Sales needed each month
61
- Sales per working day
- 2.8
- Revenue needed
- $2,745
- Profit on each sale
- $26.95
- Sales just to cover fixed costs
- 5
- Below this you make a loss for the month.
- Profit at that number of sales
- $1,524
This calculator produces estimates from the numbers you enter, so it is only as accurate as your inputs. It is not tax, accounting or legal advice. Rules and fees differ by country and change over time; check the current terms that apply to you.
The short answer
Divide what you need to cover, your profit goal plus fixed monthly costs, by the profit you make on each sale after fees and per-sale costs. Round up, because you cannot sell part of an order. If profit per sale is zero or negative, no number of sales reaches your goal, and the fix is price or costs, not volume.
Worked example
These are the example values loaded into the calculator above, run through exactly the same formulas, so you can check the method against your own numbers.
| Inputs | |
|---|---|
| Monthly profit goal | $1,500 |
| Fixed monthly costs | $120.00 |
| Price per sale | $45.00 |
| Cost per sale | $14.00 |
| Fees | 9% |
| Results | |
|---|---|
| Profit on each sale | $26.95 |
| Sales needed per month | 61 |
| Revenue needed | $2,745 |
| Sales to cover fixed costs only | 5 |
Setting an income goal is easy. Knowing what it means in daily work is harder. "I want to earn 1,500 a month from a side hustle" sounds reasonable until you find it needs sixty sales, which is nearly three a day. This calculator does that translation, and it does it after fees and costs, which is the step most people skip.
How to use this calculator
- Enter the monthly profit you want to keep.
- Enter your fixed monthly costs: tools, subscriptions, insurance, anything that does not change with sales.
- Enter the price of one sale. For freelancers, this is the price of a typical project.
- Enter the cost per sale: materials, shipping, contractor time, anything that arrives with each order.
- Enter the percentage fees taken by platforms or payment processors.
- Enter how many days a month you work.
The formulas
- Profit per sale = price × (1 − fee rate) − cost per sale
- Sales needed = (profit goal + fixed costs) ÷ profit per sale, rounded up
- Revenue needed = sales needed × price
- Break-even sales = fixed costs ÷ profit per sale, rounded up
- Sales per working day = sales needed ÷ working days
Rounding up matters. At the default numbers the division gives just over sixty sales, and the calculator reports sixty-one, so that the profit really does reach the goal. The tests confirm that the profit at the rounded-up number is never below your target.
How to read your result
Start with profit per sale. It is the engine of the whole calculation, and small changes to it move the answer a lot. If it is low, you need many sales; if it is negative, more sales only mean bigger losses, and the calculator will say so.
Then look at sales per working day. This is the number to test against reality. Ask honestly whether you can find, serve and deliver that many customers with the time you have. If not, the calculation has told you what has to change before you begin.
The break-even sales figure shows how many sales you need just to pay your fixed costs. Below it, you lose money in the month, which is worth knowing before you commit to subscriptions.
Levers when the number is too high
There are only four honest ways to reduce the number of sales you need.
Raise the price. A small price increase usually increases profit per sale by far more than it increases anything else. Test it with the profit margin calculator.
Cut per-sale costs. Better suppliers, lighter packaging or a faster process can lift profit per sale.
Reduce fixed costs. Cancel tools you barely use.
Lower or defer the goal. A smaller target reached sooner is better than a large one never reached.
Volume is the fifth lever, but it is the hardest, because finding customers costs time or advertising. If you use paid traffic, check the economics with the break-even ROAS calculator.
Is your time in the numbers?
This calculator gives you profit, not pay for your time. If the goal takes forty hours a week to reach, the real hourly rate may be lower than it looks. Compare the answer with what an hour of your time could earn elsewhere, using the freelance hourly rate calculator. Our guide to side hustles and our comparison of a side hustle and an online business explain how to decide how far to take an idea.
Common mistakes
Setting a goal without fees and costs. Revenue is not profit.
Ignoring fixed costs. Small subscriptions add up.
Assuming constant demand. Sales rarely arrive evenly through the month.
Forgetting refunds and returns. They reduce real profit per sale.
Not planning where customers come from. A number of sales is only a target until you know how you will reach them.
Assumptions and limits
This calculator assumes one product or offer at one price, steady costs and steady fees. It ignores tax, refunds, seasonality, discounts and the time needed to find customers. It shows the volume implied by your assumptions, not the volume you will achieve. Earnings figures on this site are examples, never promises; see our earnings disclaimer.
Frequently asked questions
How many sales do I need to make a living?
Add the profit you want to your fixed monthly costs, then divide by your profit per sale after fees and per-sale costs. The result is the number of sales needed each month. Enter your own figures in the calculator, and remember to consider whether you can realistically find that many customers.
What is the difference between fixed and per-sale costs?
Fixed costs, such as subscriptions and insurance, stay the same however much you sell. Per-sale costs, such as materials, shipping or contractor time, rise with every sale. Separating them is what makes the calculation honest, because only the profit left after per-sale costs helps to cover the fixed ones.
Does this work for freelancers?
Yes. Treat each client project or retainer as a sale. Enter the price per project, any costs you incur to deliver it, the platform fees and your fixed monthly costs, and the calculator shows how many projects you need each month.
What if the number of sales looks impossible?
That is useful information. It suggests raising your price, cutting costs, choosing a higher-value offer or lowering the goal. It is far better to find this out on paper than after months of effort.
How we keep this calculator accurate
The formulas on this page are standard arithmetic, written out in full above so you can check them. Each one is covered by automated tests that compare the calculator against independently worked examples and round-trip checks, and the worked example is generated by the same code as the calculator. We use no third-party data, exchange rates or fee tables, because those go stale; fees and rates are always numbers you enter. If you spot a mistake or an assumption that does not fit your situation, please tell us. Our earnings disclaimer and editorial approach explain how the site works.
Written by
The editorial team behind How To Make Money Online, responsible for researching, writing, and fact-checking every guide on this site against current platform terms and fees.