Profit Loss Calculator
Find out if a sale made you money or cost you money. Enter your cost price and selling price below, and this calculator will work out your profit or loss, the percentage, and your margin in one click.
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Business Performance Summary
Start calculating to analyze your transaction profitability, revenue growth, and business performance.
Profit Analysis
Visualize cost, revenue, and estimated profit or loss with premium financial charts.
Calculation Breakdown
| Cost Price | Selling Price | Expenses | Revenue | Profit/Loss | Margin % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calculate profit/loss to view breakdown analysis. | |||||
What Is a Profit Loss Calculator?
A profit loss calculator tells you, in seconds, whether a sale made money or lost money. You put in what you paid (cost price) and what you sold it for (selling price), and it works out the profit or loss amount, the percentage, and your margin. Doing this math by hand for every sale gets tedious fast, which is one reason our guide on why online calculators save time is worth a read.
It’s useful for shop owners, freelancers, online sellers, and anyone buying and reselling items. It also works for stock market trades, where “cost price” is your buy price and “selling price” is your sell price. If you also want to see the percentage change on its own, our Percentage Calculator can help with that part of the math.
How Profit & Loss Calculation Works
Every sale has two sides: what it cost you, and what it earned you. The calculator compares your total cost (purchase price plus any extra expenses, multiplied by quantity) against your total revenue (selling price multiplied by quantity).
If revenue is higher than cost, you made a profit. If cost is higher than revenue, you made a loss. The percentage tells you how big that profit or loss is compared to what you originally spent, so you can compare deals of different sizes fairly.
Profit Loss Formula
These are the formulas the calculator uses behind the scenes. You can also work them out by hand for a quick check.
Profit % = (Profit ÷ Cost Price) × 100
Loss = Cost Price − Selling Price
Loss % = (Loss ÷ Cost Price) × 100
Want to double-check a profit or loss percentage by hand? Our Percentage Calculator works out the percentage change for any two numbers.
Step-by-Step Examples
Example 1: Simple Profit
Cost Price: ₹1,000
Selling Price: ₹1,500
Step 1: Profit = 1,500 − 1,000 = ₹500
Step 2: Profit % = (500 ÷ 1,000) × 100 = 50%
Result: A profit of ₹500, which is a 50% gain on the cost price.
Example 2: Loss With Expenses
Cost Price: ₹800 (per unit), Quantity: 10 units
Additional Expenses: ₹500 (shipping and packaging)
Selling Price: ₹750 per unit
Step 1: Total Cost = (800 × 10) + 500 = ₹8,500
Step 2: Total Revenue = 750 × 10 = ₹7,500
Step 3: Loss = 8,500 − 7,500 = ₹1,000
Step 4: Loss % = (1,000 ÷ 8,500) × 100 ≈ 11.76%
Result: A loss of ₹1,000, mainly because the extra expenses pushed the total cost above the sale price.
Business Use Cases
Profit and loss tracking isn’t just for accountants. Here’s where this calculator comes in handy in real business situations.
Retail & Reselling
Check if a batch of products, from a wholesaler or supplier, is priced right before you list it for sale.
E-commerce Sellers
Factor in packaging, shipping, and platform fees as expenses to see your real profit, not just the sticker price.
Freelancers & Services
Compare project cost (tools, time, subcontractors) against what you charge the client to check your actual margin.
Pricing With Tax
Selling in a market with sales tax? Work out your GST-inclusive price first using our GST Calculator, then use that as your selling price here. New to GST? Our GST explained for beginners guide covers the basics.
Planning a sale or discount? Our Discount Calculator shows how a markdown affects your final price, which you can then run through this profit loss calculator to see how it hits your margin.
Trading Examples
Investors and traders use the same profit and loss logic for stocks, crypto, and other assets. Here, “cost price” is your average buy price and “selling price” is the price you sold at.
Buy Price (Cost Price): ₹250 per share
Quantity: 20 shares
Sell Price (Selling Price): ₹310 per share
Step 1: Total Cost = 250 × 20 = ₹5,000
Step 2: Total Revenue = 310 × 20 = ₹6,200
Step 3: Profit = 6,200 − 5,000 = ₹1,200
Step 4: Profit % = (1,200 ÷ 5,000) × 100 = 24%
Result: A profit of ₹1,200, a 24% return on the money invested.
If you bought shares in several batches at different prices, work out your average buy price first with our Stock Average Calculator, then enter that figure here as the cost price. Our guide to calculating average stock price explains why this step matters before you calculate profit or loss on a position.
Benefits of Profit Loss Analysis
- Improves business decision making
- Tracks transaction profitability
- Helps identify cost issues
- Supports pricing strategy planning
- Enhances financial management
Business Profitability Tips
- Reduce unnecessary expenses
- Improve operational efficiency
- Increase customer retention
- Optimize pricing strategy
- Track margins regularly
- Put idle profits to work. Even small reinvested gains add up over time; check our Compound Interest Calculator to see how savings can grow, and read our compound interest explained for beginners guide for the basics.
- If you’re comparing loan or savings offers alongside your business numbers, the Interest Calculator can help you check the numbers before you commit.
- Tracking profit across many orders? Learn how to calculate an average so you can spot your typical margin instead of judging your business on one good (or bad) sale.
Keep your numbers sharp
Profit and loss is just one part of the picture. Pair it with our other free finance tools to plan pricing, savings, and averages with confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Subtract cost price from selling price to get the profit amount, then divide that by the cost price and multiply by 100. For example, ₹500 profit on a ₹1,000 cost price gives a 50% profit.
Loss percentage shows how much you lost compared to your original cost price. It’s calculated as (Loss ÷ Cost Price) × 100.
Yes. Expenses like shipping, packaging, or platform fees add to your total cost. Even if your selling price looks good, high expenses can turn a profit into a loss, so always add them in for an accurate picture.
Profit percentage compares profit to cost price. Profit margin compares profit to revenue (the selling price side). Margin tells you what share of your sales price is actual profit, which is why it’s often used to compare business performance.
Yes. Use your average buy price as the cost price and your sell price as the selling price. Enter the number of shares as quantity, and any brokerage fees as additional expenses.
Businesses can improve profits by reducing costs, improving efficiency, increasing sales, and reviewing pricing strategy on a regular basis rather than only when something feels off.
References
The formulas used in this calculator follow standard accounting and finance principles. For further reading, see:
- Investopedia, “Gross Profit Margin” — an overview of how margin is calculated and used in financial analysis.
- Corporate Finance Institute, “Profit Margin” — explains the difference between gross, operating, and net margin.
- U.S. Small Business Administration — guidance on pricing strategy and understanding business costs.