How to work out the profit on each class
Profit per class night is what the people in the room actually paid, minus hall hire, minus teacher pay, minus any one-off cost for that night. Break-even attendance is those fixed costs divided by the average paid per head, after passes and discounts, not the list price. A class with a $90 hall and two teachers at $60 each costs $210 a night; if the average person pays $21, it needs 10 people to break even.
The sum
Every class night has three numbers:
- Takings. What the people in the room paid tonight. A cash $23, a card $23, a discounted $11.50, and one class off a 10-class pass at $20. Free trials and comp passes count as $0.
- Fixed costs. Hall hire and teacher pay. They are the same whether 4 people come or 40.
- One-off costs. A band, hired sound gear, a licence for a special night.
Profit per night = takings − hall − teacher pay − one-offs. Add the nights up and you have the month. That is all it is. The reason most owners don't know this number is not that the maths is hard; it is that the three numbers live in three places: the cash tin, a pay spreadsheet and the hall invoice.
A worked example
These are two real classes from our made-up demo studio in August 2026 (so the numbers are not a customer's). Both are in the same hall at $90 a night with two teachers at $60 each, and both charge $23 at the door with 10-class passes at $20 a class.
| August 2026 | Beginner Swing, Mondays | Lindy Hop Level 2, Wednesdays |
|---|---|---|
| Nights in the month | 5 | 4 |
| Check-ins | 97 | 34 |
| Takings | $2,037.00 | $748.00 |
| Hall hire, $90 a night | −$450.00 | −$360.00 |
| Teacher pay, $120 a night | −$600.00 | −$480.00 |
| Profit for the month | $987.00 | −$92.00 |
| Profit per night | $197.40 | −$23.00 |
| Average attendance | 19.4 | 8.5 |
| Average paid per head | $21.00 | $22.00 |
| Needed to break even | 10 | 10 |
Same hall, same teachers, same price. One class clears nearly $200 a night; the other loses $23. Nothing about the room or the teaching tells you that. Only the sum does. See these two classes in the demo.
Break-even attendance
Break-even = fixed costs ÷ average paid per head. For both classes above: $210 ÷ $21 = 10 people.
The mistake almost everyone makes is to divide by the list price. $210 ÷ $23 = 9.1, so "nine people". But nobody's room pays list price. Regulars use passes at $20, a couple shares one, two people are on a half-price deal, one is a free trial and the teacher's partner is on a comp. The average in the demo studio comes out at $21, and in a studio with generous passes it can be $17 or $18. Use what people really paid, and the break-even moves up by one or two heads. Those one or two heads are the difference between a class that looks fine and one that quietly loses money all year.
Four things that make the number wrong
- Counting a pass sale as the night's revenue. Someone buys a 10-class pass for $200 on a Monday. The cash is real, but the revenue belongs to ten classes, not one. Credit $20 to each class as the pass is used. Otherwise Monday looks wonderful and the next nine weeks look thin. (It also means you owe that student nine classes. Passes are a liability until used.)
- Forgetting the second teacher. Partner-dance classes often have two. $60 looks fine on its own; $120 a night is a different class.
- Hall hire charged by the hour, not the class. If you hire the hall from 6:30 to 9:30 and run two classes in it, split the hire between them (by time, or by heads). Giving it all to the first class makes the first look bad and the second look free.
- Missing nights. If one Wednesday was never written down, the month's average is wrong and the class looks better than it is. The missing night is the one you most need.
What to do with a class that loses money
In order, cheapest first:
- Win back the people who drifted. A class at 8.5 that needs 10 is two people short. Look at who was a regular three months ago and has stopped coming; the teacher who knows them sends a message. See finding students who have stopped coming.
- Cut the fixed cost. One teacher instead of two takes the break-even from 10 to 7. A cheaper hall or a shorter hire does the same. The break-even moves with the cost, so even a $20 saving matters.
- Change the price or the deal. A "second class tonight for $12" bundle can fill a second-hour class with people who are already in the building. See pricing drop-in classes.
- Keep it as a feeder. If Beginner feeds Level 2, Beginner can run at a small loss and still be the best money you spend. Judge the pair, not the night.
- Close it. Only when it loses money and feeds nothing. Then the hall and the teacher are free for a night that might.
How to keep the number without a spreadsheet
You need the three numbers written down once each, on the night, by whoever is there. ClassMetrix does this at the door: the check-in records what each person paid (and credits pass usage at the pass's per-class price), each class carries its hall cost and the names of who taught, and one-off costs are added to the night. The money page then shows each class's takings, costs, profit per night, average attendance and break-even, month by month, and labels a night as an estimate if nobody recorded the teachers. It records payments; it does not take them.
See profit per class in a working studio
The demo is a made-up studio with six months of classes, passes, teacher pay and cash tins. No sign-up.
Read next
Questions
How many students does a class need to break even?
Divide the night's fixed costs (hall hire plus teacher pay plus any one-off cost) by what people actually pay on average, after passes and discounts. A class costing $210 a night where people pay about $21 each needs 10 people. Count the average paid, not the list price, or the answer is too low.
Is a pass sale revenue on the night it is sold?
The cash comes in that night, but the revenue belongs to each class the pass is later used at. Counting the whole pass as revenue on the night of sale makes that class look profitable and the next nine look empty. Credit each class with one class's worth of the pass when it is used.
Should I close a class that loses money?
Not before you know why. A beginner class that loses $23 a night but feeds the intermediate class that makes $200 is doing its job. Check first whether it can be run with one teacher, a cheaper hall or a shorter hire, and whether a few lapsed regulars can be won back. Close it when it loses money and feeds nothing.
How does ClassMetrix work out profit per class?
Each class night's takings (what people actually paid, with pass usage credited at the pass's per-class price) minus that night's hall hire, teacher pay and one-off costs. Break-even attendance is the fixed costs divided by the average paid per head. If a teacher wasn't recorded for a night, their pay is estimated from the class's usual cost and the report says so.