The Profit and Loss
How much did your business really make this month, this quarter or this year? The profit and loss (often called the P&L) answers that: what came in, what it cost you, and what's left. It counts things the way the CRA does, so it's the profit your accountant and your tax return care about. The profit and loss is part of the Starter, Growth and Pro plans.
Stock you buy isn't taken off your profit when you buy it. Each item's cost comes off when that item sells. So a big sourcing month won't look like a loss, and a month of great sales shows what those sales really earned.
Open your profit and loss
- Click Reports in the top menu. The Profit and loss tab opens first.
- Choose a period from the dropdown at the top, like This month, Last quarter or This year.
- To pick your own dates, choose Choose dates, then the first and last day.
Each line shows two columns: the period you chose, and in grey, the period before it, so you can compare at a glance.
Read it from top to bottom
Revenue is what your sales brought in:
- Sales: the price of each item sold, without the shipping or any GST/HST in it.
- Shipping buyers paid
- Refunds: what the refunds you gave cost you, counted on the day you gave them.
The costs of what sold are the costs that come with each sale:
- Cost of goods sold: what the items that sold cost you, meaning what you bought them for plus any cleaning, repairs or shipping to get them ready (see How RelistKit Counts Your Costs).
- Platform fees: what the marketplaces kept.
- Shipping labels
- Consignor shares: what you owe the people whose items you sold, if you sell on consignment.
What's left is your gross profit.
Running the business lists your business expenses by category, like shipping supplies, software and advertising, on the day you paid them. Then comes Other income, if you have any, like a styling session or an affiliate payout.
At the bottom is your net profit: what the business made after everything.
Point at the small i beside a line to see exactly what it counts.
Under the statement
Below the statement, RelistKit shows two things that aren't in your profit, but help explain it:
- Stock on hand at cost: what your unsold stock cost you at the end of the period.
- Stock bought in this period: what you spent on stock purchases. It comes off your profit later, item by item, as things sell.
You'll also find notes here, like how many items sold with no cost recorded, and how your GST/HST is handled.
What isn't in it
- Stock you haven't sold yet. It's inventory until it sells.
- Equipment, like a steamer or a laptop. Your accountant claims it over several years from your equipment list.
- Sales from your own closet. The CRA treats selling your own used things as personal, not business.
- The GST/HST you collect. It's the CRA's money. If you're registered, the GST/HST you pay is left out too, because you claim it back on your return.
- Your car. Your mileage log gives your accountant the share of your driving that was for the business.
- Sales waiting under Needs review. They count once you've checked them.
Download it
Click CSV or Excel at the top of the page to download the period you've chosen, for your accountant or your own records.
Common questions
I spent $500 on a haul. Why didn't my profit go down?
Stock isn't an expense when you buy it. Each item's cost comes off your profit when that item sells. Your haul shows under the statement as Stock bought in this period.
My cost of goods sold looks too low.
Cost of goods sold only counts the costs entered on the items that sold. An item with no cost counts as $0, even if you logged the haul it came from. To fix it:
- Under the statement, click Show them beside the items with no cost recorded.
- Click an item to open it.
- Enter its cost under Bought for, then click Save details.
Your profit updates, past periods included.
This month looks much worse than last month.
If the month isn't over yet, you're comparing part of a month with all of the one before. Choose Last month for a fair comparison.
Why is a refund in this month when the sale was last month?
Refunds count on the day you gave them, so a period that's already closed never changes. If the item came back, its cost comes off cost of goods sold that day too.
My profit doesn't match what's in my bank.
The profit and loss counts a sale on the day it sold, and an item's cost when it sells. Marketplaces pay you on their own schedule, and stock you paid for may not have sold yet. To see when money actually came in and went out, use Money In and Out (Growth and Pro).
Why is my profit different from my Sales report?
The Sales report shows the profit on each sale. The profit and loss also takes off your business expenses, adds other income, and leaves out sales from your own closet.