Help with constructing a VERY simple spreadsheet profit calculator

[jdizzle1337]

I need to construct a simple profit calculator, only 3 variables are involved. I do not have any experience with writing spreadsheet formulas so I want to see if anyone here can help me.


Data:

I have developed a 3 variable equation, first and foremost can you guys please check my equations and confirm they are mathematically accurate....they should be, I plugged some numbers and they seemed to work.

p = .85s - c
My profit (p) equals 85% of my sale price (s) minus the cost (c) of the item.

therefore

s = (p + c) / .85
My sale price (s) equals my profit (p) and the cost (c) added together, then divided by 85%

therefore

c = .85s - p
My cost (c) is equal to 85% of my sale price (s) minus my profit (p)


Spreadsheet

I want to create a spreadsheet with a single field where I can plug in my cost (c), and then a few fields that say to make 10,20,30,etc profit (p) you need to set a sale price (s) of _____. This way I can just plug in my cost and the calculator tells me exactly how to price my item to get a specific amount of profit. The only modifier to my sale price (s) is that there is a 15% tax subtracted from it.

As an added bonus I know cost (c) is always a negative number, how can I make the spreadsheet formula automatically convert the number put into the "c" field into the inverse of the number entered?


Any help you guys can provide would be much appreciated. I know this problem is not super complex but I cant find any tutorials that construct the calculator this way, most seem to involve applying a profit margin, or subtracting a bunch of other costs and fees, etc which I am not interested in.

 

[JeffM]

I need to construct a simple profit calculator, only 3 variables are involved. I do not have any experience with writing spreadsheet formulas so I want to see if anyone here can help me.


Data:

I have developed a 3 variable equation, first and foremost can you guys please check my equations and confirm they are mathematically accurate....they should be, I plugged some numbers and they seemed to work.

p = .85s - c
My profit (p) equals 85% of my sale price (s) minus the cost (c) of the item.

therefore

s = (p + c) / .85
My sale price (s) equals my profit (p) and the cost (c) added together, then divided by 85%

therefore

c = .85s - p
My cost (c) is equal to 85% of my sale price (s) minus my profit (p)


Spreadsheet

I want to create a spreadsheet with a single field where I can plug in my cost (c), and then a few fields that say to make 10,20,30,etc profit (p) you need to set a sale price (s) of _____. This way I can just plug in my cost and the calculator tells me exactly how to price my item to get a specific amount of profit. The only modifier to my sale price (s) is that there is a 15% tax subtracted from it.

As an added bonus I know cost (c) is always a negative number, how can I make the spreadsheet formula automatically convert the number put into the "c" field into the inverse of the number entered?


Any help you guys can provide would be much appreciated. I know this problem is not super complex but I cant find any tutorials that construct the calculator this way, most seem to involve applying a profit margin, or subtracting a bunch of other costs and fees, etc which I am not interested in.

OK. We can help, but you need to answer a few questions first. Is the 0.85 in your equations supposed to reflect the tax of 15%, or is that an additional complexity? If the 0.85 is supposed to reflect overhead, is the overhead relative to the cost of goods sold or the sales price? (This kind of question is why we strongly suggest in the "read-before-posting" guidelines that you copy the problem from your textbook word for word in your first post.) Please give us the problem from your textbook word for word.

Furthermore, just to be sure, these profit numbers are percents, correct, 10% of sales price, 15% of sales price, and so on?