Businesses usually need to know the minimum number of products or services they need to sell in order to earn a profit. A break-even analysis does this and more.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Course Information & Support

    • Huricane Milton Has Canceled The Rest of Chapter 5.5. Enroll Now & Start Chapter 5.6!

    • Please Check Now That Your Phone Is In Your Bag. Please Stay For 40 Minutes Of Learning & Sign Out For The Bathrrom During The Last 5 Minutes of Class.

    • Fact Sheet Packet Of Class Policies- Please Scroll Through And Review Again

    • How Well Are You Demonstrating The IB Learner Characteristics? Which Is Your Super Power & Which Presents The Greatest Challenge?

    • Welcome IB Business Management Student

    • Chapter Work Cycle = This Is What We Are Doing In Class & For Homework Every Day

    • Finished Early? Don't Pack Up! Do This ...

    • Please Don't Disrupt Our 40 Minute Work Cycle. Leave For The Bathroom During The LAST 5 MINUTES Of Class.

    • Your Quarter Grade

  • 2

    Your Notebook Is Your Most Important Weekly Grade & Prepares You For The May Exams

    • New Textbook 5.5 Chapter = 5 Headings

    • Your Notebook Assignment Helps You Build Attention To Detail

    • If You Finish Early With The Outline, Create A Spider Map And/Or Start The RB

    • Video: Watch A Spider Map Being Created (Best Study Tool)

    • How To Draw A Spider Map

    • Read The Rules For Your Notebook Before Every Grading Day. This Paper Must Be Stapled Onto The Inside Cover Of Each Composition Notebook

    • LOOK: Page-By-Page Visual Instructions For Earning a 100% On Every Notebook Chapter. (Updated For 2025)

    • Notebook Checklist & Reflection Sheet- Print, Complete, And Staple Onto The Last Page Of Your Chapter Notes BEFORE Scoring Day. It's Best To Pick Up This Blue Color Checklist In Class After We Finish The Chapter Review.

    • Scan & Upload Your Completed Chapter Notebook Pages As One Single PDF file In TEAMS

  • 3

    "RESOURCE BANK" = Topic Lessons (46) Begin Below this Point:

    • What is the Resource Bank?

    • RB = 10 Sections & 46 Posts (= 3 RB Days + HW)

    • Break-Even Is Easy, Makes Sense & Is Useful

    • What You Should be Able to Do By the End of this Chapter

  • 4

    Contribution Per Unit & Total Contribution

    • Video: Quick Overview Of How A Break-even Analysis Works (Notice The Required Data)

    • Key Terms: Unit Contribution vs. Total Contribution

    • Video: Key Term "Margin Contribution" = Unit Contribution

    • Video: Contribution Margins (i.e. Unit Contribution) Expressed As Percentages

    • Video: Planet Pizza Example Using Contribution Margin/Unit Contribution

    • Video: What Does Contribution Mean In A Break-even Analysis?

    • Video: How Are Both Types Of Contribution Calculated?

    • Video: How To Calculate Total Contribution (Quicker Than Unit Contribution In Determining Profit)

    • Video: Mr. B's Review of Contribution (start watching at 3:16)

  • 5

    What Is A Break-even Analysis?

    • Video: Introduction To The Purpose and Components Of a Break-even Analysis

    • What Is The Purpose Of A Break-Even Analysis?

    • Clarification: Contribution vs. Break-even

    • Key Terms

    • Handout: How To Start A Break Even Analysis

    • Advantages and Disadvantages Of A Break-even Analysis (You Must Say All Of This On Your IB May Exams)

    • Do You Know What "Liquidity" Means?

  • 6

    Method #1: How To Do A Break-even Analysis By Calculating Unit Contribution

    • Here Is The Unit Contribution Formula

    • Video: Farmer Joe Wants To Know How Many Apples He Needs To Sell

    • Video: How To Find The Break-even Point In Sales & Units

    • Break-even In A Restaurant

    • Visual: Break-even Formula

  • 7

    Method #2 : How To Do A Break-even Analysis By Calculating Total Revenue

    • Here Is The Total Revenue Formula

    • Video: Watch How A Break-even Analysis Is Done On a Chart Using Total Revenue and Total Costs (Q= quantity of units/products)

  • 8

    How To Show A Break-even Analysis With A Graph (Used In IA & May Exams)

    • Video: IB BM Key Term "Simple Linear Regression" = Refers To The Type Of Graph You Use In A Break-Even Chart

