What Markup Gives a 35 Percent Margin?
Markup, against cost
53.8%
To keep 35 percent of the price, add 53.8 percent to a $10,000 cost: $15,384.62.
How that number is worked out
These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.
- Your cost for the job10000 $
- I want to setMargin percent
- That number35 % or $
Price to charge$15,384.62
| Your cost | $10,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Price | $15,384.62 |
| Gross profit | $5,384.62 |
| Markup, against cost | 53.8% |
| Margin, against price | 35%this is the one your accountant means |
| If you want this margin | Mark up cost by | On $10,000 cost, charge |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 11.1% | $11,111.11 |
| 15% | 17.6% | $11,764.71 |
| 20% | 25% | $12,500.00 |
| 25% | 33.3% | $13,333.33 |
| 30% | 42.9% | $14,285.71 |
| 35% | 53.8% | $15,384.62 |
| 40% | 66.7% | $16,666.67 |
| 50% | 100% | $20,000.00 |
Margin compared
Going the other way, the required markup climbs much faster than the margin does.
| Margin | Price to charge | Markup, against cost |
|---|---|---|
| 10% margin | $11,111.11 | 11.1% |
| 20% margin | $12,500.00 | 25% |
| 30% margin | $14,285.71 | 42.9% |
| 40% margin | $16,666.67 | 66.7% |
| 50% margin | $20,000.00 | 100% |
What else matters here
Thirty five percent margin needs 53.8 percent on cost. Before deciding whether that is high, ask which kind of contract it is, because the contract decides who owns the risk and the risk is what the margin is paying for.
On a fixed price contract you own everything. If the hours run over, the ground is worse than expected or the material arrives damaged, the loss is yours, and the margin has to be large enough to survive being wrong. On time and materials the customer carries the overrun, so the same work can be priced at a lower percentage honestly. Cost plus a fee sits in between, and a guaranteed maximum price is a fixed price wearing a cost plus coat, because the ceiling is yours to eat.
Which means quoting the same percentage on every contract type is a mistake in both directions: too thin on fixed price work, where it will eventually cost you a job's worth of profit, and too fat on time and materials, where a customer who is already carrying the risk can see they are paying for it twice.
What this calculator assumes
- Markup is measured against your cost. Margin is measured against the price. They are never the same number and confusing them is the most expensive arithmetic mistake in the trades.
- A 50 percent markup is a 33.3 percent margin. To actually keep 50 percent of the price you have to mark up by 100 percent.
Questions people ask
What markup gives a 35 percent margin?
53.8 percent. On a $10,000 cost that is a price of $15,384.62 and $5,384.62 of gross profit.
Should fixed price work carry a higher margin?
Yes. On fixed price the overrun is yours, so the margin has to survive being wrong. On time and materials the customer carries it, so the same work can be priced lower.
Is a guaranteed maximum price the same as cost plus?
Not where it matters. The ceiling belongs to you, so anything above it comes out of your margin, which makes it far closer to a fixed price contract than to open cost plus.
The markup vs margin calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.