Profit and Loss is a crucial topic in the Quantitative Aptitude section of competitive exams. It revolves around basic arithmetic concepts like cost price, selling price, discounts, and profit or loss percentages concepts commonly used in real-life business or trading scenarios. In this blog, we have provided important formulas, quick tricks, question types, solved examples from 2024–25 exams, and more.
Download Profit and Loss Questions E-Book PDF
Download Profit and Loss Questions E-book PDF to practice the most important aptitude questions for SSC, Banking, Railway, and other competitive exams. This e-book includes concept-based questions, shortcut tricks, solved examples, and practice sets to improve your speed and accuracy in profit, loss, discount, and marked price topics.
Practice Profit and Loss Questions for Upcoming SSC Exams
Prepare for SSC CGL, CHSL, and other competitive exams with these important Profit and Loss questions. These practice problems will help improve your speed and accuracy in the Quant section.
Q1) The cost price of an article is ₹866. If it is sold at a profit of 35%, what is the selling price?
Answer: D) ₹1169
Q2) The cost price of an article is ₹594. If it is sold at a loss of 5%, what is the selling price?
Q3) The cost price of an article is ₹177. If it is sold at a profit of 6.25%, what is the selling price?
Q4) The cost price of an article is ₹698. If it is sold at a profit of 6.25%, what is the selling price?
Q5) The cost price of an article is ₹962. If it is sold at a profit of 12.5%, what is the selling price?
Q6) A trader marks his goods 20% above cost price and allows 10% discount. What is his gain percentage?
Q7) A man buys 5 kg of apples for ₹120 and sells them at ₹27 per kg. What is his profit percentage?
Q8) An item is sold at 10% loss. If it had been sold for ₹40 more, there would have been 10% profit. What is the cost price?
Q9) A person bought a cycle for ₹1500 and sold it at a gain of 20%. What is the selling price?
Q10) A man sells two items for ₹500 each, one at 25% gain and the other at 25% loss. What is the overall gain or loss?
Q11) A shopkeeper bought 80 pens at ₹12 each. He sold 60 pens at ₹15 each and the remaining at ₹10 each. What is his profit or loss percentage?
Q12) A dealer sells a bike at a loss of 5%. Had he sold it for ₹250 more, he would have gained 5%. What is the cost price?
Q13) A man sells a shirt at a 10% discount on the marked price and earns a profit of 20%. What is the ratio of cost price to marked price?
Q14) A product is sold for ₹960, with a loss of 4%. What is the cost price?
Q15) If an article is sold at a profit of 20% and the profit is ₹120, what is the cost price?
Quiz Summary
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What Is Profit and Loss in Quantitative Aptitude?
In simple terms, Profit and Loss helps evaluate the financial outcome of buying and selling transactions.
- Profit: When the Selling Price (SP) is more than the Cost Price (CP).
- Loss: When the Cost Price (CP) is more than the Selling Price (SP).
Why Is It Asked in Exams?
- Real-life application in business, trade, and financial reasoning.
- Tests accuracy in percentage, ratio, and basic arithmetic.
- Can be solved quickly using standard formulas.
Skills Required:
- Basic arithmetic operations
- Percentages
- Logical calculation
- Formula application
Why Is Profit and Loss Important in Competitive Exams?
Profit and Loss is frequently tested across government and banking exams.
| Exam | No. of Questions | Difficulty |
| SSC CGL / CHSL | 1–2 | Easy |
| IBPS PO / SBI PO | 1–2 | Moderate |
| RRB NTPC / Group D | 1 | Easy |
| State PSC / Police | 1–2 | Moderate |
Profit and Loss Quantitative Aptitude Short Notes
To save revision time, here are the most important concepts in a table:
| Concept | Definition |
| Cost Price (CP) | The price at which an article is bought |
| Selling Price (SP) | The price at which the article is sold |
| Profit | SP – CP |
| Loss | CP – SP |
| Profit % | (Profit / CP) × 100 |
| Loss % | (Loss / CP) × 100 |
| Marked Price (MP) | The price printed/tagged before any discount |
| Discount | Reduction on the MP, usually in % |
| SP (after discount) | SP = MP × (1 – Discount/100) |
Profit and Loss Concepts
The concepts mostly used to solve Profit and Loss questions are as follows:
| Concept | Details |
| Profit = SP – CP | Positive difference when SP > CP |
| Loss = CP – SP | Negative difference when CP > SP |
| Profit % = (P/CP) × 100 | Always calculated on CP |
| SP = CP × (1 + Profit%) | For gain situations |
| SP = CP × (1 – Loss%) | For loss situations |
| CP = SP / (1 + Profit%) | To find CP when profit % is known |
| Net % Change (Two gains/losses) | = A + B + (AB/100) if both are gain/loss |
What Are the Types of Profit and Loss Questions in Quantitative Aptitude?
In exams, questions may vary in logic and application:
- Direct Calculation Questions – Using basic CP/SP/Profit/Loss formulas
- Marked Price & Discount Problems – Involving multiple percentage changes
- Successive Profit or Loss – Two-step percentage changes
- Dealer Dishonesty Problems – Using less weight or faulty measures
- Wrong Selling Price/Cost Price Given – Requiring back-calculation
- Combined Transactions – Finding net gain/loss across items
Profit and Loss Formulas for Quantitative Aptitude
The must-know formulas for fast calculation:
- Profit = SP – CP
- Loss = CP – SP
- Profit % = (Profit / CP) × 100
- Loss % = (Loss / CP) × 100
- SP = CP × (1 + Profit/100)
- SP = CP × (1 – Loss/100)
- CP = SP / (1 + Profit/100)
- CP = SP / (1 – Loss/100)
- SP = MP × (1 – Discount/100)
- Net % Gain/Loss (Successive): A + B + (AB / 100)
(Where A and B are % gain or loss in two steps)
Profit and Loss Tricks for SSC CGL and Other Exams
Some fast and effective tricks to solve problems in less time:
- Assume CP = ₹100 to simplify % calculations
- Use fractional equivalents of % (e.g., 25% = 1/4) for mental math
- Net % shortcut for two-step changes: A + B + (AB/100)
- In dishonest dealer problems, use the concept:
Profit % = (Error / Actual) × 100 - Back-calculate from SP when reverse logic is used in the question
Profit and Loss Concepts for Bank Exams
Bank exams like IBPS PO and SBI PO often include layered or logic-heavy questions involving:
- Successive discounts or gains
- Mark price with multiple conditions
- Dealer cheating scenarios
Example:
Marked price is 40% above CP. After a 20% discount, what is profit %?
Let CP = ₹100
MP = ₹140 → SP = 140 × 0.80 = ₹112
Profit = ₹12 → Profit % = 12%
Common Mistakes to Avoid while Solving Profit and Loss
While solving questions, you should keep the following details in mind:
- Calculating % on SP instead of CP – Always base % on CP
- Forgetting to adjust for discounts on MP
- Ignoring unit mismatch – especially weight vs. price
- Incorrect use of successive % formula – only use when two transactions are involved
- Assuming linear change – % change is not additive without proper formula
FAQs
Use standard formulas and try assuming CP = ₹100 to simplify percentage comparisons.
Yes, often with tricky conditions like dealer cheating or successive discounts.
Profit % = (Profit / Cost Price) × 100
Always the Cost Price (CP).
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