Frequently Asked Questions
What is MarginCalc?
MarginCalc is an iPhone application that makes it easy to do margin calculations. Many people involved in the sales process will find it useful.
How does MarginCalc work?
MarginCalc provides three pairs of margin keys on its keypad for calculating '% Margin', 'Sell Price' and 'Cost Price'. Each pair of keys allows you to enter the two values needed.
To do a calculation simply enter the first value and tap the upper key of the appropriate pair, then enter the second value and tap the the lower key of the same pair.
Why are large numbers shown with commas?
MarginCalc normally formats its results using commas (',') as thousands separators and a period ('.') as a decimal point. This is done according to the regional settings of your iPhone and it makes it easier to read the display at a glance. For example: in most English speaking countries one thousand would be displayed as "1,000" and one million would be displayed as "1,000,000".
Please note that numbers are not formatted in this way during data entry but only when the results of a calculation are displayed.
What is a margin and how is it different from a markup?
Occasionally people confuse the calculations for markup and margin.
Margin is the portion of your sell price that you keep as profit. When the margin is expressed as a percentage then it is always as a percentage of the sell price. MarginCalc performs this type of calculation.
Percentage margin normally never exceeds 100% (for that the cost price would have to be negative). Consider a situation in which your cost price is zero. You get to keep the entire sell price as profit and so the percentage profit margin is 100%
Similarly, consider a situation in which your sell price is equal to your cost price. The percentage profit margin is 0%, you get to keep nothing as profit.
Markup is an amount that you add to your cost price. When that is expressed as a percentage it is as a percentage of the cost price. This is not the type of calculation that MarginCalc performs.
Please refer to the following Wikipedia entries on Profit Margin and Markup:
Why don't I get a cost price of 100 when I enter a sell price of 120 and a margin of 20%?
This is the calculation being used: Cost = Sell x (100-margin) / 100
As an example, if you calculate the cost price from a sell price of 120 and a margin of 20% the result is shown as 96 by MarginCalc. This is correct because 20% of 120 is 24. Subtracting 20% of 120 from 120 gives you 96.
When I try to enter a percentage in a margin calculation, the display changes to '0' when I tap the '%' key.
The percentage key is not needed when entering margin values. Just enter the numeric value and tap the appropriate '% Margin' key, don't tap the '%' key first.