Each row in the calculator is one product, and every number on the page is built from what you type into it. Here is every field, what it feeds in the math, and how to add, copy, and remove rows.
The calculator's table has seventeen columns, but you only type into a handful of them. This tutorial walks a single SKU row left to right — which cells are yours, which belong to the engine, and what each one does to the price on the shelf.
One row is one product. You supply a name, a Format (packs × units per case), and an FOB / Case; Size is a descriptive label, and everything else is either computed or an optional override. Add rows with + Add SKU, copy one with ⍾ Dup, remove one with ✕ Del. Without an account the calculator holds up to 8 rows.
The table is grouped into four bands you can read across the header: Product Configuration, Supplier → Distributor, Distributor → Retailer, and Retail Shelf. Within a row, editable cells show a small pencil (✎) when you hover; computed cells — Packs, Units, Landed Cost, Sell-In / Case, GP / Case, Retail / Pack, Retail / Single — are filled by the engine and can't be typed into. Every column header has a ? icon with a one-line definition if you forget what a field means mid-edit.
A fresh row arrives pre-filled — "New SKU", 12 oz, 6×4 format, $80.00 FOB — so the math is live before you touch anything. Those are placeholders to overwrite, not suggestions. For a map of everything around the table (toolbar, summary cards, margin bar), see The Calculator, Panel by Panel.
The first column, SKU / Flavor, is free text: click, type, done. The name does no math, but it follows the SKU everywhere — into exports, saved brands, and the delete confirmation — so make it self-describing. "Mango Seltzer 12oz 6×4" survives a spreadsheet handoff; "Mango" doesn't. Duplicate names are allowed, which matters when you duplicate rows to compare formats side by side.
The Size dropdown lists fifteen common containers, from 8 oz cans through 355 ml, 750 ml, and up to 3 L. Here is the honest part: size never enters the pricing math. It labels the individual can or bottle for you and for anyone reading your export; the arithmetic runs entirely on the pack format. So if you package in an unlisted size, pick the nearest option — not a single price will change. The free calculator has no custom-size entry, and because size is descriptive only, it doesn't need one.
The Format dropdown is the structural heart of the row. Each option reads packs × units: a 6×4 case holds six 4-packs (24 units); a 2×12 holds two 12-packs. The next two columns, Packs and Units, are read-only — they simply display what your chosen format implies, so you can sanity-check the case count at a glance.
Why the format matters: it is the denominator of every shelf price. The engine prices the whole case through the distributor, then divides the case-level number by Packs to get Retail / Pack, and divides that by Units to get Retail / Single. Same FOB, different format, different shelf price — a $28.00 case at 32.5% / 28.0% margins lands at $9.60 per pack in a 6×4.
The list covers multipack cases (6×4, 4×6, 2×9, 2×12, 4×4, 4×3, 6×6, 6×2), loose-unit cases (12×1, 24×1, 15-, 18-, and 30-packs, 6×1 bottles), singles (1×1, 1×4), and five keg formats from ⅙ bbl to 50 L. Kegs swap per-single pricing for per-pour economics — that's its own tutorial: Pricing Kegs.
The first column after the divider, FOB / Case, is the number everything downstream builds from: what the supplier charges the distributor for one case, before freight. Note the unit — per case, not per pack or per unit. Enter a per-bottle price here and every result will be wrong by exactly your case count. The concept itself is covered in FOB Pricing Explained.
Flip the row's Mode toggle to Rev ← and the FOB cell stops accepting input: it turns into a computed value (marked ≈) showing the FOB required to hit your target shelf price. If the target can't cover freight, tax, and margins, the cell turns red with a ⚠ warning. Details in REV Mode.
Global settings live in the bar above the table; their per-product exceptions live inside the row:
+ Add SKU appears twice — in the toolbar above the table and in the footer row beneath it — and both do the same thing: append a fresh default row. If you ever delete everything, the empty table tells you exactly this: "No SKUs yet — click + Add SKU to begin."
At the right end of every row sit two buttons. ⍾ Dup clones the row completely — size, format, costs, overrides, mode — and names it "(copy)". It's the fastest way to build a line extension: duplicate, rename the flavor, adjust the FOB, done. ✕ Del opens a confirmation dialog ("Delete SKU — this can't be undone") before removing the row; if you're signed in, the SKU is deleted from your cloud brand as well.
The anonymous calculator holds up to 8 SKU rows. Click + Add SKU a ninth time and, instead of a row, you get a prompt titled "Save your portfolio to keep building": it points out you've built 8 SKUs and offers a single Create Free Account button that takes you to sign-up. Nothing is lost in the process — the rows you built migrate into your new account automatically, as described in Creating an Account. The prompt also notes that paid plans raise the per-market SKU ceiling; the specifics live on the pricing page.
Eight rows is deliberate: enough to price a real launch lineup, small enough that a growing portfolio deserves a saved home. If you're brand new to the calculator, start with the Quick Start and come back here when a field surprises you.
Open the calculator and walk one SKU across the table — name, format, FOB, done.
Open the Calculator →