COGS (Cost of Goods Sold)
Category: Costing
Also searched as: COGS
Definition (plain English)
The direct cost of the goods sold in a period, usually including product cost and the inbound costs your accounting policy allocates to inventory.
Why it matters commercially
COGS is the cost base for gross profit, margin reporting, SKU profitability, and channel decisions, so missing landed-cost components can overstate performance.
Example
Finance moved duty and destination handling into COGS for imported snacks, reducing reported gross margin but giving the sales team a truer pricing floor.
Common mistake
Using supplier invoice cost as COGS while leaving freight, duty, local charges, write-offs, and inventory adjustments outside the product P&L.
Use this in CommerceKit
Landed Cost
Use tool →Container Profit Calculator
Use tool →Markup vs Margin
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