A Gross Profit (GP) percentage is a financial metric that indicates the percentage of revenue remaining after deducting the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). It measures a company's production efficiency and profitability, calculated as: Revenue − COGS Revenue × 100 R e v e n u e − C O G S R e v e n u e × 1 0 0 . A higher percentage indicates greater profitability, usually with 50%+ considered healthy.
Gross profit margin (GP margin) is a financial ratio that indicates a business's profitability and efficiency by dividing gross profit by total net sales. Gross profit margins can also be in percentage terms by multiplying them by 100. You can then refer to this value as gross profit percentage or gross profit margin.
Gross profit margin (calculation)
The gross profit margin is your gross profit divided by revenue, times 100.
For example, if a product sells for $100 and its cost of goods sold is $75, the gross profit is $25 and the gross margin (gross profit as a percentage of the selling price) is 25% ($25/$100).
Gross Profit/Gross Margin Definition
Gross profit (GP) is the number of dollars of profit (dollars billed minus expenses and dollars paid) your business earns, while gross margin (GM) is the percentage of your total billable revenue that constitutes profits (dollars of profit divided by total revenue dollars).
A gross profit margin of over 50% is healthy for most businesses. In some industries and business models, a gross margin of up to 90% can be achieved. Gross margins of less than 30% can be dangerous for businesses with high gross costs.
A Good Gross Profit Margin is around 30 – 35% on average, but varies widely by industry.
In a more complex example, if an item costs $204 to produce and is sold for a price of $340, the price includes a 67% markup ($136) which represents a 40% gross margin. This means that 40% of the $340 is profit. Again, gross margin is just the direct percentage of profit in the sale price.
But for other businesses, like financial institutions, legal firms or other service industry companies, a gross profit margin of 50% might be considered low. Law firms, banks, technology businesses and other service industry companies typically report gross profit margins in the high-90% range.
It shows how efficiently you're turning revenue into profit before accounting for other expenses like salaries, rent, or marketing. Tracking gross profit over time helps you understand the real performance of your core operations.
It's sometimes called profit percentage. Gross profit / Revenue x 100 = Gross profit margin. To calculate gross margin you need to know your gross profit, which is revenue minus cost of goods sold. You divide that gross profit by the revenue and multiply it by 100 to see what percentage of revenue is gross profit.
What is a good GP number to aim for? Generally in a hospitality business, you should be aiming to achieve minimum 70% gross profit across all of your sales mix. Some items will likely be lower than 70%, and some greater.
Gross profit margin formula example
To take this one step further we should look at what our Gross Profit Percentage is (GP%). This can be achieved with a simple formula: (Net Selling Price – Net Cost) / Net Selling Price. So, for the same example as above the GP% on the Mojito sold at £8.50 will be 80%
Differences between Gross Profit and Gross Margin
While gross profit and gross margin are measures of a company's profitability, they reveal different information about its financial health. Gross profit is an absolute dollar amount, while gross margin is a percentage.
Gross profit ratio (GP ratio) is a financial ratio that measures the performance and efficiency of a business by dividing its gross profit figure by the total net sales. The gross profit ratio can also be expressed in percentage form, multiplying the result by 100.
Here are some general rules of thumb for gross margins:
20%: Healthy for manufacturers, distributors, and other businesses with physical production costs. 30-50%+: Solid margins for most service-based businesses with low overhead and production costs.
A 20% gross margin means that for every dollar of revenue you generate, you keep $0.20 after accounting for the cost of goods sold (COGS).
How do I calculate a 30% margin?
An 80% profit margin is exceptionally high and whether it's 'good' depends on the context. An 80% gross profit margin might be achievable for software or digital product businesses with low production costs.
Many business owners assume that if they intend to make, say, a 20% profit, they can simply add 20% on to the cost-price of a product or service. So if the item or service costs them $100, they add on 20%, making the selling price $120. They assume this will give them their desired profit margin of 20%. Wrong.
Although profit margin varies by industry, 7 to 10% is a healthy profit margin for most small businesses. Some companies, like retail and food, can be financially stable with lower profit margin because they have naturally high overhead.
Key Takeaways. Profit doesn't equal liquidity. A company can be profitable while still struggling to pay its bills, usually because of how cash moves through the business.