Glossary · 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.
- Sales€7,940July 2026, example store
- What stayed€2,52131.8% of sales
- Taken on the way€5,419VAT, goods, ads, fees, refunds, rent
01 / How it is worked out
The formula
Formula
Sales − VAT inside the price − refunds − cost of goods − shipping − payment fees − ads − fixed costs
Example
The example store’s July 2026: €7,940 − €1,429 VAT − €2,103 goods − €1,180 ads − €135 fees − €167 refunds − €405 fixed costs = €2,521. 31.8% of sales stayed.
02 / Why it matters
What it changes in a decision
Shopify’s sales figure is what came in, not what stayed. Between the two sit the goods, the parcels, the payment fees, the refunds, the ads and the rent — and in Europe and the UK the VAT, which is part of the price but never the store’s money.
Net profit is the last line, after all of them. It is the figure to judge a month by, and the one most stores only see weeks later, from an accountant.
03 / Go further
Where it is used
Profit calculator
What a month keeps after ads, fees, returns, goods and shipping.
Open →Real profit
What stayed after every cost, order by order, measured rather than estimated.
Open →Next: 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 →
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.