Security & low voltage
Security Markup Calculator
Works markup on security equipment, where the customer can check your cost.
Result
Markup is measured against your cost, margin against the price you charge. A 50% markup is a 33.3% margin, not a 50% one. Pricing off the wrong one is the most common way a job that looked profitable turns out not to have been.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Markup is measured against your cost, so a given percentage produces a price and a corresponding margin always lower than the markup. Both are shown, since confusing them is the expensive error. In security the markup applies to equipment with publicly visible pricing, which is an unusual constraint: a camera, a panel or a reader can be looked up in seconds, so the markup a customer will accept on hardware is lower than in trades where materials are opaque.
What moves the number
- Whether the equipment is consumer-available or trade-only.
- What the customer can see the item selling for publicly.
- Whether the markup is covering design and support rather than just handling.
- Consistency, since variable markup across a quote invites scrutiny.
Where this one goes wrong
A 50% markup is a 33.3% margin, and applying a markup while believing it earns the same margin is a third short on every job. Both figures appear here for that reason. The security-specific point is visibility: consumer-grade cameras and doorbells have retail prices anyone can find, so a large markup on those is hard to defend and invites the customer to buy their own. Trade-only commercial equipment carries markup more comfortably. The honest position is to price design, installation and support properly and keep hardware markup modest, rather than hiding the service value inside the equipment line.
Before you quote
- Check the resulting margin, not just the markup applied.
- Keep hardware markup modest where the item has a retail price.
- Price design, labour and support explicitly rather than inside the hardware.
Questions
About this calculator
Is a 50% markup a 50% margin?
No, it is a 33.3% margin, because markup is measured against cost and margin against price. A business applying a 50% markup while thinking it earns a 50% margin is a third short on every job, which is why both figures are shown together.
How much can I mark up security equipment?
Less on anything with a retail price a customer can look up, which includes most consumer cameras and doorbells. Trade-only commercial equipment carries more. The sustainable approach is modest hardware markup with design, installation and support priced visibly rather than hidden in the equipment line.
What if the customer wants to supply their own equipment?
It is increasingly common with consumer devices, and the honest response is to price the labour, design and support properly rather than depending on hardware margin. The risk to flag is warranty and compatibility, since supporting equipment you did not specify is harder and worth charging for.
The formula
price = cost x (1 + markup%); margin = profit / price
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How to use this calculator
- Your cost ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $1,400.
- Markup on cost (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 45%.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to price, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Your cost | $1,400 |
| Markup on cost | 45% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Price main result | $2,030 |
| Gross profit | $630 |
| Margin that gives you | 31.0% |
A 45% markup on $1,400 prices the job at $2,030, which is 31.0% margin, not 45%.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only your cost, this is what happens to price. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Your cost ($) | Price |
|---|---|
| $700 | $1,015 |
| $1,050 | $1,523 |
| $1,400 example above | $2,030 |
| $2,100 | $3,045 |
| $2,800 | $4,060 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Your cost ($)
- A money amount, starting at $1,400.
- Markup on cost (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 500, starting at 45%.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Price | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Gross profit | A money figure. |
| Margin that gives you | A percentage. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.