Mini Minds Hub · Free printable
Profit and Loss: Free Printable Worksheet for Year 7
- ForYear 7
- StageKey Stage 3
- CostFree
- FormatPrintable PDF
Profit and Loss is a free printable maths worksheet for Year 7 (ages 11 to 12), in Key Stage 3. Children fill in a table with an item, a cost price, a selling price and the profit or loss. They subtract money, work with decimals and decide whether each sale made money or lost it. It takes about 15 minutes and needs only a pencil.
It comes from the Mini Minds Hub, the free library of printables from Jaques of London, the British games and toy company that has been making games for families since 1795. Print both pages, give page 1 to your child and keep page 2 for yourself. It has notes, help, a stretch idea and the answers. Black and white printing works well.
What is on the sheet
Children work through a table with four columns: item, cost price, selling price and profit or loss. For each item they compare the two prices, decide whether the seller gained or lost money, and work out the amount. The prices are in pounds and pence, so children need to line up decimal points carefully. They show their subtraction in the margin or on scrap paper, so the method is visible as well as the answer.
- Item
- Cost price
- Selling price
- Profit or loss
A worked example
A shop buys a scarf for £7.35 and sells it for £11.60. Is it a profit or a loss, and how much?
This is a different question from the ones on the sheet. It shows two ways to work out the amount.
Method 1: work in pence- The selling price is bigger than the cost price, so it is a profit.
- Change both prices to pence: £11.60 is 1160p and £7.35 is 735p.
- Subtract: 1160 take away 735 is 425.
- Change back to pounds: 425p is £4.25.
- Count up from £7.35 to the next whole pound: £7.35 to £8.00 is £0.65.
- Count on to £11.00: £8.00 to £11.00 is £3.00.
- Count on to £11.60: that is £0.60.
- Add the jumps: £0.65 and £3.00 and £0.60 make £4.25.
Ways to build the skill
Make price tags
Write the cost price on one slip of paper and the selling price on another for a handful of everyday items. Shuffle the slips, match them up and say profit or loss for each pair.
Check by adding back
Once you have a profit, add it to the cost price. You should land on the selling price. For a loss, add it to the selling price to get back to the cost price.
Use real receipts
Look at a shopping receipt together. Talk about why a shop sells things for more than it pays, and why it sometimes sells for less.
What are profit and loss?
The cost price is what a seller pays for an item. The selling price is what the buyer pays the seller. If the selling price is greater than the cost price, the seller makes a profit. If it is less, the seller makes a loss. If the two prices are the same, there is no profit and no loss.
Real shops have other costs too, such as rent, wages and electricity, so a shop's true profit is harder to find. This sheet keeps it simple and compares only the two prices. Sellers sometimes sell below cost price on purpose, for example to clear old stock or in a sale.
Money facts to share
- Profit is the money left over when the cost price is taken from a higher selling price.
- A loss does not always mean a mistake. Shops sometimes sell things for less than they paid to clear space.
- There are 100 pence in one pound, so £1.25 is the same as 125 pence.
- The price a shop pays for an item is usually lower than the price it charges you.
- Market traders, car boot sellers and online sellers all need to know their cost price to know if they are making a profit.
Skills and curriculum link
- Subtracting money
- Decimals
- Reasoning
- Comparing prices
- Showing working
Helpful ideas for this sheet
- Compare firstLook at which price is bigger before you subtract. If the selling price is bigger, it is a profit. If it is smaller, it is a loss.
- Subtract the smaller from the biggerProfit and loss are both found by taking the smaller price away from the bigger one. The words you write after the number are what change.
- Line up the decimal pointsWrite the prices one under the other so pence sit under pence and pounds under pounds. Fill gaps with a zero, so £5.5 becomes £5.50.
- Check by adding backAdd your answer to the smaller price. If you reach the bigger price, your subtraction is right.
Key words
- Cost priceThe amount a seller pays to get an item.
- Selling priceThe amount a buyer pays for the item.
- ProfitThe money gained when the selling price is more than the cost price.
- LossThe money lost when the selling price is less than the cost price.
- Decimal pointThe dot that separates pounds from pence in a price.
- Place valueThe value of a digit because of where it sits in a number, such as tenths or hundredths.
How to use it
- Print both pages. Page 1 is for your child. Keep page 2, which has the notes and answers.
- Read the table headings together. Check that your child knows what cost price and selling price mean.
- Ask your child to decide profit or loss first, then subtract. They show the subtraction in the margin or on scrap paper, lining up the decimal points.
