Profit Calculator
Work out how much profit you make on a sale — per unit and in total. Enter your cost price, selling price and quantity to see your profit, profit percentage and the full working. The profit formula is applied instantly as you type.
The profit formula
Profit = Selling Price − Cost Price
- Profit per unit = selling price − cost price.
- Total profit = profit per unit × quantity sold.
- Profit percentage (return on cost) = profit ÷ cost price × 100.
How to use this calculator
- Enter what the item costs you (the cost price).
- Enter what you sell it for (the selling price) and how many you sell.
- Profit per unit, total profit and profit percentage update instantly.
Worked examples
Buying low and selling high
You buy a batch of candles for £6 each and sell them for £10 each. Profit per unit = £10 − £6 = £4. Your return on cost is 4 ÷ 6 × 100 = 66.7%.
Profit per unit
A café makes a cake for £14 in ingredients and sells a slice for £3.50. If a cake yields 8 slices, revenue per cake is 8 × £3.50 = £28. Profit per cake = £28 − £14 = £14.
Total profit across multiple items
You sell 120 units that cost £5 each to make and sell for £8.50. Profit per unit = £8.50 − £5 = £3.50. Total profit = £3.50 × 120 = £420.
Profit percentage on cost
You buy stock for £25 and sell it for £40. Profit = £40 − £25 = £15. Profit percentage on cost = 15 ÷ 25 × 100 = 60%.
When a price is below cost
If you buy for £30 and sell for £25, profit = £25 − £30 = −£5. A negative result is a loss — review your pricing or costs before selling at that price.
Profit, revenue, cost and margin
These terms are often confused. Here is the difference, in plain English.
- Cost
- What you pay to buy or make an item — the cost price per unit, plus any direct costs of producing it.
- Revenue
- The money you bring in from selling — your selling price multiplied by the quantity sold. Revenue is the top line before any costs are deducted.
- Profit
- What remains after the cost is taken away from the revenue: selling price − cost price. Profit is an amount in pounds.
- Profit margin
- Profit expressed as a percentage of the selling price, not the cost. A £8 profit on a £20 sale is a 40% margin. Use the profit margin calculator to work it out.