Markup calculator
Turn the cost of a job into a selling price and see the real margin that markup leaves behind.
Start from the markup or from the margin?
Everything the job costs you: materials, labour, subcontractors, transport and waste removal.
The percentage you add to cost. A 50% markup turns 1.200 € into 1.800 €.
Selling price
1800,00 €
1200,00 € of cost plus 600,00 € of gross profit
Markup on cost
50,0 %
Margin on price
33,3 %
- Gross profit
- 600,00 €
- Cost as a share of price
- 66,7 %
- Gross profit per euro invoiced
- 0,33 €
A markup of 50,0 % is a margin of 33,3 %. Quote with the first, run the business on the second.
Amounts are rounded on screen, so redoing the sum by hand can land a few cents apart.
Quote the whole job, line by line
Materials, labour and everything else can carry their own markup. The client sees the blend.
| Line | Cost | Markup | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Materials | 2400 € | 20 % | 2880 € |
| Labour | 3600 € | 50 % | 5400 € |
| Equipment and other | 500 € | 15 % | 575 € |
Total cost
6500 €
Total price
8855 €
Blended markup
36,2 %
Blended margin
26,6 %
Gross profit on the job: 2355 €. Overheads and taxes come out of that, not out of the price.
The blended markup is not the average of the three. It leans towards the line carrying the most cost.
Gross figures excluding VAT, before overheads and taxes. Not accounting or legal advice.
Disclaimer: This calculator is provided for informational purposes only. Holded is not responsible for any inaccuracies, errors, or outdated data in the calculations. Results should not be considered financial or tax advice. Always consult a qualified professional for decisions based on these calculations.
Markup and margin are not the same number
Both describe the distance between cost and price. They divide it by different things.
Markup measures that distance against what the job cost you. Margin measures it against what the client pays. The euros are identical. The percentage is not, and the margin always comes out lower, because the selling price is always the bigger denominator.
A job costing 1.200 € with a 50% markup sells for 1.800 €. Gross profit is 600 € either way. Divided by the 1.200 € of cost it reads as a 50% markup. Divided by the 1.800 € price it reads as a 33,3% margin. The same 600 €, two very different percentages, and the second one is what your books report.
Selling price = cost x (1 + markup / 100)
Gross profit = selling price minus cost
Markup % = gross profit / cost x 100
Margin % = gross profit / selling price x 100
The trap is applying a markup and then reading it as a margin. Someone who adds 20% to cost and says the job left a 20% margin is overstating by more than three points: 20% on cost is a 16,7% margin. Repeat that across a year of jobs and the gap is real money.
What each markup actually leaves you
Apply the markup on the left; the margin on the right is what reaches the accounts.
| Markup on cost | Margin it produces | Price on 100 € of cost |
|---|---|---|
| 10 % | 9,1 % | 110 € |
| 15 % | 13,0 % | 115 € |
| 20 % | 16,7 % | 120 € |
| 25 % | 20,0 % | 125 € |
| 30 % | 23,1 % | 130 € |
| 40 % | 28,6 % | 140 € |
| 50 % | 33,3 % | 150 € |
| 60 % | 37,5 % | 160 € |
| 75 % | 42,9 % | 175 € |
| 100 % | 50,0 % | 200 € |
Every margin in this table is derived from the markup beside it, so the table and the calculator cannot contradict each other. A 100% markup is where the two meet in the middle: it doubles the cost and leaves exactly half the price as gross profit.
From the margin you want to the markup you need
Pick the margin first and read off the markup it takes to get there.
| Margin you want | Markup you must apply |
|---|---|
| 10 % | 11,1 % |
| 15 % | 17,6 % |
| 20 % | 25,0 % |
| 25 % | 33,3 % |
| 30 % | 42,9 % |
| 35 % | 53,8 % |
| 40 % | 66,7 % |
| 50 % | 100,0 % |
Markup always runs ahead of margin, and the gap widens as the target climbs. A 50% margin asks for a 100% markup: you have to double the cost to keep half the price.
How the trades set their markup
Materials, labour and equipment rarely carry the same number.
Materials and labour usually carry different markups because they carry different risks. You buy the material, store it, deliver it and warrant it, and if the supplier's price moves between the quote and the order, the markup is what absorbs it. Labour you schedule, supervise and pay however the day turns out. That is why the breakdown lets each line carry its own percentage.
