What is Percent Profit?
Percent profit, also known as profit margin, measures how much of every dollar in revenue becomes profit. It is a fundamental metric for evaluating business health and comparing profitability across companies or time periods.
How to Calculate Percent Profit
The formula is:
[\text{Percent Profit} = \frac{\text{Total Profit}}{\text{Total Revenue}} \times 100]
Calculation Example
If your business has $25,000 in profit from $100,000 in revenue:
[\text{Percent Profit} = \frac{25{,}000}{100{,}000} \times 100 = 25%]
This means you keep 25 cents of every dollar earned as profit.
Industry Benchmarks
- Retail: 2-5% net margin
- Restaurants: 3-9% net margin
- Manufacturing: 5-10% net margin
- Technology/Software: 15-30% net margin
- Financial Services: 10-20% net margin
Why Profit Percentage Matters
- Business Health: Higher margins indicate better financial health
- Pricing Strategy: Helps evaluate if prices are set appropriately
- Cost Control: Identifies need for expense reduction
- Investment Decisions: Key metric for investors and lenders
- Competitive Analysis: Compare performance against industry peers