Digital Wealth Management Break-Even Analysis: $73K Monthly Revenue

Fixed costs $60.3K/mo Launch base

Contribution margin 83% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $72.6K/mo Monthly target

Break-even timing Month 9 Positive EBITDA

Break-even calculator

Test monthly revenue, variable expenses, and fixed costs against break-even for a digital wealth management platform.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue is the money available to cover direct costs and fixed overhead. $ Low sales High sales Variable expenses Direct costs that rise with revenue, like marketing, payment fees, cloud, and market data. $ Low costs High costs

Money available to cover fixed costs $60,175 $72,500 revenue - $12,325 variable expenses

Margin ratio

83%

Covers fixed costs

$75 short

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly overhead contribution margin has to cover. $ Lower overhead Higher overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which expenses are fixed and which move with sales for this online investment platform?

Cost classification

Break-even gets reliable only when fixed bills, usage fees, staffing steps, and acquisition spend are separated. If payroll, compliance, or customer acquisition cost are buried in gross margin, Month 9 break-even can look safer than it is.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Office Rent	Fixed	Carry $3,000 per month from Month 1 through Month 60 as fixed overhead.	Treating rent as a percentage of revenue.
Regulatory & Compliance Retainers	Fixed	Include $4,000 per month in the fixed monthly hurdle before profit.	Burying compliance commitments inside gross margin.
Internal Software Licenses	Fixed	Model $1,500 per month as operating overhead for the planning range.	Moving core admin tools into variable service delivery.
Legal & Accounting Retainers	Fixed	Use $2,500 per month as recurring support for reporting and advice.	Leaving retainers out until cash gets tight.
Cloud Hosting & Infrastructure	Variable	Apply 4.0% of revenue in the first year, declining to 2.5% by the fifth year.	Modeling hosting as one flat monthly bill.
Third-Party Market Data & Brokerage Fees	Variable	Apply 3.0% of revenue in the first year, declining to 2.0% by the fifth year.	Excluding market data from contribution margin math.
Payment Processing Fees	Variable	Apply 2.0% of revenue in the first year, falling to 1.5% from the fourth year.	Using plan price without card processing drag.
Digital Marketing & Advertising	Semi-variable	Tie spend to the $500,000 first-year budget and $150 customer acquisition cost.	Hiding acquisition commitments inside gross margin.
Customer Support Specialist Payroll	Semi-fixed	Step staffing from 1.0 full-time equivalent in the first year to 2.0 by the third year.	Assuming support scales smoothly with each new client.

How does break-even change from a lean launch to base growth and full scale?

Scenario table

At a $61 weighted subscription price, core break-even is about 1,190 active subscribers before one-time fees. Lean, base, and full scenarios mainly change fixed spend, so the Month 9 break-even point moves with cost load.

Planning assumptions only; actual break-even will move with client mix, CAC, and plan upgrades.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean launch plan	$726k	$123k	$603k	83%	$0	Lean cost control keeps the model right at break-even.
Base growth plan	$1.23M	$209k	$1.02M	83%	$0	Paid growth lifts the revenue bar, so CAC has to stay tight.
Full scale plan	$1.02M	$102k	$915k	90%	$0	Scale can work, but payroll-heavy overhead keeps the cushion thin.

What breaks the break-even plan if growth slows or costs creep up?

Stress test

The plan breaks even at about $1.228M in monthly revenue, so there is little room for error. A 10% sales miss, a 5-point margin drop, or $10k more in monthly overhead can push the required run rate up fast.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change from the base case.	$1.228M/month	$0 cushion	Only the base case clears break-even.
Revenue shortfall	Monthly revenue runs 10% below plan while margin holds at 83%.	$1.228M/month	$102k gap	CAC above $150 or trial-to-paid below 25% widens the miss fast.
Fixed-cost increase	Fixed overhead rises by $10k per month.	$1.240M/month	$12k gap	Any added rent, retainer, or hire lifts the hurdle.
Margin pressure	Contribution margin falls from 83% to 78%.	$1.307M/month	$79k gap	Lower pricing or higher ad cost cuts the cushion fast.
Combined pressure	Revenue is 10% light, margin slips to 78%, and overhead rises by $10k per month.	$1.320M/month	$92k gap	Early support and compliance hiring can blow through cash before scale.

Is the platform ready to lock the first $500k marketing push and new hires?

Founder checklist

Don’t lock the $500k Year 1 marketing budget until you’ve proven the funnel, kept CAC near $150, and held non-payroll fixed costs to $14.0k/month. The model only clears the gap if cash stays above $326k through Month 8.

1Paid funnel0.75% V→P

Verify that 3.0% of visitors start trials and 25.0% of trials pay, so Year 1 traffic turns into a 0.75% visitor-to-paid rate before you scale spend.

2CAC control$150 CAC

Confirm customer acquisition cost can stay near the Year 1 target of $150, or the marketing budget will buy less growth than this plan assumes.

3Burn base$14.0k / 83% CM

Verify the $14,000 monthly fixed base is covered by an 83% contribution margin before payroll, because fixed spend still has to clear each paid user.

4Traffic loadMonth 8

Test hosting, data, and onboarding throughput before paid traffic ramps, because this online platform has no inventory buffer and outages hit revenue fast.

5Support load1.0 FTE

Keep customer support, onboarding, and compliance reviews inside one full-time role at launch, or headcount will rise before revenue does.

6Cash runway$326k

Protect at least $326k of cash through Month 8, because that is the low point before breakeven arrives in Month 9.