The break-even point is the revenue or unit volume where your total income equals total costs, no profit, no loss. Calculate it by dividing your total fixed costs by your gross profit margin (for revenue break-even) or by your contribution margin per unit (for unit break-even). Every small business owner should know this number before making any pricing, hiring, or expansion decision.
Break-Even Calculator for Accounting Firm
Pre-filled with real accounting firm industry benchmarks
Accounting firms have a cost structure dominated by people. Staff salaries and benefits typically account for 45 to 55% of revenue, with partner compensation on top of that. Beyond payroll, your fixed costs include office lease, professional liability (E&O) insurance, accounting software subscriptions (tax prep, audit, practice management), continuing professional education, and state licensing. The challenge with break-even for an accounting firm is the extreme seasonality: 40 to 50% of annual revenue for many tax-focused firms arrives between January and April 15. That means your firm must generate enough revenue in 3.5 months to carry 12 months of fixed overhead, or you must build a practice mix that includes year-round services like bookkeeping, advisory, payroll, and CFO services. This calculator helps you model break-even based on your service mix, billing rates, and staffing costs so you can see whether your current structure is sustainable.
Break-Even Calculator
Pre-filled with accounting firm industry defaults. Edit any field to use your real numbers.
Break-Even Units
54
Break-Even Revenue
$27,000
Contribution Margin
95.0%
Accounting Firm industry average margin: 95.0% gross margin with 5.0% COGS.