How many sales do you need for a daily profit target?

By DailyUseKit · Published 5 October 2026

A daily profit target becomes more useful when you translate it into a number of sales. That number depends on what each sale contributes after its variable cost and how much fixed expense the day must cover. Revenue alone does not answer the question.

Consider an illustrative seller charging KES 200 per item, with a variable cost of KES 140, daily fixed expenses of KES 300 and a desired daily profit of KES 1,500. These amounts are a worked example, not a forecast of typical earnings.

Calculate contribution per item

Subtract variable cost from selling price: 200 − 140 = 60. Each sold item contributes KES 60 toward the daily fixed expenses and then the profit target. Include expenses caused by each sale in the variable cost, such as packaging already attributable to one item.

Add fixed expenses to the target

The business needs contribution of 300 + 1,500 = 1,800 for the day. Divide that by 60 to get 30 items. The formula is required sales = (daily fixed expenses + target profit) ÷ contribution per item, rounded up to a whole item when necessary.

Open the daily profit calculator and enter price 200, cost 140, fixed expenses 300 and target 1500. Set items sold to 30 to check the result. Revenue is KES 6,000, entered expenses are KES 4,500 and estimated profit is KES 1,500.

Check the boundary around your target

At 29 sales, you are KES 60 short. At 30, you meet the target exactly. One more sale adds KES 60 under the unchanged-cost assumption, not the full KES 200 selling price.

Compare the requirement with your capacity

Suppose stock or working time limits you to 25 sales. Profit would be 25 × 60 − 300 = KES 1,200, which is KES 300 below the target. The calculator's required-sales result is a planning requirement, not evidence that customers will buy that many items.

You could explore a different price, lower variable costs, lower fixed expenses or a revised target. At 25 sales, reaching KES 1,500 would require contribution of (300 + 1,500) ÷ 25 = KES 72 per item. With cost unchanged at 140, that implies a price of 212. Whether customers accept that price needs a separate judgement.

Recalculate when costs change

If a per-sale charge increases the variable cost from 140 to 150, contribution drops to 50. The same daily goal then needs 1,800 ÷ 50 = 36 sales. Keep fixed daily expenses separate; counting them in both the item cost and the fixed field would exaggerate the requirement.

Recognise an unreachable target

If price is equal to or below variable cost, extra sales contribute zero or a loss. A positive profit target cannot be achieved in this simple model. With zero fixed expenses and a zero target, zero sales can already meet the target; that does not make loss-making sales profitable.

Use consistent daily amounts, whole items and realistic capacity. Unentered taxes, unpaid sales, returns or cost changes can make actual cash and profit differ. See the discount-and-profit guide before using a promotion to pursue a sales target.