Markup is how much you add on top of cost, as a percentage of cost: revenue minus COGS, divided by COGS, times 100. It is always higher than gross margin for the same sale.
Markup = (Revenue − Cost of goods sold) ÷ Cost of goods sold × 100
On the sample data below, six months come to 83.69%.
Why it matters
Markup is how many people set prices ("cost plus 80%"), while margin is how profit is reported. Mixing them up is one of the most common pricing mistakes.
Worked example
The table shows the columns this metric needs from six months of a made-up subscription brand. Add each column up over the six months, then put the totals into the formula:
| Month | Revenue (net of discounts) | Cost of goods sold |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-01 | ₹4,12,000 | ₹2,26,600 |
| 2026-02 | ₹4,38,500 | ₹2,36,800 |
| 2026-03 | ₹4,71,200 | ₹2,59,200 |
| 2026-04 | ₹4,55,800 | ₹2,55,200 |
| 2026-05 | ₹5,02,300 | ₹2,71,200 |
| 2026-06 | ₹5,48,900 | ₹2,90,900 |
| Total | ₹28,28,700 | ₹15,39,900 |
(₹28,28,700 − ₹15,39,900) ÷ ₹15,39,900 × 100 = 83.69%
Add up first, then divide. Averaging the six monthly figures gives a slightly different answer, because it counts a small month the same as a large one.
Month by month
| Month | Markup |
|---|---|
| 2026-01 | 81.82% |
| 2026-02 | 85.18% |
| 2026-03 | 81.79% |
| 2026-04 | 78.61% |
| 2026-05 | 85.21% |
| 2026-06 | 88.69% |
Markup calculator
How to read it
To turn a target margin into a markup: markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin). A 40% margin needs a 66.7% markup.
Common mistakes
- Margin divides by revenue; markup divides by cost. Same numerator, different denominator.
- A markup applied to list price shrinks once discounts are given. Check it on realised revenue, as here.
- Markup on a single product says nothing about the blended figure across your range.
Calculate markup in Excel, SQL or Python
The quickest version, for the sample sheet laid out as in the CSV (headers in row 1, months in rows 2 to 7):
=(SUM(B2:B7) - SUM(C2:C7)) / SUM(C2:C7)- Markup in Excel and Google Sheets — per-month formula and zero-safe version
- Markup in SQL — query by month and for the period
- Markup in Python (pandas) — pandas script with expected output
Related metrics
See all business metrics, or the statistics methods that sit behind them.
Questions people ask
- What is markup?
- Markup is how much you add on top of cost, as a percentage of cost: revenue minus COGS, divided by COGS, times 100. It is always higher than gross margin for the same sale.
- How do you calculate markup?
- Markup = (Revenue − Cost of goods sold) ÷ Cost of goods sold × 100. For example, with six months of sample data: (₹28,28,700 − ₹15,39,900) ÷ ₹15,39,900 × 100 = 83.69%.
- What is the markup formula in Excel?
- With the sample data laid out as in the downloadable CSV, =(SUM(B2:B7) - SUM(C2:C7)) / SUM(C2:C7) gives the figure for the whole period (format the cell as a percentage). For one month, use =(B2 - C2) / C2 and fill it down.
- What is a good markup?
- There is no figure that is right for every business: it depends on your products, prices and channels. To turn a target margin into a markup: markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin). A 40% margin needs a 66.7% markup.
Check how stable it is
A metric moves for ordinary reasons as well as real ones. These methods separate the two: the spread shows what a normal month looks like, the moving average smooths it, the z-score flags a month that is out of line and the trend line shows the direction.
Guides
About the data on this page
The figures come from a small made-up dataset, printed above in full so you can check every number by hand. Download it as monthly.csv. The results are computed from those rows when the page is built, and the Excel formulas, SQL and Python on these pages are run against the same rows before publishing, so the code and the answers agree.
To get these numbers from your own data without writing formulas, try AnalyzeIt: ask in plain words and it shows the working behind every figure.
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