How to find the selling price that achieves your target gross margin with excel goal seek
- Step 1Build pricing model — Set up: Price (input cell), COGS, Gross_Profit = Price - COGS, Gross_Margin = Gross_Profit / Price.
- Step 2Configure Goal Seek — Target cell = Gross_Margin cell, target value = 0.40 (for 40%), input cell = Price cell.
- Step 3Run and review — The solver finds the price that achieves exactly 40% gross margin.
- Step 4Run sensitivity — Change target value to 35%, 45% etc. and re-run to build a price sensitivity table.
Frequently asked questions
Can Goal Seek solve for price when there are volume discounts?+
Yes if the discount structure is expressed as an arithmetic formula. Step-function discounts (IF(price > 100, discount * 0.1, 0)) may cause convergence issues due to discontinuities.
How do I run multiple Goal Seek scenarios?+
Run Goal Seek once per target margin value. For a full sensitivity table, use Excel's Data Table feature with multiple target values after determining the formula manually.
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