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FinToolSuite
Updated April 20, 2026 · Business & Startup · Educational use only ·

Fixed Cost Calculator

Your monthly cost floor.

Calculate total monthly fixed costs from rent, utilities, insurance, salaries, and subscriptions — your baseline before a single sale is made.

What this tool does

This calculator adds together all regular monthly operating costs—rent, utilities, fixed salaries, software subscriptions, insurance, and other recurring expenses—to show your total fixed cost floor. The result displays both the monthly total and its annualised equivalent. Fixed costs are expenses your business must cover regardless of sales volume or output. The monthly figures (rent, utilities, salaries, subscriptions, other) are summed directly, while annual insurance is divided by 12 and included in the monthly total before annualising. The most significant drivers are typically rent and fixed salaries. This calculator models your baseline operating expense, useful for understanding cash flow requirements or break-even thresholds. It assumes costs remain constant across the period and does not account for inflation, variable expenses, tax, or seasonal fluctuations. The output is for financial illustration and planning purposes only.


Enter Values

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Formula Used
Rent
Utilities
Insurance
Salaries
Subscriptions
Other

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Disclaimer

Results are estimates for educational purposes only. They do not constitute financial advice. Consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions.

Fixed costs are expenses that don't scale with revenue. Rent stays the same whether you sell 100 or 10,000 units. This calculator totals the main fixed cost lines: rent, utilities, insurance, fixed salaries (managers, admin), subscriptions, and other recurring overhead. The result shows your monthly 'floor cost' - what you owe before earning anything.

4k rent + 800 utilities + 2,400 insurance annual (200/mo) + 8k fixed salaries + 1,200 subscriptions + 600 other = 14,800 monthly fixed, 177,600 annual. This is the break-even before any variable costs - revenue must exceed 14,800/month before gross margin from sales starts becoming actual profit.

Fixed costs determine break-even volume. A business with 15k fixed costs and 40% gross margin needs 37,500 revenue/month to break even (15k ÷ 0.4). Lower fixed costs or higher margins reduce break-even. Many startups survive tough months not by selling more but by cutting fixed costs - sublet office, cancel subscriptions, renegotiate contracts.

A worked example

Try the defaults: rent monthly of 4,000, utilities monthly of 800, insurance annual of 2,400, fixed salaries monthly of 8,000. The tool returns 14,800.00. You can adjust any input and the result updates as you type — no submit button, no reload. That's the real power here: seeing how sensitive the output is to one or two assumptions.

What moves the number most

The result responds to Rent Monthly, Utilities Monthly, Insurance Annual, Fixed Salaries Monthly, and Software Subscriptions Monthly.

The formula behind this

Sum all monthly fixed costs. Annual = monthly × 12. Everything the calculator does is shown in the formula box below, so you can check the math against your own spreadsheet if you want.

Using this as a check-in

Re-run this every three months. A single reading tells you where you stand; four readings tell you whether things are improving. The trend matters more than any individual snapshot.

What this doesn't capture

The score is a composite of the inputs you provide. Life context — job security, family obligations, health, housing — doesn't appear in the math but shapes the real picture. Use the number as a prompt, not a verdict.

Example Scenario

Rent + utilities + insurance/12 + fixed salaries + subscriptions + other = 14,800.00.

Inputs

Rent Monthly:£4,000
Utilities Monthly:£800
Insurance Annual:£2,400
Fixed Salaries Monthly:£8,000
Software Subscriptions Monthly:£1,200
Other Fixed Monthly:£600
Expected Result14,800.00

This example uses typical values for illustration. Adjust the inputs above to match a specific situation and see how the result changes.

Sources & Methodology

Methodology

This calculator computes your total monthly fixed costs by summing six categories: monthly rent, monthly utilities, monthly salaries, monthly software subscriptions, and other monthly fixed expenses, plus one-twelfth of your annual insurance cost. The result represents your baseline monthly cost floor—the minimum outlay required to keep your business operating before variable costs, revenue fluctuations, or seasonal adjustments. To derive the annual figure, the monthly total is multiplied by twelve. The model assumes all costs remain constant throughout the year and does not account for cost inflation, tax implications, seasonal variations, or one-time expenses. It treats insurance as an annualized expense converted to a monthly equivalent.

Frequently Asked Questions

Fixed vs variable cost?
Fixed: doesn't scale with revenue/production. Rent, salaries, software subscriptions. Variable: scales directly. Materials, commissions, shipping, hourly wages. Semi-variable: partly fixed (base salary), partly variable (commission). Most businesses have mix of all three.
Why do fixed costs matter?
They determine break-even revenue. At break-even, gross margin just covers fixed costs. Above break-even, every additional pound of gross margin contributes directly to profit. High fixed costs = slow to break even but steep profit curve once above; low fixed costs = break-even quickly but shallow profit curve.
How to reduce fixed costs?
Three biggest levers: rent (sublet, downsize, move to cheaper area), salaries (performance-pay structures vs salary, contractor vs employee), subscriptions (cancel unused, consolidate tools). Typical savings programs cut 10-20% of fixed costs without operational impact.
Are managers fixed or variable?
Fixed. Managers on salary don't change with business volume. Hourly staff whose hours scale with demand are variable. Commission-paid sales are variable. This distinction matters for calculating incremental margin on new revenue.

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