PTCB Guide to Retail Pharmacy Math.

PTCB Retail Pharmacy Math – What gets tested?

[Last Updated: March 19, 2026]

The primary function of any pharmacy is to safely dispense medicines to patients. But as pharmacies also exist as independent businesses, pharmacy technicians also play an important role in the smooth operation of that business.

That’s why retail pharmacy math gets tested on the PTCB exam. While pharmacy technicians are not required to have an in-depth knowledge of the full operation of any pharmacy business, they are expected to understand the following key retail math operations:

• Turnover
• Inventory
• Selling price and cost price
• Markup
• Profit and loss
• Insurance reimbursements
• Discounts

You should know:

• The definition and concept of each.
• How each is applied in simple arithmetic operations.

Complex questions on these topics will not be tested on the PTCB exam.

Consider the sample questions we review in today’s guide, as well as the answer explanations. This is the standard and style of questions you can expect to be asked on the day of your exam.

Sample PTCB Retail Pharmacy Questions.

Below you can find five sample PTCB exam questions on the topic of retail pharmacy math.

These five questions reflect the type of questions that get tested about duplications on the exam – both the style and difficulty. As always, have a go at the questions yourself before comparing your answers with the explanations (in the section below).

Question 1.

Bayside pharmacy has been in business for the past 4.5-years. Over the past 12-months, the pharmacy has an estimated inventory total of $820,000. In the last quarter of that year, the business made inventory purchases worth $980,000. What is the approximate turnover rate for Bayside pharmacy?

a. 2

b. 3

c. 4

d. 5

Question 2.

A drug was purchased by a pharmacy for $9.80 and was subsequently sold to a member of the public for $20.40. What is the percentage markup of this transaction?

a. 86.5%

b. 108.2%

c. 120.4%

d. 132.6%

Question 3.

Trenton pharmacy is holding an 18% off promotion on the sale of blood glucose monitoring machines. The unit cost for each machine is $3.80. The pharmacy sells each product for $21.90. After the promotion is applied, how much does each monitoring machine now cost?

a. $16.54

b. $16.78

c. $17.96

d. $18.32

Question 4.

You dispense 30 tablets of escitalopram to the patient. The cost to the pharmacy is $42.00 with a 12% mark-up and a dispensing fee of $6.00. How much should the patient be charged?

a. $39.90

b. $48.70

c. $53.04

d. $72.08

Question 5.

Belmont pharmacy pays $500.00 for 200 tablets of amlodipine. The patient has been prescribed 20 tablets. With an 8% mark-up and a dispensing fee of $12.50, how much will the patient be charged?

a. $66.50

b. $68.70

c. $70.40

d. $72.20

Answer Explanations.

Answer to Question 1 – d. Five

Turnover rate is cost of goods sold (COGS) divided by inventory cost.

When calculating turnover rate, COGS must provide the annual figure. Note that we are only given the quarterly figure ($980,000), so we must multiply this figure by 4 to establish the approximate cost of all goods sold for the entire year.

$980,000 per quarter x 4 = $3.92 million

Now, we divide this figure by the value of the average inventory stock to begin with which (from the question) was $820,000.

$3.92 million / $820,000 = 4.78

When rounded up, that’s a turnover rate of 5.

Therefore, Bayside pharmacy turned over their average inventory value almost 5-times over the course of the year.

Key point: the higher the turnover rate, the more profit that the pharmacy makes.

Answer to Question 2 – b. 108.2%

Markup is the difference between the cost of a product against how much the product was sold for.

To calculate markup, we use the following formula:

Mark up = Average Selling Price – Unit Cost / Unit Cost

In the case of this sample question:

• Average selling price of the product: $20.40
• Unit cost: $9.80

$20.40 – $9.80 = $10.60

$10.60 is then divided by the unit cost, $9.80, to give: 1.0816

To find the percentage markup, we multiply this value by 100.

1.0816 x 100 = 108.2% markup

Answer to Question 3 – c. $17.96

When answering retail pharmacy math questions, only focus on the relevant information needed to answer the question. In this case, the unit cost of the blood monitoring machine is not relevant.

Cost of each blood glucose monitoring machine sold: $21.90

Promotion: 18% off

Therefore, we find the value of 18% of $21.90:

18 / 100 x $21.90 = $3.94

Now we need to subtract this value from the cost of the product:

$21.90 – $3.94 = $17.96

Trenton Pharmacy is selling each machine at a discounted price of $17.96.

Answer to Question 4 – c. $53.04

First, we need to understand the terms mark-up and dispensing fee:

• Mark-up – the % increase in cost of a product that covers costs and issues a profit on sale of the item.
• Dispensing fee – a fixed fee applied to each completed prescription once dispensed to the patient.

In other words, if I buy a product for $10.00 and it has a 50% mark-up, I will sell the product for $15.00 and, if I manage to sell the product, I have earned $5.00 in profit.

In this case, it cost the pharmacy $42.00 for 30 tablets of escitalopram.

A 12% mark-up means that:

• (12 / 100) x $42.00 = $5.04
• Dispensing fee to the patient = $6.00
• Total fees = $11.04

Therefore, the patient should be charged:

• $42.00 + $11.04 = $53.04

Answer to Question 5 – a. $66.50

In this case, we are told how much a batch of drug costs.

The pharmacy paid $500.00 for 200 tablets, meaning that it cost $250.00 for 100 tablets, and 5x less – $50.00 – for 20 tablets. This is the number of tablets required to be dispensed to the patient.

The dispensing fee is fixed, at $12.50.

Now we must establish mark-up. We are told that the mark-up is 8% on the prescription:

• (8 / 100) x $50.00 = $4.00 mark-up

Therefore, the patient will be charged:

• Total – $50.00 + $12.50 + $4.00 = $66.50

PTCB Cheat Sheet – Retail Pharmacy Math.

Over the course of today’s review, you learned:

Turnover (Inventory Turnover Rate)

• Formula:
  Turnover = Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) ÷ Average Inventory
• Meaning: How often inventory is sold and replaced
• High turnover = efficient sales, low turnover = excess stock

Inventory

• Beginning Inventory + Purchases – Ending Inventory = COGS
• Used to track stock value and usage over time
• Important for reordering and cost control

Cost Price vs Selling Price

• Cost Price (CP): What the pharmacy pays for a product / medicine
• Selling Price (SP): What the patient/insurance pays for that product
• Key idea: profit comes from the difference between the two

Markup

• Formula: Markup = Selling Price – Cost Price
• Markup % = (Markup ÷ Cost Price) × 100
• Based on cost price (not selling price)

Profit and Loss

• Profit = Selling Price – Cost Price
• Loss = Cost Price – Selling Price
• Profit % = (Profit ÷ CP) × 100

Discounts

• Discount = Original Price – Sale Price
• Discount % = (Discount ÷ Original Price) × 100
• Always based on original price

Insurance Reimbursements

• Formula:
  Reimbursement = (Drug cost + Dispensing fee) – Copay
• Pharmacy profit depends on:
  • Acquisition cost vs reimbursement
• Always consider:
  • Third-party payers
  • Patient copays

Hope you found this week’s PTCB guide to retail pharmacy math useful!

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