Introducing Prism Breakeven
We’re excited to introduce Prism Breakeven — a new, smarter way of calculating breakeven that we believe represents the future of event budgeting.
Until now, our legacy breakeven (still available in the Budget Summary sidebar) has been based on an industry-standard formula:
Net Ticket Price ÷ Remaining Expenses (existing documentation)
(where Net Ticket Price backs out artist %, variable fees, variable costs, etc.)
In simple scenarios, this formula works well. But as Prism has grown to support more deal types, automations, and features (like min/max variable costs), the calculation has become increasingly complex and harder to maintain. More importantly, it’s no longer the most accurate way to measure breakeven.
How Prism Breakeven Works
While building a breakeven column for the pro forma, we discovered a more powerful approach. Instead of relying on a static formula, Prism Breakeven uses an algorithm to programmatically find the sell-through percentage where net profit equals zero.
This means Prism Breakeven is:
Always accurate — no matter what features or cost structures we add in the future.
Future-proof — frees us from endlessly patching a legacy formula as the platform evolves.
Simpler for you — you can trust that breakeven reflects reality without extra manual work.
Why It Matters
By moving to an algorithmic breakeven, Prism can keep innovating without breaking the math. This unlocks faster enhancements to other parts of the product, while giving you the most reliable breakeven insights possible.
What’s Next
For now, both Prism Breakeven and the legacy breakeven will run in parallel. Fully replacing the old formula will take time, as we need to track down every use case where breakeven surfaces — from documents to reports — and make sure those workflows stay intact.
Once complete, Prism Breakeven will become the default everywhere in the platform, giving you a consistent and future-proof breakeven calculation across the board.