📑 On this page
⚡ The short answer
Price per unit = revenue ÷ quantity. Total cost = cost per unit × quantity. Profit = revenue − cost, with profit % on cost. From shares alone: price = (revenue share ÷ quantity share) × average price. The trap: averaging prices instead of total revenue ÷ total quantity.
🎬 The 30-second story
The fest stall face-off
1
“300 cold coffees, ₹18,000. Biggest stall at the fest. I win.”
🧋
Aarav
Aarav counts the cash box twice.
2
“150 plates of momos, ₹15,000. Fewer sales. Want to compare properly?”
🥟
Zoya
Zoya opens a notes app.
3
“My coffee cost ₹45 a cup to make. Yours?”
🧾
Aarav
The bills come out.
4
“₹55 a plate. Now divide, don't brag.”
📊
Zoya
Three questions, three different winners.
Tara's maths: Revenue: ₹18,000 vs ₹15,000, Aarav. Price per unit: ₹60 vs ₹100, Zoya. Profit: 18,000 − 13,500 = ₹4,500 (33.33%) vs 15,000 − 8,250 = ₹6,750 (81.82%), Zoya.
What do cost, revenue and per-unit price mean in a CLAT caselet?
A caselet is a company's account book written as a paragraph. It has two kinds of number: how much (tonnes, units, plates) and how many rupees (turnover, expenditure). Every question divides or multiplies one by the other.
🧮 The formula
The one line every caselet runs on
🏷️
Price per unit
₹ per tonne, per cup, per phone
×
📦
Quantity sold
tonnes, units, plates
=
💰
Revenue
also called turnover or sales
Swap 'price' for 'cost per unit' and the same line gives total cost. Then profit = revenue − cost. Passages use different words for the same box:
| Passage says | It means | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover, sales, revenue | Rupees in | SP (total) |
| Expenditure, cost of production | Rupees out | CP (total) |
| Production, output, units sold | How much | Quantity |
| Per tonne, per unit, per kg | Rupees ÷ quantity | Per-unit figure |
→ scroll to see more
How do you find the price per unit from shares of production and turnover?
CLAT rarely hands you a product's tonnes and rupees. It gives company totals plus each product's share of production and of turnover. We'll use this caselet for the rest of the page.
A phone-accessory brand sold 50,000 units for ₹1 crore. Covers: 40% of units, 20% of turnover. Chargers: 25% and 30%. Earphones: 20% and 35%. Cables: 15% and 15%.
✍️ Worked example
Warm-up
⏱ 30 sec
Price of one charger
From the caselet above, what is the selling price of one charger?
- 1Chargers sold = 25% of 50,000 = 12,500 units.
- 2Charger revenue = 30% of ₹1,00,00,000 = ₹30,00,000.
- 3Price per charger = 30,00,000 ÷ 12,500 = ₹240.
Answer: ₹240 per charger
⚡ The share-ratio route
Average = 1 crore ÷ 50,000 = ₹200. Chargers take 30% of the money for 25% of the units: 30/25 × 200 = ₹240.
Why? A product with the same share of money as of units sells at exactly the average price; any extra share of money must come from a higher price. So price = (revenue share ÷ quantity share) × average price. Call that ratio the price index.
📊 The data
Price per unit in the accessory caselet
Covers · index 20/40 = 0.5
₹100
Chargers · index 30/25 = 1.2
₹240
Earphones · index 35/20 = 1.75
₹350
Cables · index 15/15 = 1
₹200
Average ₹200. Cables, with equal shares, sit exactly on it.
🟦 Picture the percent
Earphones: a small slice of units, a big slice of money
Units: 20%
10,000 of 50,000 units
Turnover: 35%
₹35 lakh of ₹1 crore
🎛️ Try it yourself — change any number
Per-unit price calculator
Per unit
240
Answer
240
30,00,000 ÷ 12,500 × 1 = 240
Starts on chargers: ₹240. Try earphones (10,000 units, ₹35,00,000) for ₹350.
How do you work out profit or loss per unit and in total?
The question usually adds the one fact the passage left out: cost per unit. Price − cost gives profit per unit; that over cost gives profit %. Multiply by quantity for the rupee total.
✍️ Worked example
CLAT level
⏱ 45 sec
Earphones that lose money
If each pair of earphones costs the brand ₹420 to make and ship, what is the total loss on earphones, and the loss %?
- 1Price per pair (from the share route) = 1.75 × 200 = ₹350.
- 2Loss per pair = 420 − 350 = ₹70.
- 3Total loss = 10,000 pairs × 70 = ₹7,00,000.
- 4Loss % = 70 ÷ 420 × 100 = 16.67%, on cost.
