Contribution margin calculator: per item or customer
Paste your item or customer list straight from Excel or the ERP export, or enter single rows. The calculator shows which items lose money and which few bring most of the contribution margin.
How the calculator works
Contribution margin = revenue minus variable costs. Per unit it is the price minus the variable unit cost. The contribution margin ratio relates it to revenue. Worked example: a part costs €12 in variable cost and sells for €20. It brings €8 contribution margin per unit, a ratio of 40%.
The break-even point is the revenue at which contribution margins cover fixed costs: fixed costs divided by the contribution margin ratio. In multi-level costing you then subtract, step by step, fixed costs assigned to a product, a group or a division.
The calculator shows the first level. How good the result is depends on separating fixed and variable costs.
When it is a thousand items
By hand you compare five items. In a business it is thousands of positions, and the costs sit in the ERP and in post-calculation. With Onagero your controlling builds contribution margin accounting per customer, item and order straight from that data, updated every day.
Questions about contribution margin
What is the difference between contribution margin and profit?
The contribution margin is what is left after variable costs to cover fixed costs. Profit only arises once the sum of all contribution margins exceeds the fixed costs.
Which costs are variable?
Costs that rise with every additional unit: material, bought-in parts, freight, often energy and piece-rate wages. Rent, salaries and depreciation are usually fixed.
What does a negative contribution margin mean?
Every unit sold increases the loss, because the price does not even cover the variable costs. Short term this can be deliberate, for example to enter a market; long term it cannot.
Are my numbers saved?
No. The calculator runs only in your browser and sends nothing.