/ Events

The Event P&L Check

Don't subsidize your attendees. Know your break-even number before you sell the first ticket.

The break-even ticket price is your fixed costs divided by expected attendees, plus the variable cost per head. With €5,000 in fixed costs, €25 of catering and fees per person, and 100 attendees, you break even at €75 a ticket. Sell below that and every seat costs you money; sell above it and the gap is your profit per head.

How it's calculated

Two steps, one division:

  • Total cost = fixed costs + (variable cost x attendees)
  • Break-even price = total cost / attendees, which is the same as fixed costs / attendees + variable cost per head

Fixed costs get split across the whole room, so a bigger crowd lowers the break-even price. The variable cost per head is a floor you can never price below.

Worked examples

Fixed costs Variable / head Attendees Break-even price
€5,000 €25 100 €75
€10,000 €30 200 €80
€2,000 €40 50 €80

How it works

Enter your total fixed costs (venue, AV, speakers, marketing).

Enter your variable cost per attendee (food, drink, swag, fees).

Enter your expected number of attendees.

Adjust the ticket price slider to see profit/loss in real-time.

The tool shows your break-even price and visualizes the gap.

Why it matters

Most events lose money because they ignore variable costs. You calculate the venue rental, but forget that every additional attendee costs you $15 in catering and stripe fees. This tool forces you to look at the 'Per Head' economics. If your ticket price is lower than your Break Even Number, you are paying people to attend your event.

The Math

Total Cost = Fixed Costs + (Variable Cost × Attendees)
Break Even Price = Total Cost / Attendees
Total Revenue = Ticket Price × Attendees
Profit/Loss = Total Revenue - Total Cost

Break Even Price
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Profit / Loss
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Questions people ask

How do I calculate the break-even ticket price for an event?

Add your fixed costs (venue, AV, speakers, marketing) to your variable costs (catering, drinks, payment fees times the number of attendees), then divide that total by the number of attendees. The short version: break-even price = fixed costs / attendees + variable cost per head. Sell below that number and you lose money on every ticket.

What counts as a fixed cost versus a variable cost?

Fixed costs stay the same no matter how many people show up: venue rental, stage, AV, speaker fees, and most marketing. Variable costs scale with each attendee: food, drinks, swag, printed badges, and per-ticket payment processing fees. Splitting them this way is the whole point, because the fixed pile is what your ticket price has to cover across the crowd.

Why does the break-even price drop as attendance rises?

The fixed costs are shared across everyone in the room, so more heads means each ticket carries a smaller slice of that fixed pile. Variable cost per head stays flat, but fixed cost per head shrinks. That is why a sold-out room can charge less per ticket and still clear its costs than a half-empty one.