V9 - Profit/loss by item report

Use case

The Profit/loss by item report (Operations > Reports > Sales > Profit/loss by item) provides a list of items and reflects sales revenue from sales transactions and cost of goods sold (COGS) from shipments during the reporting period.

While the basics for running any report in SOS Inventory are covered in Reporting introduction and Running a report, the filters, options, and columns specific to the Profit/loss by item report are explained below.

Filters

From date and To date.

Relative/Absolute toggle. Used for customized and scheduled reports.
- Relative automatically recalculates the date whenever the report is reopened or run. It must be used in tandem with the Quick date selector, which assigns a general time frame (e.g., Today, Yesterday, Start of last week, End of last month, etc.) instead of a specific date.
- Absolute, the default, keeps the exact date.
The system automatically populates the current date in the date field by default. You can change specific dates manually according to the Date format established in your User settings (either MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY), or by using the Calendar (event).
Even if you are not creating or running a customized or scheduled report, you may find it more convenient to use the Quick date selector, which assigns a general time frame (e.g., Today, Yesterday, Start of last week, End of last month, etc.) instead of a specific date.

Location. Select All or a single location. All is the default.

Category. Choose All or the desired categories from the dropdown. The default is All. Multiple individual categories may be selected. To use this filter, categories must be defined in SOS Inventory.

Item name contains. Type all or part of an item name to display matching items.

Vendor. Choose a preferred vendor from the dropdown list.

Options

Hide rows with no sales or shipments. If checked, the report will hide rows of items with no sales or shipments, based upon your Location filter (All or a single location).

Include archived items. SOS Inventory does not include archived items in reports by default. Check this option if you want archived items to be included when you run the report.

Show "from" and "to" dates. If checked, shows a date range at the top of the report, based on your From date and To date filters. The date range appears when Display is selected under Retrieve your report. If the report is retrieved by Email or Download, the date range will appear only if you print your spreadsheet. If a header is also entered for the report, the date range will be displayed below the header.

Group by. A set of options that allows you to group data on the report. The options include None, Category, or Vendor. The default is None, which displays items in alphabetical order. If your Group by option is set to Category, any item that has not been assigned to a category will be included in the first grouping displayed on the report, under the heading <no category>. The same principle applies when the Group by option is set to Vendor. Items with no preferred vendor defined will be listed first on the report, under the heading <no vendor>.

Header. Enter header text for the report, if desired. The header appears when Display is selected under Retrieve your report. If the report is retrieved by Email or Download, the date range will appear only if you print your spreadsheet.

Footer. Enter footer text for the report, if desired. The footer appears when Display is selected under Retrieve your report. If the report is retrieved by Email or Download, the footer will appear only if you print your spreadsheet and will display above the system-generated text, Report Generated [date] [timestamp].

Columns

The Profit/loss by item report has two default columns, Name and Description. An additional fifteen standard SOS Inventory columns are available, as well as any custom fields you have established for items.

Sample Profit/loss by item report

The sample Profit/loss by item report below is filtered by All locations and by the category Computers. The option Hide rows with no sales or shipments is enabled, while the only Column setting selected is Name. The other report columns—Revenue ($), COGS ($), Profit ($), and Profit (%)—are built into the report. The Revenue, COGS, and Profit column headings, as well as the Totals for these columns at the bottom of the report, include the home currency symbol.

A sample Profit/loss by item report.

Notes

Some sales may have split across reporting periods, so the revenue and COGS may not be realized at the same time during this period.

Profit/loss information for kits (item groups)

A kit item and each of its components are displayed as separate line items on the Profit/loss by item report. While a kit item displays a value in the Revenue column, it shows nothing for COGS. On the other hand, components display COGS values but none for Revenue. As a result, the Profit and Profit (%) data displayed for the line items of a kit and its components are skewed, but the overall totals are still accurate.

The screenshot below shows how Party Kit and its component items—Blanket, Category Item:Basket, Slime Bucket, Slippers, and Squishmallow—are displayed on the Profit/loss by item report. Note that Party Kit shows $100.00 in revenue, $100 in profit, and 100.00% profit, while its COGS value is $0.00. All the kit components display their COGS values have but no revenue, negative profit values in dollars, and no profit percentages. However, the Total line provides accurate data: $100.00 in revenue, $45.61 in COGS, a profit of $54.39, and a profit percentage of 54.39.

A Profit/loss by item report for Party kit displays its components as individual line items.

If you prefer a kit item that displays both revenue and COGS as a single line item, run the Master sales report (Operations > Reports > Sales > Master sales report) instead. Please note that this alternative works only if you do not expand kits on sales transactions.

On the Master sales report shown below, the Profit and COGS values for our example, Party Kit, are displayed on the same line. The Profit of $54.39 and COGS of $45.61 match the values listed on the Profit/loss by item report.

A Master sales report displays both the Profit and COGS as a single line for Party Kit.

edit_noteNOTE: If you also sell your kit components as individual items, the instances when individual sales have occurred will be accounted for in both Revenue and COGS on the Profit/loss by item report. Assume, using the Party Kit example above, that you sold two Blanket items individually, as well as once as a kit component. In the Profit/loss by item report, the Revenue value for the Blanket line would reflect only the sales revenue of the two blankets sold individually. However, the COGS value would include the cost of all three blankets: 3 x 8.16 = 24.48. The Profit and Profit (%) will adjust accordingly.