Coding Bootcamp Break-Even Analysis: $94K Monthly Revenue Target

Fixed costs $78.3K/mo Payroll + overhead

Contribution margin 83% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $94.3K/mo Monthly target

Break-even timing Month 1 Launch month

Break-even calculator

Test whether monthly tuition revenue can cover direct costs and the fixed campus and staff base.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue sets the margin pool that can pay fixed costs. $ Lower sales Higher sales Variable expenses These are direct costs that move with enrollment and revenue. $ Tight costs Higher costs

Money available to cover fixed costs $266,438 $306,250 revenue - $39,812 variable expenses

Margin ratio

87%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly cost base revenue must cover before profit starts. $ Lean team Bigger team

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which expenses are fixed and which move with sales for a coding bootcamp?

Cost classification

Break-even is reliable only when stable overhead stays fixed and student-driven items move with revenue. The $161,000 startup buildout affects cash runway, not operating break-even, so keep it out of this table.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Office Campus Rent	Fixed	Use $8,000 per month in fixed overhead for the current classroom footprint.	Allocating rent per student and making break-even look easier at higher enrollment.
Utilities & Internet	Fixed	Use $1,200 per month unless the campus adds space or hours.	Treating normal monthly service charges as student-driven usage.
General Software Subscriptions	Fixed	Use $800 per month as baseline operating overhead.	Mixing general admin tools with delivery tools that scale with students.
Accounting & Legal Services	Fixed	Use $1,500 per month in recurring fixed overhead.	Leaving professional fees below EBITDA and overstating operating profit.
Specialized Software Licenses	Variable	Apply 3.0% of revenue in the first year, falling to 1.8% by the mature year.	Modeling license spend as flat even though it tracks student delivery volume.
Cloud Computing Resources	Variable	Apply 2.0% of revenue in the first year, falling to 1.2% by the mature year.	Ignoring compute usage when more cohorts run projects and labs.
Marketing & Student Acquisition	Variable	Apply 8.0% of revenue in the first year, stepping down to 4.0% by the mature year.	Using a flat ad budget and missing the spend needed to fill seats.
Instructor and Mentor Payroll	Semi-fixed	Hold base staffing fixed, then step up as cohorts expand from 3.0 FTE to 7.0 FTE.	Treating all instructor payroll as variable per student instead of capacity-based.

How does break-even change from a lean cohort to base and full enrollment?

Scenario table

Break-even moves with enrollment mix, tuition, and delivery load. Lean sits close to the line, while base and full cases build more cushion because revenue grows faster than fixed campus and staff costs.

Planning case figures only; actual results can vary with fill rate, pricing, and staffing mix.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean intake case	$98,400	$16,728	$78,300	83.0%	$3,372	Near break-even, so a small enrollment miss can erase the cushion.
Base 90% occupancy case	$202,250	$34,383	$78,300	83.0%	$89,568	Strong cushion, which makes this the steadier operating case.
Full cohort case	$224,500	$38,165	$78,300	83.0%	$108,035	Best cushion, but it depends on keeping admissions and instructors fully loaded.

What pushes this coding bootcamp past break-even?

Stress test

At $202,250 base revenue, the model sits about $107,950 above the roughly $94,300 break-even point. The main risks are weak cohort fill, higher student acquisition spend, and adding payroll before seats are full.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$94,300	$107,950 cushion	Healthy buffer, but only if cohorts fill as planned.
Revenue shortfall	Enrollment slips toward 26 students and occupancy moves into the low-40% range.	$94,300	$0 gap	The cushion disappears once fill rates slip.
Fixed-cost increase	Add $10,000 a month of payroll, rent, or platform spend.	$106,348	$95,902 cushion	Every extra fixed dollar lifts the floor.
Margin pressure	Marketing and student acquisition rises from 8.0% to 9.0% of revenue.	$95,451	$106,799 cushion	One point of margin loss adds about $2,023 a month at base revenue.
Combined pressure	Enrollment slips toward 26 students while fixed spend rises $10,000 and variable expense rises 1 point.	$107,645	$13,345 gap	Weak fill plus cost creep can push the plan past break-even.

Should you sign the campus lease before the bootcamp can hit break-even?

Founder checklist

Here’s the quick math: Year 1 fixed burn is about $78.3K a month, and variable costs run 17% of tuition. At a $3,708 blended monthly tuition, break-even is about 26 students, so the lease, hiring, and equipment spend only make sense if pre-sell and seat fill support that load.

1Pre-sell$3,708/mo

Verify you can pre-sell at the Year 1 blended tuition of about $3,708 a month, and keep marketing near the 8% Year 1 assumption, because price and lead cost decide whether the first cohort clears break-even.

2Fixed load$13.3K/mo

Approve the lease only if the campus can carry the $13.3K monthly fixed load, because rent and site overhead start in Month 1 and don't wait for full classes.

3Margin83% CM

Here’s the quick check: with about 83% contribution margin, the model needs roughly 26 students a month to cover the full cost base, so anything below that burns cash.

4Seat plan60 seats

Confirm 60 seats across full-stack web dev, data science AI, and UX UI design, and use the 54-student base occupancy target as the real fill goal, because break-even gets weak fast when seats go empty.

5Teaching cover4.0 FTE

Lock 4.0 instructor and mentor FTE before you promise start dates, and set career services capacity at the same time, so payroll and placement work rise with cohort load.

6Cash reserve$893K

Keep the Month 1 cash floor near $893K and review the $161K launch capex plan before you buy equipment or platform tools, because the launch needs a reserve cushion.