CAT Profit and Loss Questions with Solutions PDF

Profit and Loss is one of the core concepts of Arithmetic in CAT Quantitative Aptitude. The questions pertain to Cost Price (CP), Selling Price (SP) and Marked Price (MP). The questions are in percentage and the key is to read the layers beneath the seemingly simple statement.  The questions are usually easy to moderate in terms of difficulty level. If you have clarity of percentage calculation, CAT Profit and Loss questions will be a cake walk.

Questions are based on comparison of two deals, error based calculation, short cut based calculations and problems in business scenarios. To crack P&C questions of CAT candidates must work on markup percentage, discount percentage, increase of OP before selling, successive discount, multi-level selling chain vs discount at each level, cost price vs selling price.Those planning to appear for CAT 2026, must study this topic extensively, as they have the potential of getting the you full marks. 

CAT Profit and Loss questions with solutions

CAT Profit and Loss Key formulas

•  Profit % = (SP−CP)/CP×100

•  Loss % = (CP−SP)/CP×100

 •  SP = CP × (1+profit%/100)

 •  SP = CP × (1−loss%/100)

Weightage in CAT

CAT Quantitative Aptitude section has a total of 22 questions and Arithmetic dominates it with about 8 to 11 question. Within Arithmetic there are usually about 2-4 P&C questions. You need to be in full control of this topic as skipping questions or getting them wrong can mark a dent in your potential percentile in Quantitative Aptitude. Check the below table for number of CAT profit and loss questions asked in CAT exam in the past 5 years.

Sample CAT Profit and Loss Questions with Solutions

CAT Profit and Loss Questions are usually easy to moderate. Shiksha has shared below, some CAT Profit and Loss questions with solutions PDFs in this article below for candidates to practice and prepare for CAT 2026. 

Question 1.A dealer offers his customers 10% discount and still makes a profit of 26%. What is the actual cost (in Rs.) to him of an article marked Rs. 560?

(a) 356

(b) 400

(c) 504

(d) 432

Question 2. In what proportion must a chemist mix two solutions of a certain chemical, which cost him Rs 18 and Rs. 27 a gallon respectively, so that by selling the mixture at Rs 30 a gallon, he may make 25% profit on his outlay?

(a) 2:3

(b) 2:1

(c) 1:2

(d) 3:2

Difficuly Level: Easy

Question 3. Akash buy candies at 20 candies for Rs. 100 and sell it at a loss of as much money as Akash paid for five candies. What is the SP per candies?

(a) Rs. 4

(b) Rs. 3.5

(c) Rs. 3.75

(d) Rs. 4.5

Difficuly Level: Easy

Question 4. Vansh and Amrit started a business together where Vansh was the active member and Amrit was just an investor or passive partner. Vansh invested Rs. 10 lacs in the business while Amrit, who joined the business 3 months later, invested Rs. 20 lacs. Since Vansh was the active member, he also drew a salary of Rs. 25000 every month. At the end of the year, they made Rs. 10 lac as profit. What was the ratio of Vansh's share to that of Amrit? (Note: Profits are distributed after the salary is accounted for)

(a) 21 : 29

(b) 29 : 21

(c) 19 : 6

(d) 12:16

Difficuly Level: Medium

Get detailed solutions of these questions and more CAT P&L solved questions in the downloadable PDF below:

Download: 20 CAT Profilt and Loss Questions PDF