Pharmacovigilance Service Break-Even Analysis: $195K Monthly Revenue

Fixed costs $113.7K/mo Base monthly burn

Contribution margin 82% After variable fees

Break-even revenue $138.6K/mo Revenue to cover base

Break-even timing Month 19 Model break-even point

Break-even calculator

If you're sizing a pharmacovigilance service, this calculator shows whether monthly revenue can cover direct data costs and fixed overhead.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue is the cash that must cover direct costs and overhead. $ Slow start Scaled base Variable expenses Direct data and hosting costs rise with revenue. $ Thin direct cost Heavy direct cost

Money available to cover fixed costs $423,335 $492,250 revenue - $68,915 variable expenses

Margin ratio

86%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly cost base contribution must cover. $ Lean overhead Heavy overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which expenses are fixed and which move with sales for this pharmacovigilance service?

Cost classification

Break-even is only useful if fixed overhead and workload-driven costs are split cleanly. In this model, Month 19 break-even depends on treating data fees as volume-linked and staffing as capacity added in steps.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Executive Office Suite	Fixed	Carry $12,500 per month from Month 1 through Month 60 before testing revenue coverage.	Spreading office spend per client and hiding the true monthly overhead floor.
Regulatory Compliance Audits	Fixed	Include $6,500 per month as required operating overhead, even in low-volume months.	Modeling audits only after revenue scales, which understates early cash burn.
Third-Party Data Acquisition Fees	Variable	Apply 9.5% of first-year revenue, falling to 6.5% by the mature year.	Treating adverse event case spikes as free capacity with no added data spend.
Cloud Infrastructure and Data Hosting	Semi-variable	Use the revenue-linked rate of 8.5% in the first year, improving to 5.5% by the mature year.	Assuming hosting is flat while data intake, storage, and processing volume rise.
Pharmacovigilance Director	Semi-fixed	Model salary in headcount steps: 1.0 FTE at $165,000, then 2.0 FTEs and 3.0 FTEs as scale rises.	Adding fractional capacity for regulated review work that needs full accountable staffing.
Customer Success Engineer	Semi-fixed	Add capacity in staffing steps at $115,000 per FTE as client onboarding and support load grows.	Letting customer counts rise without adding support capacity, which masks churn risk.
Full Stack Developer	Semi-fixed	Plan developer payroll in steps at $140,000 per FTE, from 2.0 FTEs in the first year to 8.0 FTEs in the mature year.	Calling product work variable when it is committed payroll once hired.
Enterprise Sales Manager	Semi-fixed	Scale sales capacity by headcount at $135,000 per FTE as the client mix shifts toward larger accounts.	Using CAC alone and forgetting the fixed payroll needed to create those bookings.

How does break-even shift from lean to full operating cases?

Scenario table

The gap moves with revenue scale, staffing, and software overhead. Lean stays deep in the red, base is near break-even, and full turns profitable because contribution grows faster than fixed cost burden.

Planning figures only: these scenario results are model assumptions, not a guarantee of future performance.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean pharmacovigilance model	$104,000	$18,720	$160,000	82%	-$74,720	Still far from break-even; growth needs more signed retainers.
Base pharmacovigilance model	$276,000	$44,160	$237,000	84%	-$5,160	Nearly flat; one more contract or lower fixed load can flip it.
Full pharmacovigilance model	$492,000	$68,880	$352,000	86%	$71,120	Comfortable cushion; volume now covers overhead and adds profit.

What breaks the break-even plan for a pharmacovigilance service?

Stress test

The plan is already close to flat, with about $276K monthly revenue against roughly $237K fixed burden and 84% contribution margin. A 10% revenue slip, a 10% fixed-cost jump, or a 5-point margin hit each pushes break-even above the base case.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$282,143	$6,143 gap	Already about $5K EBITDA negative; small slippage flips profit to loss.
Revenue shortfall	Monthly revenue falls 10% to about $249K.	$282,143	$33,143 gap	Delayed client onboarding widens the cash gap fast.
Fixed-cost pressure	Fixed burden rises 10% to about $261K a month.	$310,357	$34,357 gap	Overhead growth pushes break-even above the base plan.
Margin pressure	Variable expenses rise 5 points, cutting contribution margin to 79%.	$300,000	$24,000 gap	Higher review labor or subcontractor rates lift break-even quickly.
Combined pressure	Revenue falls 10%, fixed costs rise 10%, and margin slips to 79%.	$330,380	$81,380 gap	That mix points to about a $65K monthly loss.

What must you verify before you commit to the first big hiring and platform spend?

Founder checklist

Don’t lock in software, office, or full-time hiring until signed contracts can carry the Month 19 break-even path. This model bottoms at negative $764K cash, so the real test is whether pipeline, pricing, and workflow can absorb that burn before you scale.

1Intake SOPPre-launch

Verify the adverse event intake SOP works before go-live so every report is captured, routed, and closed on time.

2QA ReviewEnterprise-ready

Map the quality assurance review before signing enterprise clients so review steps are repeatable and defensible when volume rises.

3Safety DBLive test

Test the safety database before live monitoring so case records, alerts, and follow-up notes move cleanly with no data gaps.

4Margin Check82% CM

Use Year 1 cloud hosting at 8.5% and third-party data fees at 9.5% to confirm each contract still leaves 82% contribution margin before fixed costs.

5Fixed Load$160K/mo

Validate enough contracts to cover the monthly fixed burden before you add full-time roles, because staffing should scale after demand, not ahead of it.

6Cash Cushion-$764K

Stage cash for the Month 19 trough and the $250K Year 1 marketing budget at a $12,500 CAC so you do not commit to software, office space, or technical capacity before signed demand.