Revenue is not profit, and profit is not cash. Plenty of Barbados businesses show a profit on paper and still struggle to pay rent at the end of the month.
This free calculator takes your monthly sales and costs and shows five things:
- profit before and after corporation tax
- your break-even point in dollars and number of sales
- how much cash you gain or lose each month
- where your bank balance will be in 12 months
- whether you are close to the VAT registration threshold
It uses 2026 Barbados rates, including the new BBD 350,000 VAT threshold from 1 October 2026. Nothing you enter is stored.
Barbados Business Profit & Cash-Flow Calculator
Work out your profit, margins, break-even point, and monthly cash flow — with Barbados-specific cost options. Free, no sign-up, no data stored.
Variable Costs (change with sales)
Fixed Costs (stay roughly the same)
| Item | Monthly (BBD) | Annual (BBD) |
|---|
| Measure | Value |
|---|
Break-even is the sales level where revenue covers all your costs. Below this point, you are losing money. Above it, you are making a profit.
| Cash Flow Item | BBD |
|---|
Test how your profit and cash flow change if costs rise or sales fall.
| Scenario | Revenue | Gross Profit | Net Profit | Net Margin | Break-Even Revenue |
|---|
Need a deeper financial plan?
This calculator gives you a snapshot. For 12-month forecasting, multiple scenarios, downloadable Excel workbooks, and PDF financial reports, explore MetricSuite's business workbooks.
Explore MetricSuite Workbooks →How to use the calculator
- Enter monthly sales. Use an average month. If your business is seasonal, run the calculator twice, once for a busy month and once for a slow one.
- Split your costs into variable and fixed. Variable costs move with sales, like stock, packaging, card fees and commissions. Fixed costs stay roughly the same each month, like rent, wages, NIS, insurance and software.
- Fill in cash flow. Here you record the money that moves without being a cost: loan principal, stock you are building up, equipment you buy outright, and what you pay yourself.
- Set your VAT and tax options. Tell the calculator whether you are VAT registered and which corporation tax rate applies to you.
- Read the warnings first. They flag the problems that matter most: sales below break-even, cash running out, thin margins, and crossing the VAT threshold.
Profit vs cash flow: why the numbers differ
Profit measures whether your prices cover your costs. Cash flow measures whether money in the bank is going up or down.
The two drift apart for predictable reasons:
- Loan repayments. Only the interest is a cost. The principal comes out of cash but does not reduce profit.
- Equipment purchases. A BBD 24,000 oven paid in cash empties your account today. For profit purposes it is spread over its useful life as depreciation.
- Customers paying late. A sale on 30-day terms counts toward profit this month, but the cash arrives next month.
- Owner drawings. These are not a business cost, but they are real cash leaving the business.
- VAT. VAT you charge customers is not your money. It sits in your account until you pay it to the BRA.
The calculator keeps profit and cash separate so you can see which of these is draining your account.
How break-even is calculated
Break-even sales = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin
Contribution margin is the share of each dollar of sales left after variable costs.
For example, if variable costs are 45.6% of sales, the contribution margin is 54.4%. With BBD 11,950 of monthly fixed costs, break-even is BBD 11,950 ÷ 0.544 = about BBD 21,967 a month.
Margin of safety is how far sales can fall before you make a loss. Below 10% is tight for a small business.
Barbados rules built into the calculator
| Item | 2026 figure |
|---|---|
| VAT standard rate | 17.5% |
| VAT on hotel accommodation | 7.5% |
| VAT on car rentals (approved operators, from 1 July 2026) | 10% |
| VAT registration threshold | BBD 200,000 until 30 September 2026; BBD 350,000 from 1 October 2026 |
| Corporation tax, standard | 9% |
| Corporation tax, registered small business (gross income BBD 2M or less) | 5.5% |
| NIS, employer / employee | 12.75% / 11.10% |
| NIS insurable earnings ceiling | BBD 5,360 a month |
| Resilience and Regeneration Fund | 0.25% employer, 0.25% employee |
| National minimum wage | BBD 10.71 an hour (from 21 January 2026) |
| Exchange rate | BBD 2.00 = USD 1.00 (fixed peg) |
The 5.5% corporation tax rate is not automatic. Your company must be registered under the Small Business Development Act.
Sole traders pay personal income tax on business profit instead of corporation tax. The calculator does not estimate personal income tax; use the Caribbean PAYE Take-Home Pay Calculator as a guide.
Worked example: a small Bridgetown retailer
These are the figures the calculator loads by default:
- Sales: BBD 25,000 a month from 200 customers (an average of BBD 125 each)
- Variable costs: BBD 11,400, so the gross margin is 54.4%
- Fixed costs: BBD 11,950, including BBD 5,000 of wages and BBD 650 of employer NIS
- Profit before tax: BBD 1,650 a month
- Profit after 5.5% corporation tax: about BBD 1,559, a net margin of 6.2%
- Break-even: BBD 21,967 a month, or 176 sales
The business is profitable. But the owner draws BBD 2,000 a month, which is more than the profit. So the bank balance falls by about BBD 441 every month, from BBD 15,000 today to about BBD 9,711 after a year.
The scenarios table shows how fragile this is. A 10% rise in costs turns the profit into a loss. So does a 20% drop in sales.
The fix is not “sell more.” It is one or more of these:
- lower drawings to match profit
- raise prices so the gross margin improves by 2 to 3 points
- cut a fixed cost
At BBD 300,000 a year, this shop is also above the old VAT threshold. Under the new BBD 350,000 threshold from 1 October 2026, it drops below the requirement to register. The calculator flags this either way.
Related Caribbean business tools
- Caribbean Employee True Cost Calculator: what a hire really costs after NIS and levies
- Free Break-Even Calculator: a quick break-even check for a single product
- Barbados Import Duty Calculator: landed cost of imported stock
- Caribbean PAYE Take-Home Pay Calculator
- Caribbean Business Registration Cost Estimator
- All Caribbean Business Tools
FAQ
What is the VAT registration threshold in Barbados in 2026?
BBD 200,000 in annual taxable sales until 30 September 2026. From 1 October 2026 it rises to BBD 350,000, following the 2026 Budget. Businesses under the threshold can still register voluntarily.
What is the corporation tax rate for a small business in Barbados?
The standard rate is 9%. A company registered under the Small Business Development Act with gross income of BBD 2 million or less pays 5.5%.
How do I calculate break-even for my business?
Divide your monthly fixed costs by your contribution margin. Contribution margin is the percentage of each sale left after variable costs. If fixed costs are BBD 12,000 and 50% of each sale is left after variable costs, break-even is BBD 24,000 a month.
Why is my business profitable but short of cash?
Loan principal, equipment purchases, stock build-up, customers paying late and owner drawings all use cash without counting as costs. The calculator’s cash flow section shows which of these is responsible.
Should I include NIS in my costs?
Yes. The employer share (12.75% plus 0.25% for the Resilience Fund) is a business cost on top of gross wages, up to the BBD 5,360 monthly ceiling per employee. The employee share is deducted from their pay, so do not add it again.
Does this calculator work for sole traders?
Yes, for profit, break-even and cash flow. Set the tax option to “Do not estimate”, because sole traders pay personal income tax rather than corporation tax.
Is my data saved?
No. Every calculation runs in your browser. Nothing is stored, sent or tracked by the calculator.