Markup, margin, sell price — sorted
Enter any two and get the rest. Markup on cost and margin on price are always shown together, always labelled, so the two never get swapped again.
SOURCE·Arithmetic only — no external rate·REVIEWED JUL 2026
The same $50, two percentages
(sell − cost) ÷ cost
(sell − cost) ÷ sell
$50.00
profit
Selling at $150.00 ex GST means $172.50 on the invoice once 15% GST goes on.
SOURCE·Arithmetic only — no external rate·Figures ex GST·REVIEWED JUL 2026
Add 15% GST to this sell price → Sell price set — now add the 15% that goes to IRD, not to you.
Markup and margin are not the same number
Buy something for $100, sell it for $150, and ask two people what the percentage is. The one thinking in markup says 50% — profit over cost. The one thinking in margin says 33.3% — profit over price. Both are right, and every quiet pricing disaster in small business starts with those two people not realising they are using different words.
markup % = (sell − cost) ÷ cost × 100
What you added, measured against what you paid. $100 cost, $150 sell → 50%.
margin % = (sell − cost) ÷ sell × 100
The same $50, measured against what you charged. $100 cost, $150 sell → 33.3%.
The dangerous direction is hearing "we need a 40% margin" and applying a 40% markup. On $100 of cost that produces a $140 price and a 28.6% margin — 11 points short. If your overheads run at a quarter of revenue, that single confusion is the difference between profitable and working for free. The calculator above never shows one of these percentages without the other, and never shows either without naming its denominator.
Where GST fits
All of this maths happens on GST-exclusive numbers. Take your cost ex GST, apply your markup or target margin to get the sell price ex GST, and only then add 15% for the invoice. The calculator shows the GST-inclusive figure underneath so you can quote either number without re-deriving it.
SOURCE·Arithmetic only — no external rate·Worked examples recomputed at build·REVIEWED JUL 2026
How this is worked out
- Take the cost excluding GST. Every figure below is ex-GST; GST is added once, at the end, and never enters the percentage maths.
- Read which of the three inputs you gave: a markup on cost, a target margin on price, or the sell price itself. Each one determines the other two.
- Solve for the sell price. From a markup:
sell = cost × (1 + markup ÷ 100). From a target margin:sell = cost ÷ (1 − margin ÷ 100). From a sell price: it is already known. - Take gross profit as
sell − cost, then report it twice — over cost as the markup, over the sell price as the margin. Both are always shown, both are always labelled with their denominator. - Add 15% GST to the finished ex-GST sell price for the invoice figure. This is presentation only; it never feeds back into the margin.
sell = cost × (1 + markup ÷ 100) or cost ÷ (1 − margin ÷ 100) profit = sell − cost markup = profit ÷ cost × 100 (denominator: what you paid) margin = profit ÷ sell × 100 (denominator: what you charged)
Markup to margin, converted
Every row is the same two numbers seen from both ends, on a $100 cost. The highlighted row is the one people get wrong most: a 40% margin is a 66.7% markup, not a 40% one.
| Markup (on cost) | Margin (on price) | Sell price on $100 cost | Gross profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.0% | 9.1% | $110.00 | $10.00 |
| 15.0% | 13.0% | $115.00 | $15.00 |
| 20.0% | 16.7% | $120.00 | $20.00 |
| 25.0% | 20.0% | $125.00 | $25.00 |
| 30.0% | 23.1% | $130.00 | $30.00 |
| 40.0% | 28.6% | $140.00 | $40.00 |
| 50.0% | 33.3% | $150.00 | $50.00 |
| 60.0% | 37.5% | $160.00 | $60.00 |
| 66.7% | 40.0% | $166.70 | $66.70 |
| 75.0% | 42.9% | $175.00 | $75.00 |
| 100.0% | 50.0% | $200.00 | $100.00 |
| 150.0% | 60.0% | $250.00 | $150.00 |
| 200.0% | 66.7% | $300.00 | $200.00 |
| 300.0% | 75.0% | $400.00 | $300.00 |
SOURCE·Arithmetic only — no external rate·Table computed at build from the formulas above·REVIEWED JUL 2026
Turn the price into paperwork
One link below is an affiliate link: if you sign up through it, this site earns a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes the numbers above.
Quote it
Push the sell price straight into a professional quote with scope and terms.
quote.amit.marketing →Invoice it
A compliant GST tax invoice with your logo, downloaded as a PDF.
invoice.amit.marketing →Track your real margins
Xero shows what you actually made per job once the invoices and bills are in.
See Xero →Where these figures come from
Every number this tool uses, with the official source and the date it applies from. If a figure here is out of date, the source link is the one to trust.
- New Zealand GST rate — 15%
Markup questions, answered
What is the difference between markup and margin?
How do I convert markup to margin?
What markup should I use?
Why is pricing off margin safer than pricing off markup?
Should I add GST before or after the markup?
Is this calculator free and private?
Next after the markup calculator
Ranked by what a reader who has just priced a job reaches for next. Figures carry across — no retyping, no signup.
You have the sell price. Put it in front of the customer as a quote.
JUL 2026 GST calculatorSell price set — now add the 15% that goes to IRD, not to you.
JUL 2026 Rate calculatorWhat you have to charge per hour once holidays, downtime and overheads are counted.
JUL 2026 Percentage calculatorPercent of, percent off and percent change, without opening a spreadsheet.
JUL 2026 Invoice generatorA GST-compliant tax invoice with your details on it, as a PDF, with nothing to sign up for.
JUL 2026 Pay converterSalary to hourly and back, on real working-year hours.
JUL 2026 Day counterDays between two dates, working days only, and every NZ public holiday.
JUL 2026See all 10 free tools in one list →
These tools are free and always will be. Built by Amit Sharma — an Auckland real-estate agent and marketer followed by 214K across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.