The most common thing an owner is shown in this industry is a revenue figure. It is the largest number available, which is exactly why it gets used. It is also the one that tells you least about whether your store is working.
Gross sales
What the store took, before anything is deducted. It is useful for one thing: seeing whether the store is growing. It says nothing about whether that growth is worth having, because a store can double revenue and lose money doing it.
Every deduction, named
Referral fees, fulfilment, storage, inbound freight, returns and refunds, and advertising. Each one is listed on its own line rather than rolled into a single costs figure. This is the section that shows you where a bad month actually went, and it is the section most reports do not include.
Net profit
What the store made. This is the number the split is calculated on, and it is the number we are measured by, because our share only exists if this line is positive.
Your share and ours
Stated as an amount and a percentage, so the arithmetic can be checked without a calculator. If the split is seventy thirty, you should be able to see seventy percent of the net profit line and nothing else.
Why it is built this way
Because a report is a control, not a marketing document. An owner who can see gross, costs and net separately can tell the difference between a store with a demand problem and a store with a cost problem, and can ask us a pointed question about either. That is the entire purpose of sending it.
