Contribution margin per unit: formula and example

Leo

Families love the 32-lesson package, our biggest discount. I want to push it hard in September: a banner and an email to every family.

Hanna

First, one question: what does one lesson actually leave Klasna? Not what the family pays, but what stays with us after the lesson.

You

Let me start with English. The 16-lesson package costs 9,920 UAH, so one lesson is 9,920 / 16 = 620 UAH. Is that it?

Alex Tutor

That's what the family pays. Now follow those 620 hryvnias out the door. The tutor gets 390 for the lesson. The payment provider keeps 2.5% of the price, which is 15.50. Video minutes and the AI practice partner cost another 30.

What's left is the contribution margin: 620 − 390 − 15.50 − 30 = 184.50 UAH. That's what one lesson contributes to the team, the office and marketing, and, once those are paid, to profit.

Alex Tutor

Dataset · 9 rows

Klasna's price list: packages and the costs of one lesson

One row per subject and package size. Prices and costs are in UAH; the fee is a percentage of what the family pays.

Download CSV

Columns
subject: english, maths or programming
lessons: Lessons in the package: 8, 16 or 32
package_price_uah: What the family pays for the whole package
tutor_payout_per_lesson_uah: What the tutor gets for each delivered lesson
video_ai_per_lesson_uah: Video minutes and AI practice for one lesson
payment_fee_pct: Payment provider fee, % of the price

Data

subject	lessons	package_price_uah	tutor_payout_per_lesson_uah	video_ai_per_lesson_uah	payment_fee_pct
english	8	5200	390	30	2.5
english	16	9920	390	30	2.5
english	32	18560	390	30	2.5
maths	8	5600	420	30	2.5
maths	16	10720	420	30	2.5

Show 4 more rows

maths	32	20160	420	30	2.5
programming	8	6000	460	36	2.5
programming	16	11520	460	36	2.5
programming	32	21760	460	36	2.5

Alex Tutor

CM = P - T - 0.025 \times P - V \qquad CM\% = \frac{CM}{P} \times 100

CM: contribution margin per lesson; P: price per lesson (package price ÷ lessons); T: tutor payout; V: video + AI per lesson.

Every row of the price list has what you need. Try maths next.

Alex Tutor

Question 1

Use the price list. What is the contribution margin per lesson of a maths lesson in the 16-lesson package?

Your answer

Units: UAH (e.g. 184.50)

You

Why only those three costs? Klasna also pays salaries, the office and ads. Shouldn't a slice of those come off every lesson too?

Alex Tutor

Ask one question of every cost: if we deliver one more lesson, does it grow? The tutor's payout does. So do the fee and the video bill. Those are variable costs.

Hanna's salary doesn't change if Klasna delivers one lesson more or less this month. Nor does the office rent. Those are fixed costs, and they stay out of the contribution margin on purpose.

Hanna

Spread salaries across lessons and the 'cost per lesson' swings with volume: awful in July, great in May. You'd be deciding on a number that moves by itself.

Alex Tutor

So contribution margin answers a narrow question: what does one more lesson add? Fixed costs return when we ask how many lessons cover them.

Alex Tutor

Question 2

Which of these are variable costs of one English lesson, the ones you subtract to get its contribution margin?

Choose all that applyOffice rent and toolsThe tutor's payout for the lessonThe 2.5% payment provider feeSalaries of the in-house teamThis month's paid social budgetVideo minutes and AI practice for the lesson

You

184.50 out of 620. How big is that as a share of the price?

Alex Tutor

That's the contribution margin ratio: contribution margin divided by the price. It shows how many kopiykas of every hryvnia a family pays are left to cover fixed costs.

Hanna

It helps when prices differ. A programming lesson in the 16-pack leaves 206 UAH, more than English, yet a smaller share of its 720-hryvnia price.

Alex Tutor

Hryvnias per lesson say what one more lesson brings; the ratio says what a hryvnia of sales brings.

Alex Tutor

Question 3

What is the contribution margin ratio of an English lesson in the 16-lesson package? Round to two decimals.

Your answer

Units: % (e.g. 31.25)

You

Now Leo's package: 18,560 / 32 = 580 UAH a lesson, fee 14.50, so 580 − 390 − 14.50 − 30 = 145.50. That's 39 less than in the 16-pack!

Alex Tutor

Look where the 40-hryvnia discount went. The tutor still gets 390, video still costs 30. Only the fee shrank, by one hryvnia. The other 39 came straight out of contribution margin.

Leo

But a family buys 32 lessons at once. That has to be worth more to us.

Alex Tutor

Per package, it is. Multiply by the number of lessons: 8 × 213.75 = 1,710; 16 × 184.50 = 2,952; 32 × 145.50 = 4,656 UAH. A bigger package earns less per lesson and more per package.

Alex Tutor

English packages side by side

Package	Price per lesson	Contribution margin per lesson	Per package
8 lessons	650	213.75	1,710
16 lessons	620	184.50	2,952
32 lessons	580	145.50	4,656

UAH. Each lesson: tutor 390, video + AI 30, fee 2.5% of the price.

Hanna

Plus, a family pays for all 32 up front, so the money comes months before the lessons. That's a cash story for later.

Alex Tutor

Question 4

Put the steps in order to judge whether a package is worth promoting.

Tap an item, then tap where it should go. You can also drag or use the arrows.

You

So pushing the 32-pack is good: 4,656 beats 2,952.

Alex Tutor

Compared with what? If a family would have bought one 16-pack and left, Klasna gains. If they'd have bought two 16-packs anyway, compare 4,656 with 2 × 2,952 = 5,904.

Hanna

That's 1,248 UAH less for the same 32 lessons: the 39-hryvnia gap per lesson, times 32.

Leo

So the discount is a gift to families who'd stay anyway, and a win only with those who'd buy less.

Alex Tutor

Question 5

True or false: because the 32-lesson English package leaves less per lesson, one 32-pack earns Klasna less contribution margin than one 16-pack.

TrueFalse

Leo

Fine. Give me an answer I can act on: do we push the 32-pack in September or not?

You

It depends on who buys. I'd want to know how many already buy 16-packs again and again.

Alex Tutor

Good. Put it in a few sentences: numbers per lesson and per package, the comparison that decides it, and what to do meanwhile.

Alex Tutor

Question 6Short answer · AI-checked task

Leo asks: "Do we push the 32-lesson English package hard in September?" Write him a short reply (3–5 sentences). Use the numbers per lesson and per package, and say what would make the push worth it.

Write your answer and get a score with feedback from our AI reviewer.

Log in to get AI feedback

Alex Tutor

Next time we open Hanna's monthly costs and check which of them really stay fixed.

Alex Tutor

That’s the lesson. You answered every task — nicely done.

Next lesson: Fixed, variable and step costs