- Check against page 2 together. Ask, "How did you know it was a profit or a loss?" The reasoning matters as much as the answer.
- Come back another day and redo any rows that felt tricky. Repeating a familiar sheet builds confidence.
Help, stretch and game ideas
If it feels too hard
Ask first: is the selling price bigger or smaller than the cost price? That tells you profit or loss before you subtract. Draw a number line for the decimals and jump from the smaller price to the bigger one. Do a few rows, then take a break.
To stretch confident children
Work out profit as a percentage of cost price for the bike and the jacket. Divide the profit by the cost price, then multiply by 100. Then find the selling price that would give a 20 percent profit on the lamp.
Make it a game
Play shopkeeper in pairs. One player invents a cost price and a selling price. The other says profit or loss and the amount. Score a point for each correct answer. Swap roles after five turns. Use a calculator to settle any disagreements.
Mistakes to watch for
Watch forA child subtracts the wrong way round and gets a negative or an impossible answer.
Try thisDecide profit or loss first. Then always take the smaller price away from the bigger one.
Watch forThe decimal points are not lined up, so pence are subtracted from pounds.
Try thisRewrite the prices one under the other, with the decimal points in a straight line. Add a zero to fill any gap, such as £4.5 to £4.50.
Watch forA child writes the amount but forgets to say profit or loss.
Try thisAdd a final check: write the word and the £ sign next to every answer, then read it back as a sentence.
Talk about it
- How can you tell if it is a profit or a loss before you subtract?
- Why might a shop sell something for less than it paid?
- How would you check your answer without a calculator?
- Is a bigger selling price always a bigger profit? Why or why not?
- What would you change the selling price to if you wanted a bigger profit?
- Where have you seen cost and selling prices in real life?
Take it off the page
Pretend shop
Set up a small shop with household items and price labels. Give each item a cost price and a selling price, then work out the profit or loss on each sale.
Car boot sale plan
Plan a pretend stall. Decide what you paid for each item, choose a selling price and work out how much you would make if everything sold.
Receipt detective
Look at old shopping receipts. Find the total, round each price to the nearest pound and talk about what the shop paid compared with what you paid.
Who it is for
Parents
Sit beside your child for the first row, then let them lead. About 15 minutes is plenty. If they get stuck, ask whether the selling price is bigger or smaller than the cost price.
Teachers
Use it as a starter, a plenary, homework or an early finisher task. It needs no preparation beyond printing. Page 2 gives help and stretch ideas for mixed ability groups, and the answers make marking quick.
Home educators
Print it as part of a wider maths plan. It links well to real money, such as shopping trips, pocket money or a pretend shop. Reuse it for brothers and sisters, or for revision a few weeks later.
Where this fits in maths
Before this sheet, children add and subtract amounts of money and meet decimals in pounds and pence in primary school. They learn place value for tenths and hundredths. Those skills make the subtraction here easier.
After this, children can work out profit as a percentage of the cost price, and look at percentage increase and decrease. These build on the number strand of the Key Stage 3 curriculum, which covers fractions, decimals and percentages.
Questions parents and teachers ask
- What are profit and loss?
Profit is the money made when the selling price is more than the cost price. Loss is the money lost when the selling price is less. On this sheet, children decide which one has happened and work out the amount.
- What age is this worksheet for?
It is written for Year 7 (ages 11 to 12), in Key Stage 3. It also works as revision for older primary children who are confident with decimals, or as support for slightly older learners.
- How long does it take?
It takes about 15 minutes. Some children will finish faster and some will take longer, especially if they show full working. Page 2 has help and stretch ideas to adjust the task.
- Do children need a calculator?
No. The sheet asks children to show the subtraction in the margin or on scrap paper, so a pencil is enough. A calculator can be used afterwards to check answers if you wish.
- Are the answers included?
Yes. Page 2 is for the grown up and includes the answers. It also has notes on how to use the sheet, help for children who find it hard, and a stretch idea.
- What if my child cannot tell profit from loss?
Ask whether the selling price is bigger or smaller than the cost price. Bigger means profit and smaller means loss. Practise with a few made up prices before returning to the table.
- Is it free, and is it screen free?
Yes to both. It is free to print for home and classroom use. It needs only paper and a pencil, so it suits quiet time, rainy days, homework and school holidays.
Preview the full PDF
Made by Jaques of London, making games for families since 1795. A printable supports classroom learning and does not replace a teacher.