---
title: Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ)
description: "Defects and mistakes cost money, but most of these costs stay hidden. Calculating the Cost of Poor Quality turns your problem into a business case your sponsor understands. Watch the short video, then work with the toolkit PDF: it explains…"
url: "https://skillagility.com/de/ressourcen/cost-of-poor-quality/"
updated: "2026-10-07"
category: 01 DEFINE
---

# Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ)

Defects and mistakes cost money, but most of these costs stay hidden. Calculating the Cost of Poor Quality turns your problem into a business case your sponsor understands. Watch the short video, then work with the toolkit PDF: it explains the method, shows a worked example and gives you a blank template to fill in.

Tool video

The short tool video will appear here.

[Cost-of-Poor-Quality_Toolkit_DE](https://skillagility.com/wp-content/plugins/embedpress/assets/pdf/web/viewer.html?&file=https%3A%2F%2Fskillagility.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F10%2FCost-of-Poor-Quality_Toolkit_DE.pdf#key=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)

## Cost of Poor Quality in short

1. **List the failure costs.** Collect all internal and external failure costs linked to your problem.
2. **Put a number on each.** Use finance data where possible, careful estimates where not.
3. **Add them up.** Calculate the current COPQ per month or per year.
4. **Apply your goal.** Multiply the COPQ by the expected reduction from your SMART goal.
5. **Separate hard and soft savings.** Only hard savings directly hit the P&L; list soft savings separately.

Key points

- COPQ = internal + external failure costs.
- Most quality costs are hidden below the waterline.
- Projected saving = COPQ × expected reduction.
- Keep hard and soft savings apart.

**Related tools:** [SMART Goals](https://skillagility.com/en/resources/smart-goals/) · [Project Charter](https://skillagility.com/en/resources/project-charter/) · [VOC Translation Matrix](https://skillagility.com/en/resources/voc-translation-matrix/)