Skip to main content
Revision GuideFinance & Business

Business Pricing and Margin Cheat Sheet

A clearer pricing sheet for markup, margin, discounting, and price logic, built to stop common denominator mistakes before they distort commercial decisions.

Filename: business-pricing-and-margin-cheat-sheet.pdfFile size: 3 KB

Formula highlights

Margin
margin % = profit / revenue x 100
Markup
markup % = profit / cost x 100

What this pack covers

Keep this sheet nearby when moving between cost, selling price, markup, margin, and discount scenarios so the percentages do not get mixed.

Core formulas

  • markup % = (selling price - cost) / cost x 100
  • margin % = (selling price - cost) / selling price x 100
  • discounted price = original x (1 - discount rate)

Why markup and margin differ

They share the same profit difference but use different denominators. That is why the percentages are not interchangeable.

Worked example prompt

An item cost, a target margin, and a promotional discount can be chained through the formulas to show how apparently small pricing changes alter the profit retained per unit.

Common mistakes

  • Using markup when the target is actually margin.
  • Applying a discount without checking the new gross profit.
  • Treating a percentage alone as meaningful without defining what it is relative to.
Related calculators

Use the formulas in live tools.

More downloads

Continue the topic cluster.