press CPT to compute Q.

    0ENTER↓0ENTERCPT

You should seeQ= 600.00

Classic Financial II key reference · Classic Financial II manual

RPN Financial 12

Start on the main screen: There is no menu to leave: the display always shows the X register. Press f then R/S (P/R) to leave program mode, and clear a pending prefix by pressing ON.

  1. Type fixed costs and ENTER.

    3000ENTER

  2. Work out the profit per unit: 20, ENTER, 15, then subtract. Divide to get the units.

    20ENTER15−÷

You should see600.00

RPN Financial 12 key reference · RPN Financial 12 manual

Natural Scientific 991

Start on the main screen: Press MENU, then 1 (Calculate) to return to the main calculation screen. AC clears the line you are on.

  1. Type fixed costs ÷ (price - variable cost).

    3000÷(20−15)=

You should see600

Natural Scientific 991 key reference · Natural Scientific 991 manual

Tips

Related guides