The other convention you will run into comes from public works, and it is written down, which is what makes it useful as a reference. Spain's public contracts regulation (Royal Decree 1098/2001) builds the budget by adding two percentages to the direct construction cost: general overheads, set by the contracting authority between 13% and 17%, and an industrial profit of 6%.
That 6% is industrial profit, not gross margin: it sits on top of the overhead percentage, which already travelled in the line before it. Nothing forces those figures on private work, but the structure holds. Separating what covers your overheads from what is profit is what lets you explain a price line by line the day a client asks.
What belongs in the cost you mark up
A markup is only as honest as the cost underneath it.
Accounting draws that line for you. In the profit and loss account of the Spanish General Accounting Plan, gross margin is net turnover minus supplies and the direct costs of the job. Whatever you book as direct cost is what your margin is measured against, so it pays not to leave anything out.
Materials, components and supplies that go into the job.
The labour you paid to do it, and the social security contributions on it.
Transport, delivery and waste removal tied to that job.
Subcontracted work you pass on to the client.
Equipment hire charged to the job rather than to the year.
Rent, insurance, the van, the phone and the hours you spend quoting are overheads, not job cost. They come out of gross profit, after the markup sum is already done. That is why a healthy markup is not the same thing as a healthy year. There is a quick check: divide gross profit by turnover and compare the result with your pricing policy. If your policy says a third of margin, you need a 50% markup on cost to get there. Even the rule of thumb needs the conversion.
What margin public works treat as reasonable
If you quote for a public body, the percentages are written into the regulation.
Royal Decree 1098/2001 sets out how the budget of a works contract is built. It starts from the direct construction cost, which is direct cost plus the indirect costs of the site. On top go general overheads, which the contracting authority places between 13% and 17%, and a 6% industrial profit. VAT comes last, outside that sum.
On a direct construction cost of 100.000 €, 13% of overheads and 6% of industrial profit give 119.000 € before VAT. Both percentages are calculated on cost, not on price, so that 19% is a markup. Measured against the final 119.000 € it settles at a 16% margin. The same conversion as always, this time in the official gazette.
None of that binds a private refurbishment. It does tell you what a public buyer treats as defensible, which is exactly what you need the day a client asks why your number is your number. A declared overhead percentage with an explicit profit on top is a structure you can explain line by line.
Sources: Spanish General Accounting Plan, Royal Decree 1514/2007. General Regulation of the Public Administrations Contracts Act, Royal Decree 1098/2001, article 131. The conversion tables are arithmetic, not survey data.
What this calculator does not do
Read the result as a pricing review, not as a finished quote.
It works in gross profit. Overheads, personal income tax and corporate tax come after this number.
It assumes the cost you enter is complete. A forgotten waste removal charge or an unbilled hour shows up as margin that never existed.
It does not add VAT. The tax goes on top of the price the tool returns.
It does not know what your market pays. A defensible markup and a winning quote are two different tests.
It prices one job. Two jobs with the same markup can end the year very differently if one of them ran long.
Estimates for pricing decisions, not accounting or legal advice. The public works percentages quoted apply to contracts with public administrations, not to private work. Check the terms of your own contract before relying on them.
Figures and references verified in September 2026.
Questions about markup
No. A 20% markup on cost produces a 16,7% gross margin. The euros are the same; the denominator is not. Markup divides gross profit by cost, margin divides it by the selling price, and the selling price is always larger. For a 20% margin you need a 25% markup.
A 42,9% markup. The formula is the margin divided by one minus the margin: 0,3 / 0,7 gives 42,9%. Switch the calculator to margin mode and it does it for you, and the reverse table above lists the most common targets.
Usually not. The materials markup covers buying, storage, delivery, waste and warranty, plus any price movement between your quote and the supplier's invoice. The labour markup covers supervision, scheduling and the hours that never get billed. Most trades set them separately, which is what the breakdown in the tool is for.
On private work, no: you agree the price with your client. On contracts with public administrations there are written references. Royal Decree 1098/2001 builds the budget by adding 13% to 17% of general overheads and a 6% industrial profit to the direct construction cost. It is not a ceiling for your business, but it is the figure a public buyer recognises.
It covers them. The markup on job cost has to pay for overheads first: rent, insurance, the van, the office, the time you spend quoting. What survives after that is profit. That is why a 20% markup can end a year at a loss. Only 16,7% of turnover is left to absorb every cost that never got charged to a job.
