Overall P&L

Every line of your profit and loss, in plain words, and which way each one moves your profit.

4 minute readAppears on: Profit Analytics → Overall P&L

How to read it

A profit and loss statement is one long subtraction. You start with what customers paid, take costs off in layers, and whatever survives to the bottom is yours.

Each layer answers a different question:

Sales → Gross Profit — did the product itself make money? Gross Profit → EBITDA — did the business around the product make money? EBITDA → Net Profit — what did money, timing and the tax office take?

Three rows are drawn heavier because they close a layer: Gross ProfitGross Profitads, shipping, staff, rent — has to come out of. If it isn't growing with sales, your product costs are rising., EBITDA and EBT. Read those three first and you know which layer took the money before you read a single detail row.

The statement, line by line

Rows marked ↳ sit inside the bold line above them.

Line	What it is	What it does to your profit
Sales	All the money customers paid for your products, before any cost comes out.	Adds to your top line — the number every cost below is taken from.
↳ Shopify	Your Shopify store's sales, pulled in automatically so you never type them.	Adds to your top line, before Shopify's own fees are taken off further down.
↳ Amazon	Your Amazon marketplace sales, pulled in automatically alongside Shopify.	Adds to your top line, before Amazon's fees and commissions are counted below.
Sales Deductions	Money taken back out of sales because it was never yours to keep. Only order taxes sit here.	Comes off your top line first, before any cost is counted.
↳ Order Taxes - Shopify	Sales tax you collected on Shopify orders and owe to the government.	Comes straight off your top line — you were only holding it for them.
↳ Taxes - Amazon	Sales tax collected on Amazon orders that goes to the government, not to you.	Comes straight off your top line — you were only holding it for them.
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)	What the products you sold cost you to buy or make, plus getting them to you.	Comes off sales to give gross profit; usually the largest cost you can control.
Gross Profit	What is left from sales after tax deductions and the cost of the goods.	The pot that covers every other cost — lift it and everything below improves.
Operational Expenses (OpEx)	The cost of running the shop rather than making the product: ads, staff, software, rent, fees.	Comes off gross profit to give EBITDA.
EBITDA	Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. In plain words: gross profit minus your running costs.	Your trading profit — it shows whether the business itself makes money.
Investments	Longer-term spending on the business rather than day-to-day running costs. Sounds like money going in to grow, but on this statement it subtracts. Which costs land here depends on how your statement was set up.	Sits below EBITDA and comes off profit, without changing your trading result.
Other Income	Money that came in from something other than selling your products.	Adds in after EBITDA, lifting your profit before tax.
↳ Other Income - Amazon	Money from Amazon that is not product sales, such as reimbursements and credits.	Money back, so it lifts profit.
↳ FX Gains	Foreign exchange gains — extra money you ended up with because currency rates moved your way.	Adds to profit, though it came from rates, not from selling.
↳ Grants Or Rebates	Money given back to you, like a government grant or a supplier rebate.	Adds to profit; you sold nothing to earn it.
↳ Interest Income	Interest your bank or savings balance paid you.	Adds to profit, earned by cash sitting still rather than by selling.
↳ Other	Any other money in that does not fit the named other-income lines. This is the Other row under Other Income — money in, not a cost.	Adds to your profit before tax.
Other Expenses	Costs that belong to neither making your product nor selling it.	Comes off after EBITDA, pulling your profit before tax down.
↳ FX Losses	Foreign exchange losses — money lost because currency rates moved against you.	Comes off profit even when sales went fine.
↳ Other	Any other cost that does not fit the named other-expense lines. This is the Other row under Other Expenses — money out.	Comes off your profit before tax.
EBT	Earnings before tax — everything added and taken off so far, with only tax still to come.	Your profit one step before tax takes its cut.
Taxes	Tax the business itself owes, such as company tax and employer payroll tax. Not the sales tax from customers — that was already handled in Sales Deductions.	The last thing taken off, sitting between EBT and net profit.
↳ Corporate Taxes	Tax the company pays on the profit it made.	Comes off right at the bottom, after every other cost.
↳ Payroll Taxes	Employer taxes and contributions you pay on top of wages.	Comes off profit; a real cost of having staff.
↳ Other	Any other tax the business owes beyond company and payroll tax. This is the Other row under Taxes — money out, not income.	Comes off profit at the very bottom.
Net Profit	What you actually keep after every cost and every tax.	The bottom line — every row above lands here.

