Glossary · plain words
The words for what
a store really keeps.
Profit, margin, ads, customers and cash — each in plain words, with the formula and Profflow’s example store worked through it.
- Terms11each on its own page
- Worked onJuly 2026the example store, line by line
- Kept by the demo€2,521the figure every term leads to
01 / Profit
Profit
Net profit
What stayed with the store after every cost: goods, shipping, fees, refunds, ads and fixed costs — and, in Europe and the UK, after the VAT inside the prices.
Open →Contribution margin
What the orders earned after VAT, goods, shipping, fees and refunds — before any ad was paid for and before fixed costs. It is what pays for both.
Open →Cost of goods sold (COGS)
What the products sold cost the store to buy or make. It does not fall when the price does, which is why discounts eat margin so fast.
Open →Break-even point
The number of orders a month has to sell before it stops losing money: ads and fixed costs, divided by what each order contributes.
Open →
02 / Ads
Ads
ROAS (return on ad spend)
The sales a platform says its ads brought, divided by what the ads cost. It measures revenue, not profit.
Open →Break-even ROAS
The ROAS at which an ad’s orders leave exactly nothing: below it, every order the ads bring in loses money.
Open →Profit ROAS
What the ads’ orders kept after VAT, goods, shipping and fees, per euro of ads. Under 1× the ads cost more than they left.
Open →Cost per acquisition (CPA)
What the ads cost for each order they brought. The most an order can cost is what it contributes before ads.
Open →
See every one of these on your own store.
Profflow works them out from your orders, ads and costs, order by order — read-only, in about ten minutes.