Answer: Loss of ₹7 lakh, which is 16.67%
⚡ Spot the wrong base
Cost above price, so a loss; 70 is one-sixth of 420. The trap is 20%: 70 divided by the price, not the cost.
Why is the average price per unit not the average of the prices?
Because products don't sell in equal amounts. Covers sell twice as many units as earphones, so the cheap cover price should pull twice as hard. The honest average is total revenue ÷ total quantity.
✍️ Worked example
Tricky
⏱ 40 sec
Covers and earphones together
What is the average selling price per unit of covers and earphones taken together?
- 1Revenue: covers ₹20,00,000 + earphones ₹35,00,000 = ₹55,00,000.
- 2Units: 20,000 + 10,000 = 30,000.
- 3Average price = 55,00,000 ÷ 30,000 = ₹183.33.
Answer: ₹183.33 per unit
⚡ Kill ₹225 in two seconds
The trap is (100 + 350) ÷ 2 = ₹225. Twice as many covers, so the answer sits closer to ₹100. ₹225 is past halfway: out.
🎛️ Try it yourself — change any number
Average price calculator
Weighted average
183.33
Simple average (wrong here)
225
(20,000×100 + 10,000×350) ÷ 30,000 = 183.33
₹183.33 weighted vs the ₹225 trap. Make both quantities equal and watch them meet.
💡 The whole company's average needs no product data
Average price of everything = total turnover ÷ total production: ₹1 crore ÷ 50,000 = ₹200, straight from the first sentence. CLAT 2022 asked exactly this.
What is the fastest way through a cost and revenue caselet?
- 1
Average price firstTotal revenue ÷ total quantity.
- 2
Price index per productRevenue share ÷ quantity share. 'Highest price' questions end here.
- 3
Convert only the row you needFill just the cells the question touches.
- 4
Fix units, then estimateMillion vs lakh, tonne vs kg. Above or below average? Profit or loss? Two options usually die here.
⚠️ Million, lakh and crore
1 million = 10 lakh; 10 million = 1 crore. ₹50 million is ₹5 crore. A tonne is 1,000 kg, so ₹20,000 a tonne is ₹20 a kg. Options often sit a factor of 10 apart to catch this.
Which cost and revenue traps does CLAT set?
⚔️ Side by side
Three numbers students treat as one
💰Revenue (turnover)
Total rupees in
- •Grows with volume, even at a loss
- •'Which product brought in most?'
📈Profit
Revenue minus cost
- •Needs a cost figure
- •'Which product earned most?'
VS
| Test | Revenue (turnover) | Profit |
|---|---|---|
| Price per unit | Revenue ÷ quantity | ≠ profit per unit |
Aarav had the bigger revenue, the lower price and the smaller profit.
- ✓Equal turnover shares, equal rupees, whatever the tonnes.
- ✓Biggest turnover share ≠ highest price. Price follows the ratio of the shares.
- ✓Fixed costs move per-unit cost. A ₹3,000 stall fee adds ₹20 a brownie over 150 sales, ₹10 over 300.
- ✓Only percentages, rupees wanted? No base means 'cannot be determined'.
How has CLAT asked cost, revenue and per-unit price?
📝 Asked in CLAT 2022
· Q142
Highest price per unit
An Indian company, having its registered office at Gurugram, is engaged in manufacturing of consumer goods at Noida. … Total production of the company for the financial year 2021-22 is 3,000 tonnes and the turnover of the company is ₹50 million. … production of product 'P' is 21% of the total production and 18% of the turnover is attributable to product 'P'; production of 'Q' is 16% of the total production and 17% of the turnover is attributable to 'Q'; 'R' accounts for 18% of the total production and 20% of the turnover; 'S' accounts for 20% of the total production and 25% of the turnover, and; 'T' accounts for 25% of total production and 20% of turnover.
Which product has the highest selling price per tonne?
AQ
BR
CS
DT
Reveal answer + reasoning
Answer: C
Price index = turnover share ÷ production share: P 0.86, Q 1.06, R 1.11, S 1.25, T 0.80. Average = ₹50 million ÷ 3,000 = ₹16,666.67, so S sells at ₹20,833.33 a tonne. About 30 seconds. The set's Q144 (R's turnover as a % of T's) needed no maths: both 20% of turnover, so 100%.
Why the others fail
- A — Index 1.06: only just above average.
- B — Index 1.11, second to S. Picked by reading turnover share alone.
- D — Biggest production, lowest price: ₹13,333.33 a tonne.
📝 Asked in CLAT 2022
· Q145
Average price per unit
(Same passage.) Total production 3,000 tonnes; turnover ₹50 million; five products with the shares above.
