Profit & Loss Concepts and Formulas
Points to remember:
1) Cost Price: It is the price at which a product is purchased. It is commonly abbreviated as C.P.
2) Selling Price: It is the price at which a product is sold. It is commonly abbreviated as S.P.
3) Profit or gain: If the selling price of a product is more than the cost price, there will be profit in the deal.
Therefore, Profit or Gain = S.P. – C.P.
4) Loss: If the selling price of a product is less than the cost price, the seller will incur a loss.
Therefore, Loss = C.P. – S.P.
5) Profit or Gain % =S.P.- C.P ∗100→Profit ∗100
                   C.P       C.P
6) Loss % =C.P.- S.P ∗100→Loss ∗100
            C.P      C.P
7) If there is a profit or gain in the deal or transaction;
   Selling Price (S.P.) =(100 + Profit %) ∗100
                        100
  And, the Cost Price (C.P.) =
∗S.P.
8) If there is a loss in the deal or transaction;
   Selling Price (S.P.) =(100 – Loss %) ∗C.P.
                        100
  And, the Cost Price (C.P.) =
∗S.P.
9) If an article is sold at a profit of X%, the selling price would be equal to X% of cost price 
.
10) If an article is sold at a loss of X%, the selling price would be equal to (100-X)% of cost price   (100 – X ∗C.P).
                                                                           100
11) When a seller sells two similar items one at X% gain and another one at same (X %) loss, the seller always incurs a loss in the deal which is given by:
  Loss %=(Loss % ∗ Gain %) %
               100
Some quicker methods to solve the problems:
1) If a seller claims that he is selling goods at cost price but uses false weight to earn profit;
   % Profit =(True Weight- False Weight) ∗100
                   False Weight
  Or,% Profit =
∗100
2) If a seller sells a product at X% loss but uses weight Y instead of Z, the % Gain earned or % loss incurred is given by:
  = (100 – X)Z-100
           Y
+ve sign will indicate profit and -ve sign will indicate loss.
3) If a shopkeeper uses weight Y gm instead of 1 kg and incurs an X% loss on cost price, his actual gain or loss % is given by:
  = (100 – X)100-100
           Y
+ve sign will indicate profit and -ve sign will show the loss.
4) If a shopkeeper uses weight Y gm instead of 1 kg and earns a profit of X% on cost price, his actual gain or loss % is given by:
  = (100 + X)100-100
            Y
+ve sign will indicate profit and -ve sign will indicate the loss.
5) If there are two successive profits of X% and Y% in a transaction, the resultant profit is given by:
  Resultant profit = (X + Y +XY)
                     100
6) If there is a profit of X% and loss of Y% in a transaction, the resultant profit or loss is given by:
  Resultant profit or loss = X Y –XY)
                       100
+ve sign will indicate profit and -ve sign will indicate the loss.
7) A seller sells a product at profit of X%. If he sells it for Rs. Z more, his profit would be Y%. In this case the Cost Price is given by:
C.P. =
8) If the cost price and selling price of a product are reduced by same amount (X), the cost price is given by:
  C.P. =(Initial profit % +Increase in profit %) ∗ X)
              Increase in profit %
9) If the cost price of P articles is equal to the selling price of Q articles, then profit % or loss % is given by:
10) If A sells a product to B at a gain or loss of P% and B sells it to C at a gain or loss of Q%, the final gain or loss is given by:
  (P+Q+PQ)
      100
+ve sign will indicate profit and -ve sign will indicate the loss.
11) If a shopkeeper marks the products at P% above the cost price and gives the customer a discount of Q%, the final profit or loss % is given by =
Aptitude Profit & Loss Test Paper 1
Aptitude Profit & Loss Test Paper 2
Aptitude Profit & Loss Test Paper 3
Aptitude Profit & Loss Test Paper 4
Aptitude Profit & Loss Test Paper 5