ATLAS / DECISION TOOLS
Equipment utilisation break-even calculator.
Estimate the billable hours needed to cover equipment repayments and fixed costs, and test cash surplus at different utilisation levels.
How many paid hours must the machine work?
Use the break-even hours as a planning threshold, then compare them with realistic billable work rather than every hour the machine is available. Allow for downtime, unpaid travel and seasonal demand in your assumptions. A forecast surplus is sensitive to both price per hour and paid utilisation.
Explore excavator purchase and finance planningHow this model works.
Billable hours equal available hours multiplied by utilisation. Enter revenue and variable costs on the same per-hour basis.
Fixed commitments include the finance payment and other monthly fixed costs you enter. Avoid including the same cost in both fixed and variable inputs.
This is monthly cash contribution after entered commitments, not accounting profit, tax advice or a forecast of demand. Non-positive contribution per hour cannot cover positive fixed costs.
Questions about this tool
Why are break-even hours sometimes unavailable?
When revenue per hour does not exceed variable cost, extra work does not make a positive contribution to fixed commitments.
Can I use this for jobs rather than hours?
Use hours here. Convert each job into its expected billable hours and consistent hourly revenue and cost assumptions before entering values.
Model methodology describes Atlas’s illustrative calculation, not any provider’s underwriting rules. Check the actual proposal and obtain advice appropriate to your circumstances.