Overview

The Profit & Loss Statement is the core financial report in KwickMetrics' Profit Management module. It shows you exactly how your revenue flows through each stage—from what customers pay to your final net profit—by breaking down every fee, cost, and expense.

This report helps you:

1. Understand your true profitability - See what you actually keep after all costs

2. Identify cost drivers - Find which fees or expenses are eating into your margins

3. Compare performance - Analyze trends over time or compare products side-by-side

The Profit & Loss Statement uses purchase date (the date customers placed orders) to calculate profitability.

How the Report Works: Three View Modes

1. Detailed View (Group By: None)

1. Sales Column: Total sales amount for each financial component (revenue, fees, costs, etc.)

2. Refund Column: Total refund amount for each financial component

3. Net Amount Column: The net total (Sales minus Refunds) for each component

4. % Column: Each component's percentage relative to your revenue before marketplace fees

This structure helps you understand how much sales and how much refund occurred for each component (revenue, fees, costs), and the net impact of each component.

How It Works:

The report shows your financial flow step-by-step:

1. Revenue from Customer - What customers paid (item price, taxes, shipping, etc.)

2. Amazon/Walmart Charges - Marketplace charges deducted from customer revenue

3. Proceeds Before Amazon/Walmart Fees - Your gross revenue after marketplace charges but before marketplace fees (this is the 100% baseline for percentage calculations)

4. Amazon/Walmart Fees - Fees charged by Amazon or Walmart (referral fees, fulfillment fees, etc.)

5. Proceeds After Amazon/Walmart Fees - What remains after marketplace fees

6. Promotional Expenses - Costs from promotions, discounts, and deals

7. Proceeds After Promotional Expenses - Revenue after promotional costs

8. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) - Your product costs and inbound shipping

9. Gross Profit - Gross sales minus all expenses related to goods, fees, and taxes

10. Amazon Ads - Your advertising spend (if applicable)

11. Storage Fees - Amazon storage fees (Amazon accounts only)

12. Other Expenses - Any custom expenses you've added

13. Net Profit - Your final profit or loss after everything

1. Understanding how each fee impacts your margins

2. Identifying which costs are reducing profitability

3. Reviewing complete financial structure for a period

4. Financial reconciliation

Example:

If you see:

• Proceeds Before Amazon Fees: $10,000 (100%)

• Amazon Fees: $1,500 (15%)

• Promotional Expenses: $500 (5%)

• COGS: $4,000 (40%)

• Amazon Ads: $800 (8%)

• Net Profit: $3,200 (32%)

How the percentages are calculated:

• Amazon Fees: ($1,500 ÷ $10,000) × 100 = 15%

• Promotional Expenses: ($500 ÷ $10,000) × 100 = 5%

• COGS: ($4,000 ÷ $10,000) × 100 = 40%

• Amazon Ads: ($800 ÷ $10,000) × 100 = 8%

• Net Profit: ($3,200 ÷ $10,000) × 100 = 32%

This means: Out of every $100 in revenue before fees, you pay $15 in marketplace fees, $5 in promotions, $40 in product costs, $8 in advertising, and keep $32 as profit.

2. Summary View (Group By: Date + Week/Month/Day)

When to Use: When you want to compare profitability across different time periods.

What You See:

1. Each column represents a time period (Day, Week, or Month)

2. Each period shows:

   1. Net Amount: Total for that period

   2. %: Percentage relative to that period's revenue before fees

How It Works:

1. Select "Group By: Date" and then "Group By: Week" (or Month/Day)

2. The system groups all transactions by the selected time period

3. Each time period becomes its own column

4. Percentages are calculated independently for each period using that period's revenue before fees as the baseline
   

1. Week-over-week or month-over-month comparisons

2. Identifying trends and seasonality

3. Explaining performance changes over time

Example:

If you group by Week and see:

• Week 1: Proceeds Before Fees: $10,000 (100%), Net Profit: $3,500 (35%)

  • Calculation: ($3,500 ÷ $10,000) × 100 = 35%

• Week 2: Proceeds Before Fees: $12,000 (100%), Net Profit: $4,200 (35%)

  • Calculation: ($4,200 ÷ $12,000) × 100 = 35%

This shows that Week 2 had higher revenue ($12,000 vs $10,000), but the margin percentage stayed the same (35% in both weeks). The percentages are calculated separately for each week using that week's Proceeds Before Fees as the baseline.

3. Product View (Group By: Product)

When to Use: When you want to compare profitability across different products (SKUs).

What You See:

1. Each column represents one product (SKU)

2. Each product shows:

   1. Product image, SKU/ASIN, and marketplace flag

   2. Net Amount: Total for that product

   3. %: Percentage relative to that product's revenue before fees

How It Works:

1. Select "Group By: Product"

2. The system groups all transactions by product (SKU)

3. Each product becomes its own column

4. Percentages are calculated independently for each product using that product's revenue before fees as the baseline

5. Products are paginated (10 per page) if you have many products
   

1. Identifying which products are profitable and which are losing money

2. Comparing product-level margins

3. Reviewing portfolio performance across multiple SKUs

Example:

If you see:

• Product A: Proceeds Before Fees: $5,000 (100%), Net Profit: $1,750 (35%)

  • Calculation: ($1,750 ÷ $5,000) × 100 = 35%

• Product B: Proceeds Before Fees: $3,000 (100%), Net Profit: $600 (20%)

  • Calculation: ($600 ÷ $3,000) × 100 = 20%

This shows that Product A has a better profit margin (35% vs 20%). The percentages are calculated separately for each product using that product's Proceeds Before Fees as the baseline.

