Free Tool · New 2026
Profit Margin & Markup Calculator
Enter your cost price and selling price to instantly see your profit amount, profit margin percentage and markup percentage — the two most commonly confused numbers in pricing.
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This calculator gives a strong planning estimate. For an exact, guaranteed figure, our engineers confirm everything during a free site survey.
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Margin vs markup: the formulas
- Profit = Selling Price − Cost Price
- Profit Margin (%) = Profit ÷ Selling Price × 100 — profit as a percentage of what the customer pays
- Markup (%) = Profit ÷ Cost Price × 100 — profit as a percentage of what it cost you
These two numbers are always different for the same sale, and confusing them is one of the most common small-business pricing mistakes — a 50% markup is only a 33% margin, not a 50% margin.
Why this matters for installation businesses
When pricing a CCTV, smart home or networking project, it's easy to price purely on markup over equipment cost and forget that labor, warranty support and follow-up visits eat into that margin. Running both numbers before finalizing a quotation helps confirm the job is actually profitable once real costs are accounted for.
Pricing a project and want a second opinion?
If you're a contractor or reseller and want help thinking through pricing on a specific installation, our team is happy to talk through it.
Frequently asked questions
Margin is profit as a percentage of the selling price, while markup is profit as a percentage of the cost price — the same sale produces two different-looking numbers depending on which one you calculate.
It varies widely by service, but many installation and trades businesses target a gross margin somewhere in the 25-40% range after accounting for labor, though this depends heavily on your specific costs and market.
A 50% markup on a cost of AED 100 gives a selling price of AED 150 and a profit of AED 50, which is a 33.3% margin, not 50% - margin and markup are never equal except at very low percentages.
No, enter your cost and selling prices exclusive of VAT for an accurate margin calculation, since VAT is collected on behalf of the government and isn't part of your profit.