# Parts markup matrix calculator

Works out what a part sells for under a parts matrix, and the margin the matrix makes across a shop's mix of parts. This page describes the calculator and does not compute. The calculator is a web page with a form.

## What you enter

Up to eight rows. Each row has a cost up to (money), a percent, and optionally a share of parts spend (percent). Rows must rise in cost up to. Empty rows are ignored, and at least one row is needed. The last row used has no upper limit, whatever its cost up to says.

A choice of how the percent of every row is read: as a markup, which is the default, or as a margin.

Optionally, the cost of one part to price.

If any row has a share, the shares must add to 100%. A row with no share counts as none.

Money may be written as 1234.5, 1,234.50 or $1,234.50, up to 99,999,999.99. A percent may be written with or without the sign, from 0 to 1,000.


## How this is worked out

Markup is profit as a percent of cost. Margin is profit as a percent of the selling price. The same part has both, and the margin is always the smaller number.

With a markup: price = cost × (1 + markup). With a margin: price = cost ÷ (1 − margin). The price is rounded to the nearest cent, and the profit is the price less the cost.

margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup), and markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin). A margin of 100% or more has no price, so it is refused.

A part belongs to the first row whose "cost up to" is at or above its cost. A part that costs more than every row belongs to the last row.

Blended margin = total profit ÷ total sales. With a share s of parts spend and a markup m in each row, sales are the sum of s × (1 + m) and profit is the sum of s × m. A row with no share counts as none, and the shares must add to 100%.

A margin of 50% is a markup of 100%: to make the usual parts target with one markup on every part, that is the markup it takes.


## The target

When shares are given, the blended margin is shown beside a target for parts gross profit: a typical range of 40% to 50%, and a usual target of 50%. The page says whether the figure is below, inside or above the range.

The range and the target are for a general repair shop, and come from the pages below. They are what those pages call typical and what they say shops aim for, not a survey of what shops earn.

- [WickedFile: Parts vs. Labor Margin: Why Most Auto Repair Shops Are Getting It Backwards](https://www.wickedfile.com/blogs/parts-vs-labor-margin-auto-repair/)
- [Elite Worldwide: Keeping Your Shop Competitive and Profitable](https://eliteworldwide.com/info-center/keeping-your-shop-competitive-and-profitable/)

## A worked example

The page opens with this example: a sliding scale of six rows read as markup, a mix of parts spend, and one part that costs 42.50. The example matrices are illustrations made for this page, not survey results, and no matrix here is a recommendation. The right matrix is the one that produces the margin a shop needs on its own mix of parts, which is what the share column shows.

A part that costs $42.50 is in row 3. It sells for $76.50, a profit of $34.00.

Blended margin: 43.662%. That is inside the typical range of 40% to 50% for parts gross profit. The usual target is 50%.

Row 6 is the last row used, so it has no upper limit: a part that costs $500.01 or more is priced by it, whatever its "cost up to" says.

The matrix:

| Row | Cost of the part | Markup | Margin | Sample cost | Sells for | Profit | Share of spend |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | $0.00 to $5.00 | 150% | 60% | $5.00 | $12.50 | $7.50 | 5% |
| 2 | $5.01 to $25.00 | 100% | 50% | $25.00 | $50.00 | $25.00 | 20% |
| 3 | $25.01 to $100.00 | 80% | 44.444% | $100.00 | $180.00 | $80.00 | 35% |
| 4 | $100.01 to $250.00 | 60% | 37.5% | $250.00 | $400.00 | $150.00 | 25% |
| 5 | $250.01 to $500.00 | 50% | 33.333% | $500.00 | $750.00 | $250.00 | 10% |
| 6 | $500.01 and up | 40% | 28.571% | $1,000.00 | $1,400.00 | $400.00 | 5% |


## A link to a filled-in form

Every field is in the address, so a filled-in form can be linked to, bookmarked and printed. Nothing is stored. The fields are kind (markup or margin), cost1, rate1 and share1 to cost8, rate8 and share8, and part. This address is the example above:

```
https://open.wenmarpro.com/tools/parts-matrix?kind=markup&cost1=5.00&rate1=150&share1=5&cost2=25.00&rate2=100&share2=20&cost3=100.00&rate3=80&share3=35&cost4=250.00&rate4=60&share4=25&cost5=500.00&rate5=50&share5=10&cost6=1000.00&rate6=40&share6=5&part=42.50
```


## Use it

This is arithmetic, not accounting or tax advice.

- [Parts markup matrix calculator](https://open.wenmarpro.com/tools/parts-matrix)
- [How to build a parts matrix](https://open.wenmarpro.com/guides/parts-matrix)