Traffic Turning Movement Count Break-Even: About $169K/Month

Fixed costs $78.2K/mo Monthly overhead base

Contribution margin 68% After variable spend

Break-even revenue $115.0K/mo Needed each month

Break-even timing Month 10 First profit month

Break-even calculator

Test monthly revenue, variable expenses, and fixed costs against break-even for an intersection traffic count service.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue is the cash base that covers direct cost and overhead. $ Low revenue High revenue Variable expenses These are direct field and processing costs that rise with count volume. $ Lower costs Higher costs

Money available to cover fixed costs $389,340 $540,750 revenue - $151,410 variable expenses

Margin ratio

72%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly overhead break-even must cover. $ Lower overhead Higher overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which traffic count service expenses are fixed, variable, or capacity-driven in break-even math?

Cost classification

Break-even is only useful if rent, payroll, field capacity, and project-driven spend are not blended together. In the first year, revenue-linked expenses total 32% of revenue, while fixed overhead must be covered every month.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Office Rent	Fixed	Include the $8,500 monthly rent in recurring overhead.	Allocating rent by project instead of treating it as base overhead.
CEO / General Manager, Data Scientists, Transportation Engineers, Sales Manager	Fixed	Include salaried payroll as recurring overhead for the planning range.	Treating core staff as variable labor per traffic count.
Field Technicians	Semi-fixed	Add technician capacity in staffing blocks as count volume rises.	Assuming perfect hourly flexibility when jobs cluster by location or time.
Vehicle Fleet & Fuel	Semi-variable	Split the $3,200 monthly fleet base from travel-heavy project usage where possible.	Burying route inefficiency inside project margin.
Insurance Premiums	Fixed	Include the $2,800 monthly coverage in fixed overhead.	Skipping safety and field exposure when setting break-even targets.
Equipment Installation & Maintenance	Variable	Use 12% of first-year revenue, or about $188,000 on $1.566 million.	Confusing recurring maintenance with launch equipment purchases.
Cloud Computing & Data Processing	Variable	Use 8% of first-year revenue, or about $125,000 on $1.566 million.	Ignoring storage and processing from large video files.
Contractor & Subcontractor Fees	Variable	Use 4% of first-year revenue, or about $63,000 on $1.566 million.	Hiding overflow labor instead of tying it to project volume.

How does break-even change as this traffic count service moves from a lean mix to base and full operations?

Scenario table

Higher-priced studies lift the contribution margin, so the lean case is slightly underwater, the base case clears fixed overhead, and the full case adds a wider cushion. Travel, crew use, count density, and report rework still move the line.

Planning assumptions only. Results are not guarantees and will shift with count density, travel time, crew utilization, report rework, and the service mix.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean traffic-count mix	$130.5k	$41.8k	$105.1k	68%	-$16.4k	Still below break-even; overhead is not covered.
Base intersection study mix	$307.2k	$92.2k	$137.5k	70%	$77.5k	Covers fixed costs and turns profit positive.
Full analytics mix	$540.8k	$151.4k	$170.4k	72%	$219.0k	Builds a stronger cushion above break-even.

What breaks the break-even plan for this traffic count service?

Stress test

The base plan has no cushion at $1.692M break-even revenue. A 10% revenue miss, a rise in variable expense from 32% to 37%, or a 10% overhead bump each moves the target higher; together they push it to about $2.009M.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$1.692M	$0 gap	No cushion; small misses hurt fast.
Revenue shortfall	Revenue comes in 10% below plan.	$1.692M	$169K gap	About a $115K monthly operating loss.
Fixed-cost pressure	Fixed overhead rises 10%.	$1.861M	$169K gap	Overhead creep pushes break-even up.
Margin pressure	Variable expense rises from 32% to 37%.	$1.826M	$134K gap	Field cost creep, rework, and late QA push break-even higher.
Combined pressure	Revenue falls 10%, overhead rises 10%, and variable expense rises to 37%.	$2.009M	$317K gap	Overtime, long routes, and subcontractors above 4% can break the plan.

What should the founder verify before committing to the full traffic count launch?

Founder checklist

If you’re about to commit to vehicles, sensors, and hiring, first prove there’s signed or near-signed project flow and enough cash to cover the Month 14 trough. The model reaches break-even in Month 10, so timing and runway decide whether the launch survives.

1Project FlowMonth 10

Verify signed or near-signed work can carry the launch through Month 10, because the model does not hit break-even before then.

2Service Pricing$3.0K-$10.8K

Check that Year 1 pricing still lands at $3,000 for basic counts, $5,940 for turning movement studies, $4,640 for pedestrian analysis, and $10,800 for premium analytics.

3Fixed Load$23.5K/mo

Office rent, vehicle fleet, insurance at $2.8K per month, and software licensing at $4.5K per month create $23.5K of fixed burn, so this load has to fit the early margin.

4Crew Capacity4.0%

Keep contractor and subcontractor fees at or below 4% of revenue while the field team ramps, or the break-even math gets weaker.

5Cash Trough-$983K

Make sure you can fund the Month 14 cash low of -$983K, because the business can look fine on EBITDA and still run short of cash.

6Capex Timing$1.485M

Stage the $1.485M launch build across cameras, LiDAR, vehicles, servers, and testing gear, and do not buy full capacity before utilization shows up.