How to Get Gross Margin in Excel

by C. Taylor
Excel supports percentages in basic formulas.

Excel supports percentages in basic formulas.

Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images

Gross margin constitutes the percent of sales that is applied to profit. As an example, if you had a 50 percent gross margin, half of the sale is profit; the other half covers the original cost of the item. Microsoft Excel allows you to simplify this calculation by creating a spreadsheet that lists and tabulates your data. If you have multiple profit margins to calculation, you can then copy the formula to instantly calculate each item's profit margin.


Enter your wholesale cost in cell A1. As an example, if it costs you $10 for a widget through your supplier, you would enter $10.00.


Enter your retail price in cell A2. In the example, if you sell the widget for $25, you would enter $25.00.


Type "=(B1-A1)/B1" in cell C1. This calculates the profit margin for the item. In the example, you would see "0.5," which is the fraction of the sales price that constitutes your profit.


Right-click cell C1, select "Format Cells," click "Percentage" in the Category list, and click "OK" to convert the figure to percentage format. In the example, cell C1 then displays "50.00%."

Photo Credits

  • Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images
bibliography-icon icon for annotation tool Cite this Article