Inside each cost category

Three of the lines above open a level deeper. These are the categories you pick from in Cost Settings, so this doubles as the list of where to file a cost.

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

Direct Labor — Wages for the people who physically make, pick, and pack the things you sell.

Sub-category	What belongs here	What it does to your profit
Pick & Pack Labor	Pay for staff who pull items off the shelf and box them for shipping.	Comes off gross profit, and the bill grows with every extra order.
Production Labor	Pay for the people actually making or assembling your product.	Raises what each unit costs you, so it pulls gross profit down.
Other	Any hands-on labor cost that is not pick-and-pack or production work.	A leftover cost of making the product, so it lowers gross profit.

Direct Materials — The physical stuff that goes into what you sell, including its packaging.

Sub-category	What belongs here	What it does to your profit
Inhouse Products	What it costs you to make finished goods yourself instead of buying them in.	Comes off gross profit, and every bit of waste or scrap makes it worse.
Outsource Products	What you pay suppliers or factories for finished goods you resell.	Paid on every sale, so a supplier price rise hits gross profit straight away.
Packaging Material	Boxes, mailers, tape, inserts, and labels that go out with the product.	A small cost on every order that quietly trims gross profit.
Other	Any material cost that is not an inhouse product, outsourced product, or packaging.	A leftover materials cost, so it lowers gross profit.

Logistics Import — The total cost of getting stock into your warehouse from a supplier or overseas.

Sub-category	What belongs here	What it does to your profit
Logistics Import	The freight, duty, customs, and clearing charges themselves on an inbound shipment.	Raises the true cost of each unit landed in your warehouse, so gross profit falls.
Other	Any inbound cost that is not standard freight, duty, or clearing.	An extra cost of bringing stock in, so it lowers gross profit.

Manufacturing Overhead — Running costs of your factory or warehouse, apart from materials and hands-on wages.

Sub-category	What belongs here	What it does to your profit
Manufacturing Rent	Rent on the factory, workshop, or production space.	Due whether you sell anything or not, and it comes off gross profit.
Repair & Maintenance	Fixing and servicing the machines, tools, and equipment you produce with.	Comes off gross profit, and one big breakdown can dent a whole month.
Storage	What you pay to hold stock: your own warehouse, an outside one, or cold storage.	Slow-selling stock keeps charging this every month, so it drags profit down.
Other	Any production running cost not covered by rent, repairs, or storage.	A leftover overhead on the making side, so it lowers gross profit.

Operational Expenses (OpEx)

Selling & Marketing Expenses — Everything you spend to win new customers and keep the ones you have.

Sub-category	What belongs here	What it does to your profit
CRM Marketing	Cost of the email, text, and loyalty tools you use on your own customer list. CRM stands for customer relationship management.	Comes off profit now, though it is what brings repeat orders back.
Commission	Cuts you pay sales staff, affiliates, or partners for bringing in a sale.	Grows in step with sales, so it takes a slice out of every order.
Other Advertising & Marketing	Ad and promotion spend outside your own customer list: paid ads, influencers, print.	Often one of the biggest costs after gross profit, and the fastest one to switch off.
Other	Any selling or marketing cost that does not fit the named buckets.	A leftover selling cost that comes off profit.

General & Administrative Expenses — The cost of keeping the business running, apart from making or selling the product.