    • Video: How To Diagram A Break-even Chart

    • Video: How To Create A Break-even Chart

    • How To Explain Your Break-even Chart

    • Video: How To Change The Numbers in A Break-even Chart

  • 9

    Margin Of Safety

    • Video: Break-even & Margin of Safety

    • Video: The Margin of Safety

    • Video: How To Show The Margin Of Safety On A Break-even Chart

  • 10

    Target Profit, Target Price, Target Units Sold

    • Here Is The Formula To Determine How Many Products Must Be Sold To Reach a Desired Profit Amount

    • Target Profit: A Worked Out Example

    • Video: Simple Worked Example of Target Profit For A Sub Shop

    • Video: Watch This Man Figure Out How To Do A Target Profit Calculation

    • Video: A Worked Out Example Of How To Use A Target Profit To Determine Quantity Of Units That Must Be Sold To Earn That Desired Profit (Starts at 18:50)

    • Target Price Calculation

  • 11

    Key Term: Absorption Costing (Advanced HL Topic)

    • Key Term: Absorption Costing

    • How Does Absorption Costing Relate To A Break-even Analysis?

  • 12

    Benefits & Limitations Of A Break-even Analysis (You Must Say This In Your IA, EE & On The IB Exam)

    • Video: Benefits & Limitations of a Break-even Analysis

    • Handout: What Are The Strengths and Limitations of a Break-even Analysis?

    • Image: Disadvantages & Advantages of the Break-even Analysis

    • Image: Advantages, Disadvantages & Evaluation of Break-even Analysis

  • 13

    Break-even Analysis & The CCES Concepts (Creativity-Change-Ethics-Sustainability)

    • Video: Special Order Decision Making

    • Try An Activity With A Break-Even Calculator

    • Read These CCES Definitions. If You Write Them On Your May Exams You Get Credit For Clear Evidence of "Synthesis & Evaluation"

    • CCES Assignment: Write 4 CCES Impact Statements For This Chapter Following The Given Model

  • 14

    Let's Do Some Case Studies

    • Look At This Sample Of 1 Completed Case Study - Yours Must Follow The Same Format

    • Visual Of Case Study Day 1 Process

    • Instructions for Analyzing Case Studies

    • What Are Command Terms & Why Are They Important?

    • New Command Terms Definitions List (2024+) Exams = Rules for Answering Test Questions

    • Old Command Terms List = Rules for Answering Test Questions

    • Here Are Your Case Studies to Analyze

    • Show Your Teacher Your Completed Case Studies Then ...

    • Visual Of Case Study Day 2 Process (Read Your Presentation- Don't Show It- Give Command Term Definitions)

    • Finished Early? Don't Pack Up! Do This ...

  • 15

    Review Activities

    • WATCH: 5.5 Chapter Review

    • EXAM TIP!

    • Video: Summary of Break-even Analysis & The Key Terms

    • Video: Mr. B's 3.3 Review

    • Video: Mr. B's Shows How To Do A Break-even Analysis Exam Question

    • Instruction Sheet for Review Assignment

    • What Should You Do If You Get Stuck On A Question? Don't Skip It! Do This...

    • New 5.5 Review Worksheets With 4 Tasks 1-25 M/C (Title The Top Of A New Page. Then Label The Tasks And Write The Answers In Your Composition Notebook)

    • Put Away Your Pen & Pencil On Review Day- Only Have A Color Pen On Your Desk

    • Test Yourself With An IB Exam-Style Question (exam questions in BM are always multi-step, multi-answer exercises)

    • Key for the IB-Exam-Style Question (do not open until all your calculations in the table are completed)

    • 5.5 Quizlet

    • Have You Achieved the Key Learning Outcomes?

    • You Are Almost Finished!

    • Don't Forget The Last Piece!

    • Finished Early? Don't Pack Up! Do This ...

    • Memorize & Review The 5.5 Break-even Formulas For The IB Exams

  • 16

    IB DP BM May Exam Prep (Wait Until April To Do This Work)

    • Exam Practice: Break-Even

    • Exam Practice: Total Contribution & Break-Even

    • Exam Practice: Margin Of Safety & Contribution Per Unit & Break-Even

  • 17

    5.5 Quiz Scheduled

    • Visual: Quiz Day Schedule Of Activities

    • Come Here On Quiz Day If You Are In The Classroom - Makeups Are On The Day You Return

    • After The Quiz, Do The Assigned "Beyond The Tank" Work. If You Have An Excused Absence For Today, You Are Also Excused From This Assignment (Write "ABSENT" With The Date On The Notebook Page)