Chimney & fireplace
Chimney Break-Even Calculator
Works break-even for a chimney business, where the quiet season sets the challenge.
Result
Break-even, not a target. It is the point where the business stops losing money, which is a floor rather than a plan. Owner's pay only counts here if it is inside the fixed costs you entered.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Fixed costs divided by gross profit per job gives the jobs needed per month to cover them. The complication in this trade is that the fixed costs are level across the year while the jobs are not, so a figure that is comfortably met in October is unreachable in May. The useful way to read it is annually: total fixed cost for the year divided by average gross profit per job gives the jobs the year needs, and then the question is whether the season can deliver them.
What moves the number
- Annual fixed costs including vehicles, equipment, insurance and certification.
- Average gross profit per job, which varies by service line.
- Seasonal distribution, which determines whether the annual number is achievable.
- Whether staff are retained through the off season.
Where this one goes wrong
Run this annually rather than monthly, because a monthly break-even in this trade is met easily in peak and impossible in spring, which makes the monthly figure useless for planning. The annual number tells you how many jobs the year has to produce, and then the capacity question is whether they fit into the months when people call. That is often the binding constraint rather than demand: a business can have more autumn demand than it can physically service while still falling short annually. Retaining staff through the quiet season raises the fixed cost and preserves the capacity to handle the peak, which is a deliberate trade.
Before you quote
- Calculate break-even annually, not monthly.
- Check whether the annual job count fits into the season's capacity.
- Treat off-season staff retention as a deliberate fixed cost decision.
Questions
About this calculator
Why is monthly break-even misleading for a chimney business?
Because demand is concentrated into a few months while the fixed costs are level. A monthly figure is comfortably beaten in autumn and impossible in spring, so it describes no real month. The annual number tells you what the year has to produce, which is the figure you can plan against.
Can peak demand exceed capacity?
Frequently, and it is often the real constraint rather than demand. A business can be turning work away in October and still fall short on the year, because the jobs it needs do not fit into the months when people call. That is a capacity and scheduling problem rather than a marketing one.
Should staff be kept on through the quiet season?
It raises the fixed cost and preserves trained capacity for the peak, including certified technicians who are hard to replace. Letting them go lowers break-even and risks being understaffed when the season arrives. It is a deliberate trade rather than an obvious answer.
The formula
break-even jobs = fixed costs / (average job value x gross margin%)
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How to use this calculator
- Monthly fixed costs ($). Rent, office wages, insurance, vehicle payments, software, advertising.
- Average job value ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $420.
- Gross margin per job (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 52%.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to jobs needed per month, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Monthly fixed costs | $7,200 |
| Average job value | $420 |
| Gross margin per job | 52% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Jobs needed per month main result | 33 |
| Revenue needed per month | $13,860 |
| Gross profit per job | $218.40 |
| Jobs per working day | 1.5 |
You need 33 jobs a month, about 1.5 a working day, to cover $7,200 of fixed cost. That is $13,860 of revenue before the business earns anything.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only monthly fixed costs, this is what happens to jobs needed per month. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Monthly fixed costs ($) | Jobs needed per month |
|---|---|
| $3,600 | 17 |
| $5,400 | 25 |
| $7,200 example above | 33 |
| $10,800 | 50 |
| $14,400 | 66 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Monthly fixed costs ($)
- Rent, office wages, insurance, vehicle payments, software, advertising.
- Average job value ($)
- A money amount, starting at $420.
- Gross margin per job (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 95, starting at 52%.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Jobs needed per month | The headline result. A number. |
| Revenue needed per month | A money figure. |
| Gross profit per job | A money figure. |
| Jobs per working day | A decimal figure. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.