Where to find cost of goods sold in Shopify
Shopify has a Cost of goods sold report in its finance reports and a gross profit breakdown in the finance summary. Both count only sales of variants that had a cost per item at the time of sale, so check how much of your revenue they cover before relying on them.
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The reports
| Report | Where | Shows |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of goods sold | Finance reports | The cost of what you sold in a period |
| Gross profit breakdown | Finance summary | Net sales, costs and gross profit |
| Gross profit by product | Profit reports | Profit and margin for each product |
| Gross profit by product variant | Profit reports | The same, per variant |
| Profit margin by order | Profit reports | Margin for each order |
| Gross profit by POS location | Profit reports | Profit for in-person sales by location |
| Average profit margin by market | Profit reports | Margin by market |
| Month-end inventory value | Inventory reports | Cost per item × quantity on hand |
Shopify defines gross profit as net sales minus cost of goods sold, and gross margin as gross profit divided by net sales.
What the figure is made of
For each item sold, Shopify uses the cost per item recorded at the time of the sale. Two things follow.
It is only as complete as your costs. Only net sales with a cost recorded are included in the Cost of goods sold report and count towards gross profit. The finance summary shows the rest separately as net sales without cost recorded.
It contains only what is in the field. Shopify’s definition of cost per item excludes shipping and other costs. Unless you have added freight and duty to it, they are not in this report.
Check coverage before you read it
- Open the finance summary for the period.
- Compare net sales with cost recorded against net sales without cost recorded.
- If the second is more than a few percent of the total, find the variants with no cost before drawing conclusions.
A gross margin of 64% on four fifths of your sales says nothing about the other fifth.
What it does not replace
Accounting COGS also reflects stock that was written off, counted short or returned unsellable, and follows a costing method such as weighted average or FIFO. Shopify’s report is units sold times a cost on file. Shopify itself lists the alternatives for anything beyond that: an ERP or accounting system, a reporting app, or manual calculation.
Where Cogsy fits
Cogsy does not produce a COGS report. It maintains what the report depends on: a cost on every variant, flagged when missing, dated, and written to Shopify as the figure you intend.
Questions
- Does Shopify have a COGS report?
- Yes. The finance reports include one named Cost of goods sold, and the finance summary has a gross profit breakdown showing net sales, costs and profit.
- Can I see cost per order?
- The Profit margin by order report shows profit margin for the orders in a period. Orders containing variants without a cost may be missing from it.
- Is Shopify's COGS figure what I give my accountant?
- It is a starting point. It is units sold times the cost per item recorded at the time, and it contains only what you put in that field. Freight, duty and adjustments for stock losses come from your accounts.
Sources
Related
Glossary
Cost of goods sold (COGS)COGS is the direct cost of the products you sold in a period. What it includes, what it leaves out, the formula, and a worked example for a Shopify store.
Guide
Why products are missing from Shopify profit reports, and how to find those with no costShopify leaves variants with no cost out of profit reports. How to see how much revenue is affected, and three ways to list every variant with no cost per item.
Guide
What happens to past orders when you change a cost in ShopifyShopify records cost at the time of sale. What that means for old orders when you change cost per item, for orders sold with no cost, and what you can do about it.
Guide
Margin on the Shopify product page, margin in reports, and markupShopify shows margin, not markup, and the margin on the product page differs from the one in profit reports. The formulas for each, with Shopify's own example.