Remote Access Setup Service Break-Even: About $66K/Month

Fixed costs $43.0K/mo Staffed base

Contribution margin 71% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $60.5K/mo Monthly target

Break-even timing Month 5 First break-even

Break-even calculator

Test monthly revenue, variable expenses, and fixed costs against monthly break-even.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue sets the pool that covers variable cost and overhead. $ Low revenue High revenue Variable expenses Direct costs rise with sales, like software, cloud, commissions, and referral fees. $ Low costs High costs

Money available to cover fixed costs $276,007 $363,167 revenue - $87,160 variable expenses

Margin ratio

76%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly overhead and salary base the margin must cover. $ Low overhead High overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

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

Cost classification

Break-even is only useful if payroll, software, hosting, and sales fees sit in the right buckets. Misclassify delivery labor or usage fees, and Month 5 break-even can look safer than it is.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
CEO and Principal Consultant payroll	Fixed	Model the $145,000 annual salary as recurring staffed overhead across the planning range.	Treating principal delivery hours like per-job contractor labor.
Senior Security Engineer payroll	Fixed	Use fixed payroll in the staffed model, with headcount rising from 1.0 FTE in the first year to 5.0 FTE in the mature year.	Moving engineer payroll into variable expense just because work is billable.
Junior Security Analyst payroll	Fixed	Classify salary as fixed staffed capacity, starting at 1.0 FTE in the first year.	Ignoring idle time when customer demand is below staff capacity.
Account Executive payroll	Fixed	Keep base salary fixed, separate from sales commissions that move with revenue.	Blending base pay and commission into one variable selling rate.
Software Subscriptions and Licenses	Variable	Apply 12% of first-year revenue, or about $186,840 on $1.557 million revenue.	Burying license usage inside fixed overhead.
Cloud Hosting and Datacenter Fees	Variable	Apply 5% of first-year revenue, or about $77,850 on $1.557 million revenue.	Treating usage-driven hosting as a flat monthly bill.
Sales Commissions	Variable	Apply 5% of revenue, so commission expense scales directly with closed sales.	Forgetting commissions when testing gross margin at break-even.
Annual Marketing Budget	Semi-fixed	Use the $45,000 first-year budget as a planned spend level that steps up in later years.	Treating marketing as purely variable with every new customer.

How does break-even change from a lean launch to a base case and then a full recurring support model?

Scenario table

Break-even gets easier to hold as managed security grows from 45% of customers in Year 1 to 85% in Year 5, even while fixed costs rise. The larger recurring base creates a wider monthly cushion.

Planning figures are model assumptions, not guarantees; actual mix, pricing, and staffing can move break-even in either direction.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Launch setup-led model	$129.8k	$37.6k	$52.0k	71%	$40.1k	Revenue sits about 1.8x break-even, so launch clears fixed cost with a modest cushion.
Balanced growth model	$257.3k	$68.2k	$75.2k	73.5%	$113.9k	Revenue is about 2.5x break-even, which gives a healthier cushion if sales slow.
Full recurring support model	$698.7k	$139.7k	$159.7k	80%	$399.3k	Revenue is about 3.5x break-even, so recurring support carries most fixed cost risk.

What breaks the break-even plan for this remote access setup service?

Stress test

Year 1 still has a wide cushion, but the model gets tight fast if sales slip, fixed costs creep, or margin drops. The watchouts are CAC above $450, billable hours below 4.5 per active customer, and managed-security attach under 45%.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$658K	$899K cushion	Healthy cushion, but CAC and staffing still need control.
Revenue shortfall	Revenue falls 20% to about $1.038M.	$658K	$380K cushion	Still above break-even, but the cushion shrinks fast.
Fixed-cost increase	Fixed costs rise 10% to about $514K.	$724K	$833K cushion	Overhead creep lifts the floor before sales do.
Margin pressure	Variable expenses rise 5 points to 34%.	$708K	$849K cushion	Higher software or labor spend squeezes contribution margin.
Combined pressure	Revenue falls 50%, fixed costs rise 10%, and variable expenses rise 5 points.	$778K	$1K cushion	Near break-even; pause hiring and tighten scope.

Can you prove this remote access setup service can sell and deliver before you lock in payroll and equipment?

Founder checklist

Before you add payroll, equipment, and paid acquisition, prove the service can hit break-even with real demand and repeatable delivery. The tight spot is cash: minimum cash drops to $790K in Month 2, so ramp only when the pipeline is real.

1Break-even revenue$658K/mo

Confirm booked work can support the modeled break-even run rate before you commit to scale.

2Payroll load$410K

Keep hiring tied to the Year 1 payroll base so fixed costs don’t outrun delivery.

3Unit margin71% CM

Check that software, hosting, commissions, and referral fees still leave enough margin to cover fixed costs.

4Delivery load21 hrs

Verify one customer’s setup and service mix fits the 12, 4, and 5 hour work load before you add more staff.

5Cash buffer$790K

Hold enough cash for the Month 2 trough, because the runway tightens before payback arrives.

6Lead cost$450 CAC

Test whether the $45K Year 1 marketing budget can produce qualified leads at or below this cost.