NIMCET Quantitative Aptitude Notes: Profit and Loss Formulas, Shortcuts and Questions

NIMCET Profit and Loss is an important topic in Quantitative Aptitude, covering concepts such as cost price, selling price, marked price, profit, loss and discount. Questions often involve successive percentage changes, faulty weights and multiple transactions, where choosing the correct percentage base is essential.

You can solve these questions faster by learning the key formulas and using the multiplication factor method instead of lengthy calculations. Practising solved examples and common question types will help you improve accuracy and manage time during NIMCET preparation.

What is Profit and Loss in NIMCET Quantitative Aptitude?

Profit and loss questions compare what a seller pays for an item with what the seller gets for it. The topic sits inside arithmetic, which is a regular part of the Mathematics section in NIMCET Quantitative Aptitude.

Before you start, read the latest NIMCET syllabus so you know which arithmetic topics to cover. If you are planning for the next attempt, the NIMCET 2027 exam details are worth keeping in view. For NIMCET 2027 Quantitative Aptitude, the official notification is still awaited, so check the NIMCET website for confirmed dates. The NIMCET exam pattern will also help you decide how much time to give to each question.

What Are the Basic Terms Used in Profit and Loss?

Every question uses a few common terms. Knowing what each one means avoids most silly mistakes.

The table below lists each term with its meaning. Keep it handy, as the rest of the topic builds on these words.

Which Profit and Loss Formulas Should You Remember?

A small set of Profit and Loss Formulas covers most questions. Learn these first, and then move to the shortcuts.

• Profit = SP − CP

• Loss = CP − SP

• Profit % = (Profit ÷ CP) × 100

• Loss % = (Loss ÷ CP) × 100

• Markup % = ((MP − CP) ÷ CP) × 100

• Discount % = ((MP − SP) ÷ MP) × 100

Profit and loss percentages are always worked out on the cost price. Discount is worked out on the marked price. Mixing these two bases is the most common error.

How Do You Find Profit or Loss After Markup and Discount?

Here, the item moves from CP to MP and then to SP. Work in that order, then compare SP with CP.

Example 1: 50% markup and 20% discount. Take CP as Rs. 100. MP = Rs. 150. Discount = 20% of Rs. 150 = Rs. 30, so SP = Rs. 120. Profit = Rs. 20, which is 20% of CP. The net result is a 20% profit.

Example 2: 100% markup and a 20% profit. Take CP as Rs. 100. MP = Rs. 200. A 20% profit means SP = Rs. 120. Discount = Rs. 200 − Rs. 120 = Rs. 80. Discount % = (80 ÷ 200) × 100 = 40%. The required discount is 40%.

How Does the Multiplication Factor Method Work?

This is the main Profit and Loss Shortcut for exam day. It turns each percentage change into a number you can multiply.

Successive Percentage Change cannot be added or subtracted directly. Instead, change each percentage into a factor, multiply them, and subtract 1 from the answer

For example, a 20% markup has a factor of 1.20 and a 10% discount has a factor of 0.90. Multiplying gives 1.20 × 0.90 = 1.08, so the net result is an 8% profit.

You can also use the formula Net % = A + B + (AB ÷ 100), with increases as positive and decreases as negative. If you want more practice with percentage change, see these percentage formulas and previous-year questions.

How Do You Find the Overall Result When Two Items Are Sold?

The method depends on what is equal in the two sales. Here, equal cost price and equal selling price need different shortcuts, and using the wrong one gives a wrong answer.

Case 1: Equal cost price: The overall percentage is the average of the signed percentages, with profit as positive and loss as negative.

• 10% profit and 10% loss: (10 − 10) ÷ 2 = 0%, so there is no overall gain or loss.

• 5% profit and 15% loss: (5 − 15) ÷ 2 = −5%, so there is a 5% loss.

Case 2: Equal selling price: Here, equal profit and loss percentages do not cancel out. If one item is sold at x% profit and the other at y% loss, then:

Overall % = (100(x − y) − 2xy) ÷ (200 + x − y)

When both percentages are the same, the result is always a loss of x² ÷ 100 per cent. For 15% profit and 15% loss, the loss is 15² ÷ 100 = 2.25%.

Ratio sense also helps in these questions, so brush up on ratio concepts for NIMCET if needed.

How Do Faulty Weights Create Profit?

In these questions, a seller charges for a stated weight but gives less. The shortage becomes extra gain for the seller.

Use this ratio: Weight factor = Claimed quantity ÷ Actual quantity supplied. If nothing else changes, Profit % = (Weight factor − 1) × 100.

Example: 800 g sold as 1 kg. Weight factor = 1000 ÷ 800 = 1.25. Profit = (1.25 − 1) × 100 = 25%. This assumes the customer pays the normal price for 1 kg and there is no other markup or discount.

When a markup or discount is added, multiply all the factors. For 900 g sold as 1 kg with a 20% markup: (10/9) × (6/5) = 4/3, so the profit is about 33.33%.

How Do Successive Discounts Work?

Each discount is taken on the price left after the previous one. So the discounts cannot be added together.

Take discounts of 10%, 20% and 25%. The factors are 0.90, 0.80 and 0.75. Multiplying gives 0.54, so the final SP is 54% of MP. The total discount is therefore 46%, not 55%.

To find the marked price when the final SP is Rs. 1,080: MP = 1080 ÷ 0.54 = Rs. 2,000.

How Do You Solve Unit-Based Profit and Loss Questions?

When a question gives rates per item and per dozen, convert both to one common unit first. This keeps the working short.

A seller buys bananas at Rs. 375 per dozen and sells each banana for Rs. 33. SP per dozen = 33 × 12 = Rs. 396. Profit per dozen = 396 − 375 = Rs. 21. Profit % = (21 ÷ 375) × 100 = 5.6%. The total number of dozens is not needed here.

Regular practice with NIMCET Quantitative Aptitude Questions of this kind builds speed and confidence.

Which Common Mistakes Should You Avoid?

Most lost marks in this topic come from a few repeated slips. Check your working against this list.

• Using SP as the base for profit or loss percentage instead of CP

• Adding successive percentages or discounts directly

• Mixing up the equal CP shortcut with the equal SP shortcut

• Writing the faulty-weight ratio upside down (it is claimed ÷ actual)

• Taking each later discount on MP instead of the reduced price

• Not stating the price and quantity basis before multiplying factors

Profit and loss gets easier once you fix the right base and use factors instead of long calculations. Practise each case above until the method feels automatic.

Profit and Loss is an important topic in NIMCET Quantitative Aptitude. Understanding the key formulas, percentage bases, multiplication factors, successive discounts and faulty-weight concepts can help you solve questions faster and improve accuracy. Practise different question types regularly to strengthen your preparation for NIMCET 2027. If you want teacher-led support for the full syllabus, PW's online NIMCET preparation batch offers live classes, notes and practice problems that can fit alongside your own revision.