Rate checker Break-even occupancy

Minimum occupancy break-even calculator

Rooms, price and costs into the minimum occupancy that keeps you out of the red: the share of room-nights a month you have to sell before the month pays for itself.

Your month
Rooms you rent out
rooms
Price per room, per night
/ night
Fixed costs per month
/ month
Variable costs share of each booking
%
Fixed costs are what the month costs you with every room empty. Variable costs are the share of each booking spent on cleaning, laundry and supplies.
Break-even occupancy
18.3% of your room-nights
56 room-nights a month cover 5,000 of fixed costs.
Break-even nights
56
a month to cover fixed costs
Nights open
304
rooms × days in a month
Left per night
90
price after variable costs
Sell more than 18.3% and the month is profit
Below 18.3% the month loses money; above it every extra night is profit after variable costs. Keep a minimum stay only where it leaves you above that line.

What the break-even tells you

The lowest occupancy at which the month still pays for itself. Every room-night sold above it is profit; every one below it is paid for out of pocket. It is the floor to set prices and minimum stays against.

01
Add up the month with no guests
Rent or interest, staff, utilities, insurance, software. That is the fixed cost every booking has to pay back first.
02
Take the variable share off each night
Cleaning, laundry and supplies scale with stays. What is left of the price after them is what each night contributes.
03
Divide, then compare with your calendar
Fixed costs over that contribution is the break-even in nights. Hold it against the nights you actually sell — and against what a longer minimum stay would cost you.

A break-even is one number for a whole month. Read when a minimum stay helps, check which nights the city fills on the demand calendar, and see where your base price sits with the rate checker.

Questions this raises

What is a break-even occupancy? The share of your room-nights you have to sell in a month before the bookings pay the fixed costs. Below it the month loses money, above it every extra night is profit after variable costs. It is fixed costs divided by what one night leaves after variable costs, over the nights your rooms can sell.
What counts as a fixed cost and what as a variable one? Fixed costs arrive whether anyone books or not: rent or mortgage interest, staff, utilities, insurance, software. Variable costs rise with each stay: cleaning, laundry, guest supplies, card fees. Put the variable ones in as a share of the booking value.
How does this help with a minimum stay? A minimum stay trades fewer changeovers for fewer bookings. Once you know the occupancy you cannot fall below, you can see whether a longer minimum leaves enough nights sold to stay above it — and which nights are full enough to carry one.
Which nights fill above your break-even?
Three scans a week, free, no card. Measured asking prices for your own town, night by night, so you can price the nights that clear the floor.
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