A proper P&L report turns scattered financial data into a clear picture of your store's health. Here's how to build one from scratch.
A profit and loss (P&L) report is the single most important financial document for your Shopify business. It shows revenue at the top, subtracts costs layer by layer, and reveals your true net profit at the bottom. Without one, you're flying blind. Most small Shopify merchants don't have a P&L, and that's exactly why so many are surprised when they check their bank balance. This guide gives you a practical framework to build one.
Decide whether you'll build a monthly, quarterly, or annual P&L. Monthly is best for active stores because it lets you catch problems quickly. Use consistent date ranges that align with your accounting calendar.
Pull total sales from Shopify Analytics for your period. This is the top line before any deductions. Include all sales channels (online store, POS, wholesale) but keep them as separate line items so you can compare performance.
Use Shopify's Finance Summary report to get the most accurate revenue figure including taxes collected.
Deduct refunds, returns, and discounts from gross revenue to get net revenue. Shopify tracks these automatically. High return rates will significantly distort your P&L if you only look at gross numbers.
Multiply units sold by their cost price for each product. Sum these to get total COGS. Subtract from net revenue to get gross profit. This tells you how much you made before operating costs.
If you haven't set cost prices on all products, start with your top 20 sellers. They likely represent 80% of your COGS.
Create categories: marketing/ads, shipping, software/apps, transaction fees, payroll, and overheads. Pull actuals from your bank statements and ad platforms. Subtract total operating expenses from gross profit to get operating profit.
Subtract taxes, interest, and any other non-operating costs from operating profit. This is your net profit, the money you actually keep. Express it as a percentage of net revenue to get your net margin. Compare month-over-month to track trends.
StoreLyst generates a real-time P&L dashboard that automatically pulls revenue from Shopify, applies your COGS data, and lets you add operating expenses. No spreadsheets needed, your profit numbers update with every order.
No. Shopify provides sales reports and a basic Finance Summary, but not a full P&L that includes COGS and operating expenses. You need to build one manually in a spreadsheet or use a tool like StoreLyst that generates it automatically.
Monthly at minimum. If you're scaling quickly or running heavy ad spend, review weekly. The P&L is most useful as a trend report, so consistency matters more than frequency. Pick a cadence and stick to it.
A P&L shows profitability over a period (revenue minus costs). A cash flow statement shows actual cash moving in and out, including things like inventory purchases and loan payments that don't appear on a P&L. You need both for a complete picture.
Yes. Your Shopify plan fee is an operating expense. List it under 'Software & Subscriptions' along with any app fees. These are costs of running your business and must be accounted for to get an accurate net profit figure.
StoreLyst gives you the tools to implement everything you just learned — automatically.