What is the average selling price per tonne of all products taken together?
A₹17,488
B₹17,667
C₹18,667
D₹16,667
Reveal answer + reasoning
Answer: D
Total turnover ÷ total production = 50,000,000 ÷ 3,000 = ₹16,666.67. The five product rows are a decoy. About 15 seconds. The mean of the five prices, about ₹16,936, matches no option and is the wrong method anyway.
Why the others fail
- A — Nothing in the passage produces it.
- B — ₹1,000 above the true figure: 'close enough' bait.
- C — ₹2,000 above the true figure.
📝 Asked in CLAT 2021
· Q139
Average of yearly profit %
Two renowned international Software companies, namely Pollaris and Contigent, started their business in the year 2007 … Pollaris earned 30 per cent profit in the year 2007 and 2008, and further increased it to 40 per cent in 2009. However, its profit percentage decreased to 20 per cent in the year 2010. On the other hand, Contigent opened with 40 per cent profit in 2007, but slowly decreased to 35 per cent in 2008 and 30 per cent in 2009. … Pollaris increased its profit percentage to 35 per cent in 2011 and 50 per cent in 2012; simultaneously, Contigent increased its profit percentage to 45 per cent in 2010, 50 per cent in 2011 and reached 60 per cent in the year 2012.
What is the difference between the company with highest annual average profit percentage and that of the company with lowest annual average profit percentage?
A5.17
B8.33
C9.17
D4.33
Reveal answer + reasoning
Answer: C
Pollaris: 30, 30, 40, 20, 35, 50 → 205 ÷ 6 = 34.17. Contigent: 40, 35, 30, 45, 50, 60 → 260 ÷ 6 = 43.33. Difference = 9.17. About 50 seconds. '2007 and 2008' means 30% in each year: that second 30 is the whole question.
Why the others fail
- A — No six-year averaging gives it.
- B — Counts Pollaris's 30% once: 175 ÷ 5 = 35, and 43.33 − 35 = 8.33.
- D — No averaging route gives it.
📝 Asked in CLAT 2021
· Q137
One total as a % of another
(Same passage.) Pollaris: 35% in 2011, 50% in 2012. Contigent: 40% in 2007, 35% in 2008.
What percentage of the total profit making of Pollaris Company in 2011 and 2012 is the total profit making of Contigent Company in 2007 and 2008?
A113.3%
B95.3%
C90.3%
D133.3%
Reveal answer + reasoning
Answer: A
Contigent 2007 + 2008 = 40 + 35 = 75. Pollaris 2011 + 2012 = 35 + 50 = 85. Read literally, 'what % of Pollaris is Contigent' is 75 ÷ 85 = 88.24%, which isn't offered. The official key is A, 113.3% = 85 ÷ 75: the setter flipped the base. Mark A. (Adding profit percentages is only fair if yearly incomes are equal; the paper treats them as plain numbers.) About 40 seconds.
Why the others fail
- B — No ratio of 75 and 85 gives it.
- C — Near the literal 88.24%, but not equal.
- D — 113.3 with a slipped digit.
Can you beat these cost and revenue myths and questions?
💥 Myth vs fact
Myth vs fact
🙅 Myth
The product with the biggest share of turnover has the highest price.
Tap to bust it →
✅ Fact
Price = turnover share ÷ quantity share. In CLAT 2022, R and T had equal turnover, and T's price was the lowest.
🙅 Myth
Average price of all products = average of their prices.
Tap to bust it →
✅ Fact
It's total revenue ÷ total quantity. Covers at ₹100 and earphones at ₹350 average ₹183.33, not ₹225.
🙅 Myth
Higher revenue means higher profit.
Tap to bust it →
✅ Fact
Profit needs cost. Aarav's ₹18,000 made less than Zoya's ₹15,000.
🎯 Quick quiz
Five quick ones before the drill
0 / 5
A home bakery sells 400 cakes in a month for ₹2,40,000.
Q1. What is the price per cake?
2,40,000 ÷ 400 = ₹600. Estimate: 400 × 500 = 2 lakh, so the answer is a little over ₹500. The others only move the zeros.A company's average price is ₹500 per unit. Product X is 15% of units sold and 24% of turnover.
Q2. What is X's price per unit?
Index 24 ÷ 15 = 1.6; 1.6 × 500 = ₹800. A flips the ratio.A canteen sells 120 plates of pasta at ₹150 and 80 plates of fries at ₹100.
Q3. What is the average price per plate sold?
