BOOK US

With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading small business management expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.

Planned markdown calculator

Too many small businesses use a very simple plan in determining the margins of their merchandise. They simply look at the cost and then apply a multiplier factor to the cost to determine the selling price.

As the merchandise ages, they begin to randomly take markdowns in an effort to get rid of the merchandise. If the buyer were to calculate the maintained gross margin when all of the merchandise has been sold, they would likely be surprised at what their margin was. The surprise may be how high of a margin they maintained as well as it could be a surprise as to how low it was; but either way, in most cases they are surprised.

This calculator is created to resolve that. Sophisticated buyers do not settle for looking at their initial margin; they have a plan as to when, with how many on hand, and by how much to mark merchandise down. This is exactly how this calculator works. It allows you to plan for four markdowns over the season of an item. By determining how long the merchandise will be sold at full price, you will then decide when, how many, and by how much the merchandise will be discounted.

Proceed with this calculation for up to four periods, and this calculator will tell you what your maintained margin will be for the entire season of the product. This is a much better way than just guessing as you go through the season, and it is likely that you will end the season with less of the inventory on hand, and with fewer markdowns.

Planned markdown calculator from Profits Plus
       
Yellow indicates squares where info is entered      
       
Inventory Purchase Amount    
Inventory Balance Remaining @ End of Period 1    
Inventory Balance Remaining @ End of Period 2    
Inventory Balance Remaining @ End of Period 3    
Inventory Balance Remaining @ End of Period 4    
       
       
Inventory Sold During Period 1    
Inventory Sold During Period 2    
Inventory Sold During Period 3    
Inventory Sold During Period 4    
       
       
Gross Margin % (original)    
       
       
Discount (% of Retail) Offered in Period 1    
Discount (% of Retail) Offered in Period 2    
Discount (% of Retail) Offered in Period 3    
Discount (% of Retail) Offered in Period 4    
       
       
Gross Margin % (Net of Discount) in Period 1    
Gross Margin % (Net of Discount) in Period 2    
Gross Margin % (Net of Discount) in Period 3    
Gross Margin % (Net of Discount) in Period 4    
       
       
Sales in Period 1 (before discount)    
Sales in Period 2 (before discount)    
Sales in Period 3 (before discount)    
Sales in Period 4 (before discount)    
TOTAL Sales    
       
Sales in Period 1 (net of discount)    
Sales in Period 2 (net of discount)    
Sales in Period 3 (net of discount)    
Sales in Period 4 (net of discount)    
TOTAL Sales    
       
Amount of Discount in Period 1    
Amount of Discount in Period 2    
Amount of Discount in Period 3    
Amount of Discount in Period 4    
TOTAL Amount of Discount    
       
Gross Margin Dollars in Period 1    
Gross Margin Dollars in Period 2    
Gross Margin Dollars in Period 3    
Gross Margin Dollars in Period 4    
TOTAL Gross Margin Dollars    
       
TOTAL Gross Margin % (based on retail)    
TOTAL Discount % (based on retail)    
       
       
Check total for period 1    
Check total for period 2    
Check total for period 3    
Check total for period 4    
       
       
       

PROFITS PLUS, FOUNDER OF...

 

©1998-2025 Profits Plus Solutions, Inc.
Tom Shay
PO Box 128
Dardanelle, AR 72834

(727)823-7205

FEBRUARY 2025
Have the Small Business Advisories and News sent to your inbox. Subscribe HERE

Small Business

AdvisorieS

Hopefully there are few small businesses that are operating with handwritten documents. Whether you have a point of sale (POS) system; Curstomer relationship management (CRM) system; or anything digital that helps you better operate your business, there remains a question.

 

Are you using everything that you bought? That is the focus of the February Small Business Advisory.

Small Business

NewS

Top Story

As small business ownerss we are sure to disagree on many aspects of business management and ownership. However there are two items that I will always insist on.

 

The first item for you as manager and owner of a business, you must inderstand financial information. You cannot leave it to an accountant.

 

The second item is you have to invest in educating your staff regarding their responsibilities within your business.

Article of the Month

Most every small business has inventory. It may be inventory used as a part of your services. It may be inventory for items used in your business. The article of the month shares ideas of how you should control the inventory. This is important because you do not want to run out of the necessary inventory, and you do not want too much of your money sitting in more inventory than you need.


Book of the Month

You cannot beat your competition unless you know what they are doing. The February book of the month is, The Everything Store, written by Brad Stone and Jeff Bezos.

BOOK US

With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading Small Business Management Expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.

Small Business

Advisories

Hopefully there are few small businesses that are operating with handwritten documents. Whether you have a point of sale (POS) system; Curstomer relationship management (CRM) system; or anything digital that helps you better operate your business, there remains a question.

 

Are you using everything that you bought? That is the focus of the February Small Business Advisory.

Small Business

News

 

Top Story

As small business ownerss we are sure to disagree on many aspects of business management and ownership. However there are two items that I will always insist on.

 

The first item for you as manager and owner of a business, you must inderstand financial information. You cannot leave it to an accountant. The second item is you have to invest in educating your staff regarding their responsibilities within your business.


Article of the Month

Most every small business has inventory. It may be inventory used as a part of your services. It may be inventory for items used in your business. The article of the month shares ideas of how you should control the inventory. This is important because you do not want to run out of the necessary inventory, and you do not want too much of your money sitting in more inventory than you need.


Book of the Month

You cannot beat your competition unless you know what they are doing. The February book of the month is, The Everything Store, written by Brad Stone and Jeff Bezos.