Enrichment · Passion Projects

Price it, sell it,
count the cash box.

A market day is a small business in one afternoon. This organizer keeps a record per student booth: the product, price, cost per unit and units made, the booth needs and a readiness checklist, then units sold and the cash counted at close. It works out break-even, profit after materials and sell-through, checks that the cash box matches sales and totals the whole event.

Add a boothWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Passion projects kit, $39 for 43 items.

Booths

The worked example is made up: four student businesses at a fall market day. Saved on this device only.

Loading the booth form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Enrichment · Passion Projects$5

What you finish with
A record per booth: business, team, product, food or not, price, cost per unit, units made, starting cash, booth needs, six readiness checks, then units sold and cash at close. Works out break-even, revenue, profit after materials, sell-through and whether the cash box reconciles; totals revenue and profit for the event; flags a price at or below cost, food without a rules check, no starting cash and a cash box that is off.
Who it is for
Teachers, club advisers and entrepreneurship program leaders running a market day; middle and high school student teams planning their own booth.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per booth. Prints one booth, all of them in a table or a blank booth sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Passion projects kit ($39) and the Enrichment Suite pass ($119), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Passion Projects space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Before market day, add each booth with its price, cost per unit and units made.
  2. Fix anything flagged: a price below cost, food rules, starting cash.
  3. Print the blank booth sheet for teams to fill in on the day.
  4. After closing, enter units sold and the cash counted.
  5. Review profit and sell-through together, and write one change for next time.

Add a booth

Small business math

The numbers behind a booth1Cost per unitEverything you spent onmaterials, divided by the2PriceAbove cost, and a number thatis easy to pay: $2, not $1.85.3Break-evenUnits made × cost ÷ price,rounded up. Sell that many and4ProfitPrice × units sold, minus thecost of everything you made,5Cash boxCash at close should equalstarting cash plus sales.The numbers behind a booth1Cost per unitEverything you spent on materials,divided by the units you made.2PriceAbove cost, and a number that is easy topay: $2, not $1.85.3Break-evenUnits made × cost ÷ price, rounded up.Sell that many and materials arecovered.4ProfitPrice × units sold, minus the cost ofeverything you made, sold or not.5Cash boxCash at close should equal starting cashplus sales.
Unsold units still cost money. That is why profit subtracts the cost of everything you made, not only what sold.

Why break-even comes first

Break-even turns a price into a goal students can see: sell 19 bracelets and the materials are paid for. It also exposes a price set below cost, the most common market day mistake.

Profit counts what you made

Materials for unsold items are still spent. Counting the cost of everything made, not only what sold, teaches why businesses forecast demand carefully and why selling out early can mean you made too few.

Money handling

Two students should count the cash box together at open and close, and write the amounts down. Card readers need an adult’s account. Follow your school’s rules on cash, food and where the money goes after the event.

Sources

  1. Council for Economic Education: National Standards for Personal Financial Education (2021) and Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics (councilforeconed.org).
  2. U.S. Small Business Administration: Calculate your startup costs; break-even analysis (sba.gov).
  3. Junior Achievement USA: JA BizTown and student company programs (ja.org).
  4. Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE): entrepreneurship curriculum for young people (nfte.com).

The worked example is made up. Follow your school’s policies on food, cash and fundraising. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.