Payment Gateway Break-Even Analysis: About $141K Monthly Revenue

Fixed costs $14.3K/mo Core overhead

Contribution margin 82.5% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $17.3K/mo Monthly target

Break-even timing Month 8 Forecast ramp

Break-even calculator

Use this calculator to test monthly revenue, variable expenses, and fixed monthly costs against break-even.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue sets the pool that covers direct costs and overhead. $ Slow month Scale month Variable expenses These costs rise with payment volume and support load. $ Light costs Heavy costs

Money available to cover fixed costs $58,575 $71,000 revenue - $12,425 variable expenses

Margin ratio

82%

Covers fixed costs

$11,975 short

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly cost base break-even must cover. $ Lean base Heavy base

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which costs stay fixed, and which rise as transaction volume grows?

Cost classification

Your Month 8 break-even only holds if fixed overhead is kept separate from revenue-linked fees. Chargebacks aren’t separately provided, so don’t bury them inside bank fees without adding a clear assumption.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Office Rent	Fixed	Include $5,000 per month from Month 1 through Month 60.	Tying rent to transaction volume.
Software Licenses (Operations)	Fixed	Include $1,500 per month as stable platform overhead.	Confusing recurring licenses with one-time software setup.
Legal & Compliance Fees	Fixed	Include $3,000 per month before contribution margin.	Moving compliance into variable fees.
Transaction Processing & Bank Fees	Variable	Apply 10.0% of revenue in the first year, falling to 8.0% in the fifth year.	Using a flat dollar amount per month.
Cloud Infrastructure Costs	Variable	Apply 2.5% of revenue in the first year, falling to 1.7% in the fifth year.	Treating hosting as fully fixed.
Sales and Marketing Expenses	Variable	Apply 3.5% of revenue in the first year, falling to 2.7% in the fifth year.	Mixing this with CAC budgets.
Customer Support Lead plus Variable Portion	Semi-variable	Use base staffing plus 1.5% of revenue in the first year.	Modeling support as only headcount.
Compliance Officer	Semi-fixed	Step from 0.5 FTE in the first year to 1.0 FTE after that.	Scaling compliance smoothly with sales.

How does break-even change across lean, base, and full payment gateway plans?

Scenario table

Each step up in staff and seller acquisition raises fixed cost, so break-even revenue climbs fast even as margin improves. The lean case is the cleanest Month 8 tracking point.

Planning assumptions only; actual break-even will move with sales mix, processing fees, and acquisition efficiency.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean launch case	$1.41M	$247K	$1.16M	82.5%	$0	Best for launch and Month 8 tracking.
Base funded growth case	$2.80M	$462K	$2.34M	83.5%	$0	Needs funded merchant acquisition to hold the cushion.
Full scaled case	$3.97M	$615K	$3.36M	84.5%	$0	Only works if sales and support scale together.

What breaks the break-even plan if payment volume, fees, or compliance costs move against you?

Stress test

Break-even is most exposed to volume and fee pressure. A 20% revenue miss, a 10% jump in fixed overhead, or higher bank and support costs can push the monthly threshold up fast.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$1.411M/month	$0 cushion	Base case clears only if volume holds.
Revenue shortfall	Revenue lands 20% below plan.	$1.411M/month	$282K gap	Lower payment volume hits cash fast.
Fixed-cost pressure	Fixed overhead rises 10% to about $1.280M/month.	$1.552M/month	$141K gap	Compliance and support overhead lift the floor.
Margin pressure	Bank fees, disputes, and support costs rise.	$1.502M/month	$91K gap	Small fee creep erodes the cushion.
Combined pressure	Revenue is 20% light and costs rise at the same time.	$1.65M+/month	$239K+ gap	Slower seller activation and higher controls can break the model.

What should you verify before you commit major spend to this payment gateway?

Founder checklist

Test the fee stack, compliance load, and seller acquisition math against Month 8 break-even before you ramp spend. If CAC, cloud, support, or security runs hot, the $200K cash floor won’t protect the launch.

1Fee Stack2.50% + $0.25

Check that the 2.50% variable commission and $0.25 per order are fully loaded against the 10.0% transaction processing and bank fees plus 2.5% cloud cost, or the Month 8 break-even target is too optimistic.

2Seller CAC$250

Verify seller CAC stays near $250 before you scale the $500K Year 1 marketing budget, because that spend only buys about 2,000 sellers at the model rate.

3Fixed Burn$70.6K/mo

Keep total fixed burn near $70.6K a month, using the $14.3K overhead stack plus Year 1 staffing, so the reserve can cover the ramp.

4Compliance FTE0.5 FTE

Hold compliance at 0.5 FTE in Year 1 and fund $3K per month legal plus $1K security audits before adding more hires.

5Cash Floor$200K

Keep cash above $200K through Month 8, because the model already takes 8 months to break even and any slip extends payback.

6Launch Mix70% SMB / 60% shoppers

Confirm the opening mix can reach 70% small business sellers and 60% individual shoppers, because launch demand has to show up before the volume math works.