Margin vs Markup | CWX Workflow Tools
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Margin vs Markup

End the most expensive pricing mix-up.

Margin and markup sound interchangeable and are not. A markup is figured on cost; a margin on price, and treating one as the other quietly leaves money on the table all year. Enter a cost and a percentage, and this tool shows the price, the profit, and both figures side by side so there is no doubt which you used.

Time1 min
FormatCalculator
SavesPDF · JSON record
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What it is

Margin and markup are not the same, and confusing them quietly erodes profit. This tool shows price, profit, margin, and markup together from one cost.

When to use it

Any time you price from cost. A 40% markup and a 40% margin give very different prices, and only one of them is what you meant.

How to run it

Enter the cost, choose whether your percentage is a margin or a markup, and read the price plus the figure you did not enter.

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Price
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Profit
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Margin
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Markup

Margin is profit as a share of price. Markup is profit as a share of cost. Margin = profit / price; markup = profit / cost. Margin can never reach 100%; markup has no ceiling.

Saved

Worked example: a $60 cost

You want 40% on a job that costs $60. As a margin, the price is $100, a $40 profit, which is a 66.7% markup. But if you simply add 40% as a markup, the price is only $84, a $24 profit, and the margin is just 28.6%. Same "40%", a $16 difference on one job. Multiply that across a year and the confusion is expensive.