CAST Not working for me - Arithmetic overflow error converting int to data type numeric - error

Question

GPM is DECIMAL(5,2)
PRICE is DECIMAL(11,4)
COST is DECIMAL(7,2)
Trying to update the Gross Profit Margin % field and I keep getting the "Arithmetic overflow error converting int to data type numeric" error.
UPDATE SMEMODETAIL SET SMD_GPM = (SMD_PRICE-SMD_COST) / SMD_PRICE * 100
FROM SMEMODETAIL WHERE SMD_PRICE<>0 AND SMD_QUANTITY<>0
Example record:
SMD_PRICE    SMD_COST    GPM%
1.8500            1.62                12.4324324324324300
I added cast and I still get the error.
How do I format to get this to work?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi GBerthume,
The error is caused by some value such as 1000.01 of the expression (SMD_PRICE-SMD_COST) / SMD_PRICE * 100 exceeds the
precision of the column(DECIMAL(5,2)). The example data doesn't cause the overflow error for the value of the expression is 12.43 which is in the scope of DECIMAL(5,2).
USE TestDB
CREATE TABLE SMEMODETAIL
SMD_PRICE DECIMAL(11,4),
SMD_COST DECIMAL(7,2),
SMD_GPM DECIMAL(5,2)
INSERT INTO SMEMODETAIL(SMD_PRICE,SMD_COST) SELECT 1.8500,1.62
UPDATE SMEMODETAIL SET SMD_GPM = (SMD_PRICE-SMD_COST) / SMD_PRICE * 100
FROM SMEMODETAIL WHERE SMD_PRICE<>0-- AND SMD_QUANTITY<>0
SELECT * FROM SMEMODETAIL
DROP TABLE SMEMODETAIL
The solution of your case can be either scale the DECIMAL(5,2) or follow the suggestion in Scott_morris-ga's to check and fix your data.
If you have any question, feel free to let me know.
Eric Zhang
TechNet Community Support