You’re going to need a costing sheet.

Love or hate it, commerce is a fundamental part of fashion. If you want to sell your work, you will need to put a price on it. To do this, you need to understand exactly how much it costs you to make. This is where a costing sheet comes into the equation. Spare us the “I’m a creative, I don’t do math” argument. If you can calculate an SSENSE discount, you can navigate a costing sheet.

Pricing your work is a diligent and sensitive subject that I will speak more about in a future post, but for now, I’m helping you calculate the cost to produce it.

The costing sheet provided below is one that I’ve used to price out dozens of garments while working with several different factories. I’ve stripped it down to its crucial parts, but feel free to take out whatever is unnecessary or to leave certain parts blank. Knowing your cost is an invaluable piece of information while you navigate selling your clothes and growing your company.

Here is a blank costing sheet, as well as a sheet I’ve filled out for reference: Costing Sheet

And here is how to fill it out.

Section 1: Header

Insert your company name

Style Number: I do a mix of letters and numbers, such as M100. Come up with your own delineation, but make it something that can be applied across all your products.

Season: The sales season or collection you plan on releasing the garment during. Fall/Winter 2022, Resort 2023, etc.

Style Description: Double Breasted Coat, Pleated Asymmetrical Pleated Wrap Skirt, Linen Shorts, etc.

Date: The date you are filling out or updating the costing sheet.

Cost by: Put the name of whoever filled out the costing sheet. Most of the time it will be you.

Size Scale: S, M, L, XL, 30, 32, 34, 36, etc.

Colorways: List the color or colorways the garment will be cut in. Black, Lilac, Zebra Print, etc.

MOQ: Minimum Order Quantity for this specific costing. This is only relevant if you are doing a production run, so if this is just for your sample, put MOQ: 1.

Delivery: The expected delivery date from the factory, or TBD if you do not have a delivery date quote.

Fabrics: List the main fabrics involved. Next to SHELL, list your Self fabric (Self means the main fabric of the garment.) Next to OTHERS, list the main Lining or Combo fabric. You don’t have to list every fabric here, as you will do that in the following FABRIC section.

Sketch: Optional, but it’s helpful to insert a little image of your hand-drawn or digital sketch so you can quickly recognize which garment you are costing out.

Section 2: Fabric

In the rows on the left-hand column, you will list all the fabrics involved in making the garment. This includes Self, Body and Sleeve Lining, Pocketing, Fusible, etc.

Then in the columns to the right of each fabric, you will list the following.

Width: Width of the fabric.

Unit: Unit of measurement of the fabric. This will most commonly be yards or meters, but for certain fabrics, it could be inches, or if you’re using leather, it will be square feet.

Unit PX: Unit price. Fill in how much the fabric costs, such as $12 per yard.

Consumption: The quantity used of each fabric or trim to make one garment. If you’re making a coat, you’re probably using somewhere around 3 or 4 yards of your Self fabric. That’s where this number would go.

Subtotal: Consumption multiplied by price.

W%: This estimates waste percentage. You can leave this blank normally, but when you start producing with factories in larger quantities, you are going to want to begin calculating it. Waste typically falls between 1% — 5%, and it gets added to your fabric cost.

Amount: Subtotal plus waste. This is your cost for each fabric per garment.

Remark: This area is for comments you want to point out to the factory or yourself regarding any of the previous columns.

Section 3: Trims

Main Label: Your main branded label.

Size Label: Self-explanatory.

Made in Label: The label indicating where the item was made.

Content Label: Fabric content and care instructions.

Zipper: Include the size and length whenever you mention a zipper.

42L, 36L, 18L Buttons: For this example, I am using three different size buttons you would hypothetically need for a coat. Each size button has a different price. The “L” next to the button size means ligne, which is how button sizes are measured.

Other trims for your garment may include elastic, hook and eyes, rivets, D-rings, etc.

Section 4: Packaging

Hangtag: Your branded hangtag.

Hangtag String: If applicable.

Barcode Label: Barcodes will be needed if you are working with retailers. They are also helpful to keep track of your inventory.

Resealable Bag: Or whatever your garment is being stored and shipped in.

Tissue Paper: If applicable.

Section 5: Cut and Make

Cut: The cost to cut each garment.

Fuse: The cost to fuse each garment.

Make: How much it costs to sew and assemble your garment.

Grading and Marking: How much it costs to grade and mark each garment.

Screenprint: How much is costs to screenprint each garment.

Fabric Wash: The cost of any specialty washes during the production process.

Total Cost per PC (FOB): This is the total cost for each piece (single garment) including fabric, trim, packaging, cutting, and making. FOB stands for “free on board” or “freight on board,” and it is the cost of your garment before shipping, importing, and warehousing. FOB terminology is only relevant when you are working with factories, but it is still a term worth understanding.

Section 6: Garment Freight and Import

Freight: how much it costs to ship each garment to you or its warehousing destination.

Import: How much it costs to import each garment if it is being shipped to you from outside of the country you are based in.

Broker and Warehouse Cost: The cost to arrange and store each of your finished garments.

Total Landed Price (LDP): This is your total cost per garment plus freight and import. This is the true cost of your garment. It includes every material, trim, packaging, the costs to cut and make it, and the cost to ship and receive it. It’s always more than you think.

Section 7: Markup

Wholesale Markup: If you are working with retailers and wholesale accounts, you will need a wholesale cost. This markup is the difference between your cost and your wholesale price.

Retail Markup: This markup is the difference between your Wholesale Price and Retail Price.

I’ve included a few options in the Markup section so you can experiment with how much you wish to charge for your clothes. I will go much deeper into margins and pricing in a future post.

These markups are different for every company. There are companies that produce a cotton t-shirt for $2, and then sell it for $90 at retail price. That’s a 45X markup. Keep in mind that your markups also cover all your business expenses such as marketing and payroll, so it may seem like a lot, but it costs a lot to keep the doors open too.

As a common rule of thumb, many companies markup their Total Landed Price by 2.5X to get their Wholesale Price, and then multiply that number by an additional 2.5X to get their Retail Price.

Now that you have a costing sheet, try and price out all the garments you’ve made so far. And as you develop your collection, use this sheet to keep track of all your costs so you can feel confident that you are selling your clothes at a price that’s fair to you.