Understanding Percentage Calculations

The percentage (%) column helps you understand how much each cost or profit component represents compared to your revenue before marketplace fees.

How Percentages Are Calculated

The Baseline: "Proceeds Before Amazon/Walmart Fees" is always treated as 100%.

Important: This baseline is calculated AFTER Amazon/Walmart Charges are deducted from revenue, but BEFORE marketplace fees are deducted. This means marketplace charges are already accounted for before the percentage calculations begin.

The Formula:

Percentage = (Metric Net Amount ÷ Proceeds Before Fees Net Amount) × 100

Important Rules

1. Each view calculates percentages independently:

   1. In Detailed View: One baseline for the entire period

   2. In Summary View: Each time period has its own baseline (100% per period)

   3. In Product View: Each product has its own baseline (100% per product)

Real-World Example

Let's say your Profit & Loss shows Proceeds Before Amazon Fees of $10,000 (100%), Amazon Fees of $1,500 (15%), COGS of $4,000 (40%), Amazon Ads of $800 (8%), and Net Profit of $3,700 (37%).

What this means:

1. Your revenue proceeds before Amazon/Walmart Fees is $10,000, which equals 100%

2. Amazon fees ($1,500) represent 15% of that revenue: ($1,500 ÷ $10,000) × 100 = 15%

3. Your product costs ($4,000) represent 40% of that revenue: ($4,000 ÷ $10,000) × 100 = 40%

4. Your advertising ($800) represents 8% of that revenue: ($800 ÷ $10,000) × 100 = 8%

5. Your net profit ($3,700) represents 37% of that revenue: ($3,700 ÷ $10,000) × 100 = 37%

In simple terms: Out of every $100 in revenue before fees, you keep $37 as profit after paying all fees and costs.

Estimated vs Actual Values

How It Works

The system may use estimates for pending orders based on historical data patterns when financial data is not yet available from the marketplace. Once actual values become available (when orders ship), estimates are automatically replaced with actual values. This gives you a more complete picture of recent performance.

Why Numbers Change

Recent numbers may change over time because:

1. Pending orders ship: When a pending order ships, estimated values are replaced with actual financial data

2. Refunds process: Refunds may be processed days or weeks after a return, updating historical periods

3. Storage fees assessed: Amazon assesses storage fees monthly (mid of the month), updating historical months

4. Marketplace corrections: Amazon or Walmart may correct financial events

This is expected behavior, not an error. The report reflects the most current data available.

Viewing Estimation Details

In Detailed View, a side panel shows "Estimation Details" that displays:

1. Actual vs estimated values for units, revenue, fees, and fulfillment charges

2. This helps you understand data quality and when estimates are being used
   

Common Use Cases

1. Verify overall profitability for a selected date range

2. Understand why net profit declined - Drill down into fees, COGS, or ads

3. Identify increasing marketplace fee impact - Compare fee percentages over time

4. Review advertising impact - See how Amazon Ads affect margins

5. Measure promotion costs - Understand the impact of discounts and deals

6. Evaluate storage fees - See how Amazon storage fees affect FBA profitability

7. Reconcile with marketplace reports - Compare against Amazon Seller Central or Walmart reports

8. Portfolio analysis - Compare profitability across multiple products or brands

9. Performance tracking - Monitor margin trends over time

10. Cost optimization - Identify opportunities to reduce fees or expenses

Important Behaviors to Understand

Date Range Considerations

1. The report uses purchase date (when customers placed orders).

Multi-Marketplace Views

1. When viewing multiple marketplaces:

   1. Currency conversion is applied automatically

   2. Historical exchange rates are used (as of transaction date)

   3. All amounts are converted to your base currency

Tips for Best Results

1. Use appropriate date ranges:

   1. For detailed analysis: Last 30 Days or This Month

   2. For trend analysis: Last 6 Months or Last 12 Months

2. Apply filters strategically:

   1. Filter by marketplace to see marketplace-specific performance

   2. Filter by category or SKU to analyze specific products

   3. Filter by fulfillment channel to compare AFN vs MFN (Amazon) or WFS vs Seller (Walmart)

3. Use the right view mode:

   1. Detailed View: For complete financial breakdown

   2. Summary View: For time-based comparisons

   3. Product View: For product-level analysis

4. Understand the baseline:

   1. Percentages are relative to "Proceeds Before Amazon/Walmart Fees" (see "Understanding Percentage Calculations" section above for details)

   2. Each time period or product has its own 100% baseline

   3. This allows accurate margin comparisons across different periods or products

Summary

The Profit & Loss Statement provides a clear, structured view of how your revenue becomes profit. It enables you to:

1. Trace every cost from customer revenue to final profit

2. Analyze profitability by date or by product

3. Understand the impact of fees, ads, promotions, and storage costs

4. Interpret percentage margins consistently across different views

5. Perform structured financial investigation and reconciliation

If you have questions about your Profit & Loss Statement or need assistance interpreting the data, contact KwickMetrics support or refer to additional help articles in the Knowledge Base.