What it's for
This markup margin table turns a markup into the margin it gives, or a margin into the markup it needs, from 5% to 100% in steps of 5.
The file defines both in one line: "Markup is profit ÷ cost; margin is profit ÷ price." It's for whoever prices the work: at bid time, to find the markup a target margin needs, and later, when an accountant or lender asks for the margin on a job you priced by markup.
The markup vs margin calculator is one tap away on a phone, takes any number and prices a job in dollars. The printed table is for a glance: pinned up by the desk or kept in the truck, it needs no screen and no signal. It converts percentages and nothing more. The construction estimate template takes a whole job from line items to a bid price.
What's inside
All three sheets are protected with no password, so a formula can't be typed over by accident. On both table sheets, a key reads "Pale yellow cells are yours to fill in" and "All other cells are locked".
Markup to margin. It holds 20 rows under MARKUP and MARGIN. The MARKUP figures are typed in and locked. Each MARGIN is a formula over the figure beside it, shown to one decimal place as the calculator shows it, while the cell keeps the unrounded number. Beside the table, THE MATH gives "margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup)", the line "Example: 25% ÷ 1.25 = 20.0%", the two definitions and a link to the calculator.
Margin to markup. The same layout the other way round, under MARGIN and MARKUP, with "markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin)" and "Example: 20% ÷ 0.8 = 25.0%". Its 100% row reads "Not possible": a 100% margin would mean the price is all profit and the cost is zero. The math block adds "Margin must be less than 100%."
At the top of each table sheet, under YOUR NUMBER, a converter takes any percent, including the ones between the rows. Type a markup beside Your markup and read the Margin below it, or a margin beside Your margin and read the Markup, which shows "Not possible" at 100% and above. The inputs open on the calculator's worked example, a 25.0% markup and a 20.0% margin, each marked "Example". The answer sits on a bright yellow bar, but it's a locked formula, not an input.
About this template. Three steps, a note on the example figures, the version (v2, 2026-09-24) and links to this page, the calculator, the guide, all our templates and three related ones.
How to fill it in
- Open the sheet for the number you have: Markup to margin if you price by marking up cost, Margin to markup if you start from a target margin.
- Find your percent in the left-hand column and read the figure beside it.
- For a percent between the rows, type it with the percent sign over the example beside Your markup or Your margin. The cell refuses a negative number ("Enter 0% or more."), and clearing it blanks the answer.
- To price a job, multiply its cost by 1 plus the markup, as the About tab's third step says. From a target margin, take the markup it needs from the second sheet first.
- Don't multiply the cost by 1 plus the margin. That applies the margin as a markup, and the first sheet shows the result: a 20% markup is a 16.7% margin. The markup a margin needs comes from a division, margin ÷ (1 − margin), which is why a 20% margin needs a 25.0% markup. Our guide to markup vs margin covers the rest.
The worked example
The file has no example job, and the About tab calls the tables "the math itself, not examples." Five rows from each, as the file prints them:
From Markup to margin:
| MARKUP | MARGIN |
|---|---|
| 10% | 9.1% |
| 20% | 16.7% |
| 25% | 20.0% |
| 50% | 33.3% |
| 100% | 50.0% |
From Margin to markup:
| MARGIN | MARKUP |
|---|---|
| 10% | 11.1% |
| 20% | 25.0% |
| 25% | 33.3% |
| 50% | 100.0% |
| 100% | Not possible |
Read across from the number you have: a 25% markup gives a 20.0% margin, but a 25% margin needs a 33.3% markup. Near 100%, the markup climbs fast: a 90% margin needs 900.0%, and a 95% margin needs 1,900.0%.
Frequently asked questions
Does the file do the math?
Yes. Every converted figure, in both tables and both YOUR NUMBER answers, is a live formula.
Does it work in Google Sheets or Numbers?
Both open .xlsx files. This one has no macros, and the only function its formulas use is IF; the rest is plain arithmetic.
Can I add rows for other percentages?
For one number, use YOUR NUMBER, which takes any percent. To add a row to a table, turn off the sheet's protection (there is no password), type the percent in the left-hand column and copy the formula from the row above into the cell beside it.
Does the table tell me what markup to charge?
No. It converts the number you bring. The 25.0% and 20.0% in the YOUR NUMBER cells are the calculator's own worked example, not a recommendation, and the file names no typical rate.
Will it print on one page?
Yes. Each table sheet prints portrait on one Letter page.