Fineness Is Not Karat and the Difference Costs You Money
The Fineness field in this template records purity in parts per thousand—the millesimal fineness standard used in international precious metals trading. 18-karat gold is 750 fine. 14-karat gold is 585 fine. 10-karat gold is 417 fine. Sterling silver is 925 fine. If you're recording karat values and later trying to calculate fine metal content, you're converting twice and introducing error at each step. This template stores fineness directly, because fineness is what the calculation requires.
The Fine Metal Estimation formula is straightforward: Grams × (Fineness ÷ 1000). A 32-gram item at 585 fineness contains 18.72 grams of fine gold. That number is what the refiner pays on, not the gross weight.
The Estimated Profit Formula Unpacked
The Estimated Profit calculation is more involved: (Gold Price ÷ 31.1034768) × 0.98 × 7.4 × (Fineness ÷ 1000) × Grams − (Grams × Price).
Breaking it down: Gold Price divided by 31.1034768 converts the spot price from per-troy-ounce to per-gram. The 0.98 factor applies a standard 2% refining cost assumption. The 7.4 multiplier reflects the template's regional currency conversion or margin factor—intended to be customized for the operator's local market and refinery relationship. Fineness divided by 1000 applies the purity percentage. Grams completes the fine content calculation. The subtracted term—Grams × Price—is what was paid to the seller.
The result is the estimated net margin per transaction before overhead. It is an estimate, not a guarantee—refinery payouts vary by assay result, and the 0.98 efficiency factor may not precisely match your refinery's schedule. But as a floor calculation for evaluating whether a transaction makes business sense before committing, it does its job.
Five Metals, Three Status States, Multi-Currency
Metal selection covers Gold (Au), Silver (Ag), Platinum (Pt), Palladium (Pd), and Rhodium (Rd). The same template handles the full precious metals purchasing scope without requiring separate records or databases per metal type. The Estimated Profit formula is calibrated primarily for gold; platinum, palladium, and rhodium transactions require price adjustment to match their respective spot prices and refinery recovery rates.
Status—Prospecting, Inventory, Sold—tracks each lot through the transaction lifecycle. Prospecting is the evaluation stage: item in hand, purity tested, price offered or negotiated. Inventory is the holding stage: transaction completed, item awaiting refinery submission. Sold is closed: lot submitted, refinery payment received.
Currency selection—HRK, EUR, USD—reflects the template's origin in a Central European market but applies to any multi-currency operation. The Price field (paid to seller) and the Gold Price field (current spot) must be in the same currency for the Estimated Profit calculation to be valid.
Agent assignment—Manager, West, North, Central, East, South—enables multi-location or multi-buyer operations to filter transactions by buying agent, track individual agent volume, and compare regional purchase activity.
The Picture field is the documentation that matters most for compliance. Scrap precious metals buyers in most jurisdictions are required to maintain photographic records of purchased items and seller identity for regulatory hold periods. The photo attached to the transaction record, combined with the Contact field linking to the seller's identity, creates the compliance record per purchase without requiring a separate paper log.