The gross profit ratio shows the proportion of profits generated by the sale of products or services, before selling and administrative expenses. It is used to examine the ability of a business to create sellable products in a cost-effective manner. The ratio is of some importance, especially when tracked on a trend line, to see if a business can continue to provide products to the marketplace for which customers are willing to pay a reasonable price.
The gross margin ratio can be measured in two ways. One is to combine the costs of direct material, direct labor, and overhead, subtract them from sales, and divide the result by sales. This is the more comprehensive approach. The formula is:
Sales – (Direct materials + Direct Labor + Overhead)
Sales
However, this first method includes a number of fixed costs. A more restrictive version of the formula is to only include direct materials, which may be the only truly variable element of the cost of goods sold. The formula then becomes:
Sales – Direct materials
Sales
The second method presents a more accurate view of the margin gained on each individual sale, irrespective of fixed costs. It is also known as the contribution margin ratio.