(18,000 + 8,000) ÷ 200 = ₹130. A is the simple average; more pasta pulls it towards ₹150.A startup's profit was 20% of its revenue in 2024 and 25% in 2025. No revenue or cost figures are given.
Q4. By how many rupees did its profit rise?
Rupees need a base, and neither year's revenue is given.A mill sells 1,500 tonnes of flour for ₹4.5 million. Its cost is ₹2,400 per tonne.
Q5. What is its total profit?
Price ₹3,000 a tonne; profit 600 × 1,500 = ₹9,00,000 = ₹9 lakh. B and C slip a zero; D is total cost.🎯 Cost and revenue in a nutshell
- Revenue = price × quantity; cost = cost per unit × quantity; profit = revenue − cost.
- Price of a product = (revenue share ÷ quantity share) × average price.
- Average price of a group = total revenue ÷ total quantity, never the mean of prices.
- Profit % is on cost. Equal turnover shares mean equal revenue.
- No base in rupees, no rupee answer: that's 'cannot be determined'.
📎 Formula card
- Price per unit = Revenue ÷ Quantity; Revenue = Price × Quantity
- Total cost = Cost per unit × Quantity (+ any fixed cost)
- Profit = Revenue − Total cost; Profit % = Profit ÷ Total cost × 100
- Price index = Revenue share ÷ Quantity share; Price = index × (Total revenue ÷ Total quantity)
- Break-even quantity = Fixed cost ÷ (Price − Variable cost per unit)
- 1 million = 10 lakh; 10 million = 1 crore; 1 tonne = 1,000 kg
Turn caselets into easy marks
Timed company-account passages with every per-unit and profit step worked out.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate price per unit from revenue?
Divide total revenue by quantity sold. ₹30 lakh from 12,500 chargers is 30,00,000 ÷ 12,500 = ₹240 each. Watch the units: revenue in millions over quantity in tonnes gives rupees per tonne, and a kilogram price is that divided by 1,000.
How do you find a product's price when a caselet gives only percentage shares?
Divide its turnover share by its production share, then multiply by the company's average price (total turnover ÷ total production). In CLAT 2022, S had 25% of turnover for 20% of production: 1.25 × ₹16,666.67 = ₹20,833.33 a tonne, the highest of five.
How do you find the average price of all products together?
Use total revenue ÷ total quantity. Do not average the individual prices, because products sell in different amounts. CLAT 2022 asked for the average price per tonne of five products: ₹50 million ÷ 3,000 tonnes = ₹16,667. The five-price mean, about ₹16,936, is wrong.
How many lakh or crore is a million?
One million is 10 lakh, and 10 million is one crore. So ₹50 million is ₹5 crore and ₹4.5 million is ₹45 lakh. CLAT passages switch between the systems and options often sit a factor of 10 apart, so convert into one system before you compare.
When is the answer 'cannot be determined' in a cost and revenue caselet?
When the question wants rupees and the passage gives only percentages for that year. CLAT 2021 gave yearly profit percentages and one year's income, then asked for profit in a different year. With no income or cost for that year there is no base, so it cannot be determined.
Keep going
← Previous topic
Successive Discounts and Discount Schemes: the Single Equivalent Discount
Why 40% + 15% off is only 49%, and how to rank any sale offer
Next topic →
Simple Interest: Formula, Shortcuts and CLAT Traps
P × R × T ÷ 100, why it works, the unit trap and interest vs amount
📚
Part of the chapter
Profit, Interest & Time-Speed-Work for CLAT Quantitative Techniques
See how this topic fits the whole of Profit, Interest & Time-Speed-Work →
Connected topics in other chapters
Profit and Loss: CP, SP and Profit %
The base rule behind every caselet profit: percentage on cost, not on sales.
Caselet DI: Turning a CLAT Quant Passage into a Table
The table-building habit this page uses on every company passage.
Weighted Average
Why the average price of all products is total revenue over total quantity.
The Unitary Method
Price per unit is the unitary method with a rupee sign.
Budgets and Pie Charts: Percentage Share
Shares of a total, the raw material of every turnover caselet.
Every topic in Profit, Interest & Time-Speed-Work
- 1.Profit and Loss: CP, SP and Profit %
- 2.Marked Price and Discount: Mark-up, Sale Price and Profit
- 3.Successive Discounts and Discount Schemes: the Single Equivalent Discount
- 4.Cost, Revenue and Per-Unit Price in Caselets (you're here)
- 5.Simple Interest: Formula, Shortcuts and CLAT Traps
- 6.Compound Interest and the SI–CI Difference
- 7.Speed, Distance and Time
- 8.Trains, Races and Relative Speed
- 9.Time and Work: the LCM Method
- 10.Pipes and Cisterns