Markup mistaken for margin
Adding 35% to an £80 cost gives £108 and a 26% margin. Hitting 35% margin needs £123.08. The gap is your profit, on every line.
Price it on margin, not markup.
Work back from landed cost to the selling price that actually hits your margin, then put it straight into a quote or a proforma.
What goes wrong.
These are the things people actually lose money and hours over.
Proformas taking an invoice number
A proforma is not a VAT invoice and must never consume one. Doing it anyway puts a gap in your sequence that an inspection will find.
The customer needs something to pay against
Finance teams often cannot raise a purchase order from a quote. A proforma gives them a figure to set up a payment against before anything ships.
Returns handled by reissuing
Goods back means a credit note against the original invoice, with the reason recorded. Not a deleted invoice and a fresh one.
Ask in ChatGPT
Try it without an account.
Connect FIGURX in ChatGPT and ask any of these. Every answer is calculated, and nothing is sent, filed or recorded.
- A unit lands at £80 and I need 35% gross margin. What do I charge?
- Quote 40 of those for Maclean International, valid 30 days
- Draft a proforma so they can raise a purchase order
- They returned 6 against invoice INV-2026-0041. Credit note please.
Open ChatGPT
Copy the address, then add it in ChatGPT under Settings, Connectors.