How do I calculate the CM (cut-make) cost of a garment?

CM = SAM x cost per minute / line efficiency + handling. In the live calculator's example, 18 SAM at 0.14 per minute and 65% efficiency is 18 x 0.14 / 0.65 = 3.88, plus 0.30 handling: 4.18 per garment. The line pays for 27.7 minutes for every 18 standard minutes it sews.

Why does line efficiency matter so much?

Every paid minute that does not produce a standard minute is still paid. The example's padded jacket has 75 SAM: at 50% efficiency its CM is 75 x 0.085 / 0.50 + 0.05 = 12.80 and the style makes 6.3% at 25.50 FOB; at 60% efficiency CM falls to 10.68 and the margin rises to 14.6%, above the 12% target.

How do I cost fabric bought per kg, per metre or per yard?

Type consumption and price in the same unit and choose it in the Fabric unit column: kg for knits, m or yd for wovens. Fabric cost = consumption x (1 + wastage) x price, so no conversion is needed. The example jeans use 1.45 yd plus 6% wastage at 4.20 per yd: 6.46 per pair. If your marker is in metres and the quote in yards, convert first: 1 yd = 0.9144 m.

What should the cost per minute include?

The cost of one paid minute of the sewing line: operators, helpers and supervisors with benefits, and factory overhead if you cost that way. A common way is the line's monthly cost divided by operators x paid minutes per month. The example's 0.085 per minute is invented; use your own payroll and overhead.

Is the weighted margin an average of the style margins?

No. It is the sum of order margin divided by the sum of order value over the priced styles, so a 4,000-piece jeans order counts for more than an 800-piece jacket order. In the example it is 11.5% against a 12% target: Near target, with the dress and the padded jacket below.

Industry Cost Kits

Garment Costing Sheet Excel Template

Cost every garment style to an FOB price: fabric consumption with wastage, trims, embellishment and wash, packing, and the cut-make cost from SAM, cost per minute and line efficiency, then check each style's margin against your target.

Free, and a plain .xlsx with no macros to enable. A CSV with live formulas and a printed how-to guide come with it.

Overview

This garment costing sheet is for garment manufacturers, merchandisers and costing engineers, and for apparel buyers who check factory costings. It ships with ten example styles for a fictional garment exporter, from kids' T-shirts to a padded jacket, so every number moves before you type your own.

Each style is a row on Styles. Fabric cost is the marker consumption plus wastage times the fabric price, in whatever unit you buy the fabric (metres, yards or kilograms for knits), so nothing needs converting. The cut-make cost is the style's SAM times the line's cost per minute divided by the line efficiency, plus handling: at 50% efficiency the line pays for two minutes for every standard minute sewn. Trims, embellishment and wash, and packing are added per piece.

Margin on FOB price is judged against your target, with order cost, value, margin and the sewing hours each order needs. The Dashboard shows the weighted margin, the styles below target, the fabric share of cost and the total sewing hours, with a stacked chart of where each style's cost goes. The live Garment SAM Labor Cost calculator computes the cut-make cost the same way, and the Verify sheet checks the workbook against its worked example. The download is a plain .xlsx with no macros.

What this template includes

Styles table: order quantity, fabric unit (m, yd or kg), consumption, wastage, fabric price, trims, embellishment and wash, packing, SAM, line efficiency and FOB price for each style
Setup sheet with your sewing cost per minute (CPM), line setup and bundle handling per garment and target margin
Per style: fabric cost, effective minutes, cut-make (CM) cost, garment cost, margin with On target, Near target or Below target, and order cost, value, margin and sewing hours
Check column that names a missing input or a duplicate style in words
Dashboard: weighted margin, styles below target, fabric share of cost, sewing hours needed, a chart of where each style's cost goes and margin by style
Method sheet with every formula, and a Verify sheet that rechecks the model, including the live Garment SAM Labor Cost calculator's example
CSV with live formulas of the Styles table; the dashboard, charts, dropdowns and self-check are in the .xlsx

Suggested use case

Use it to cost a season's styles before quoting FOB prices, to check a buyer's target price against your real line efficiency, and to see the sewing hours an order book needs.

How to use it

On Setup, type your currency, the sewing line's cost per minute, handling cost per garment and your target margin.
On Styles, add one row per style: order quantity, fabric unit, marker consumption, wastage and the fabric price in the same unit.
Add trims, embellishment and wash, packing, SAM from your operation bulletin, the style's line efficiency and the FOB price.
Read garment cost, margin and status for each style, and fix anything the Check column reports.
Open the Dashboard to see weighted margin, the styles below target, the fabric share of cost and the sewing hours the order book needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I calculate the CM (cut-make) cost of a garment?: CM = SAM x cost per minute / line efficiency + handling. In the live calculator's example, 18 SAM at 0.14 per minute and 65% efficiency is 18 x 0.14 / 0.65 = 3.88, plus 0.30 handling: 4.18 per garment. The line pays for 27.7 minutes for every 18 standard minutes it sews.
Why does line efficiency matter so much?: Every paid minute that does not produce a standard minute is still paid. The example's padded jacket has 75 SAM: at 50% efficiency its CM is 75 x 0.085 / 0.50 + 0.05 = 12.80 and the style makes 6.3% at 25.50 FOB; at 60% efficiency CM falls to 10.68 and the margin rises to 14.6%, above the 12% target.
How do I cost fabric bought per kg, per metre or per yard?: Type consumption and price in the same unit and choose it in the Fabric unit column: kg for knits, m or yd for wovens. Fabric cost = consumption x (1 + wastage) x price, so no conversion is needed. The example jeans use 1.45 yd plus 6% wastage at 4.20 per yd: 6.46 per pair. If your marker is in metres and the quote in yards, convert first: 1 yd = 0.9144 m.
What should the cost per minute include?: The cost of one paid minute of the sewing line: operators, helpers and supervisors with benefits, and factory overhead if you cost that way. A common way is the line's monthly cost divided by operators x paid minutes per month. The example's 0.085 per minute is invented; use your own payroll and overhead.
Is the weighted margin an average of the style margins?: No. It is the sum of order margin divided by the sum of order value over the priced styles, so a 4,000-piece jeans order counts for more than an 800-piece jacket order. In the example it is 11.5% against a 12% target: Near target, with the dress and the padded jacket below.