Kaliun

Markup vs Margin Calculator

Enter your job cost, then type any one of markup, margin, or sell price. The calculator instantly works out the other three, plus your profit in dollars.

Markup vs margin: the one-sentence difference

Margin is your profit as a percent of the sell price, and markup is your profit as a percent of the cost. Same profit dollars, different denominator, which is why a 50% markup is only a 33.3% margin. Charge the wrong one and you quietly give away margin on every job.

Enter your numbers

$

Your total cost to do the work, before any profit.

%

Profit as a percent of cost. A 40% markup on $10,000 cost sells for $14,000.

Sell price

$14,000.00

On a $10,000.00 job cost, that is $4,000.00 of profit.

Markup

40.0%

of cost

Margin

28.6%

of price

Profit

$4,000.00

price minus cost

Sell Price

$14,000.00

what you charge

Start Free Trial

14-day free trial. No credit card required.

The formulas, in plain math

  • Markup % = (Price minus Cost) / Cost x 100
  • Margin % = (Price minus Cost) / Price x 100
  • Profit = Price minus Cost
  • Price from markup = Cost x (1 + Markup/100)
  • Price from margin = Cost / (1 minus Margin/100), where margin stays below 100%

Markup to margin reference table

Every markup percent converts to a smaller margin percent. Keep this handy so you never quote the wrong number on a job.

Markup %Equals margin %
10%9.1%
15%13%
20%16.7%
25%20%
30%23.1%
33.3%25%
40%28.6%
50%33.3%
67%40.1%
75%42.9%
100%50%

Margin = Markup / (1 + Markup/100). Values rounded to one decimal.

Stop guessing your margins

Kaliun tracks real job costs against your budget in real time, so you see your actual margin on every project, not a guess. Set your markup once and Kaliun does the math on every proposal.

Want the full breakdown? Read the full guide on markup vs margin for contractors.