Sub-category	What belongs here	What it does to your profit
Administrative Expenses	Day-to-day office running costs like stationery, utilities, postage, and filing fees.	General overhead that chips away at profit every month.
Bank Charges	Fees your bank and card processors take: account fees, transfers, and card charges.	Small each time but constant, so it comes off profit on every payment.
Consulting & Accounting	Fees to accountants, bookkeepers, lawyers, and outside advisers.	Comes off profit, and it lands in lumps around year-end.
Finance Rates	UNKNOWN	Sits inside General & Administrative Expenses, so whatever it holds, it reduces profit.
Insurance	Premiums for cover on your stock, premises, public liability, and staff.	A steady overhead that comes off profit whether you ever claim or not.
Marketplace Costs	Fees marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, or Walmart take for selling on their site.	Rises with every marketplace order, so it eats into profit as those channels grow.
Office Rent	Rent and service charges on your office space, separate from production space.	Due whatever your sales do, so it comes off profit every month.
Other	Any admin or overhead cost that does not fit the named categories.	A catch-all overhead, so it lowers profit.
Payroll & Related Costs Internal	Salaries, payroll taxes, and benefits for your own office and support staff.	Often the largest overhead, and it comes off profit whatever you sell.
Payroll & Related Costs Outsource	What you pay contractors, agencies, or outsourced teams instead of employees.	Comes off profit like payroll, but you can dial it up or down faster.
Software & Apps	Subscriptions for the tools that run the business: apps, hosting, plugins, online services.	A recurring overhead that creeps up and quietly reduces profit.
Travel	Flights, hotels, mileage, and meals for business trips.	Comes off profit, and it lands unevenly month to month.

Logistics Expenses — Cost of getting orders out to customers: shipping, couriers, and fulfilment charges.

Sub-category	What belongs here	What it does to your profit
Other	Any outbound shipping cost not captured elsewhere, such as surcharges or return freight.	An extra delivery-side cost, so it lowers profit.

Investments

Capital Expenditure — Money spent buying things that last for years — equipment, computers, vehicles, a shop fit-out.

Sub-category	What belongs here	What it does to your profit
Machinery & IT Hardware	Wear-and-tear charge on your machines, tools and computers for this period.	Lowers profit with no cash going out.
Office & Warehouse	Wear-and-tear charge on premises, fittings and furniture for this period.	Lowers profit with no cash going out.
Other	Wear-and-tear charge on anything you own outside machinery and premises.	Lowers profit with no cash going out.

Depreciation — The cost of kit you already own, spread out year by year as it wears out.

Sub-category	What belongs here	What it does to your profit
Machinery & IT Hardware	Machines, tools, laptops, printers and other kit you bought outright rather than rented.	Comes off profit in the period you paid for it.
Office & Warehouse	Money spent on your premises — shelving, racking, furniture, fit-out work.	Comes off profit in the period you paid for it.
Other	Any hands-on labor cost that is not pick-and-pack or production work.	A leftover cost of making the product, so it lowers gross profit.

Finance & Leasing — What borrowing, renting kit and giving to charity cost you, less what your cash earned.

Sub-category	What belongs here	What it does to your profit
Financial Expenses	Interest and bank charges on loans, overdrafts and business credit cards.	Comes off profit — the price of using someone else's money.
Leasing	Rental payments for kit, vehicles or space you use but do not own.	A running cost, so it reduces profit.
Donation	Money or goods you gave to a charity or good cause.	Comes straight off profit, with nothing sold in return.
Financial Income	Money your cash earned — bank interest and returns on money you lent or put aside.	Adds to profit, even though it sits in a group of costs.
Other	Any hands-on labor cost that is not pick-and-pack or production work.	A leftover cost of making the product, so it lowers gross profit.

Watch out for

Investments subtracts here. The word sounds like money going in to grow the business, but on this statement it comes off your profit like any other cost.

Taxes at the bottom is not the tax your customers paid. Customer sales tax was already removed at the top, in Sales Deductions. The bottom line is tax the business itself owes.

"Other" appears three times — under Other Income, Other Expenses and Taxes. Two of them subtract and one adds, so check which section you are reading before you draw a conclusion.

A row you never filled in shows zero, not a warning. Anything without the sync icon is a number somebody typed into Cost Settings, and an empty category quietly flatters every profit line below it.

See yoursYour statement, top to bottom, with the sticky Net Profit row at the foot of the screen.

Open Overall P&L →