Profit Loss Statement Widget

Profit & Loss Statement Widget

The Profit & Loss Statement widget displays a comprehensive financial statement showing revenue, costs, expenses, and profit in a traditional accounting format. This is a specialized widget that provides a complete profit breakdown.

When to Use

Create formal financial reports for stakeholders, investors, or accountants
Show complete profit breakdown from gross revenue to net profit
Display all cost and expense categories in one place
Generate period-end financial summaries (monthly, quarterly, annual)
Understand complete profit waterfall (where revenue goes)

Configuration Options

Content Settings

Title (Required)

Default: “Profit & Loss Statement”

Examples: “January 2024 P&L”, “Q4 Financial Summary”, “Annual Income Statement”

Metric (Auto-configured)

Value: Automatically set to profit_loss_statement_data

Note: This widget has a fixed data source – it always shows the complete P&L breakdown

Design Settings

Responsive Width

Recommended: Full width (12 columns) – P&L statements need horizontal space

Color Theme

Options: Blue, Green, Purple, Orange, Red, Gray

Default: Green (financial statements traditionally use green)

Advanced Settings

Enable Real-Time Data

Options: On/Off

When enabled: P&L refreshes every 30 seconds

Use for: Live monitoring dashboards

P&L Statement Structure

What’s Displayed

The widget shows a complete profit waterfall:

	┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│   PROFIT & LOSS STATEMENT               │
│   Period: January 1 - January 31, 2024 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ REVENUE                                 │
│   Gross Revenue          $50,230        │
│   Less: Refunds          ($1,450)       │
│   Less: Discounts        ($2,300)       │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│   Net Revenue            $46,480   100% │
│                                         │
│ COST OF GOODS SOLD                      │
│   Product Costs          $18,592    40% │
│   Shipping Costs          $2,324     5% │
│   Payment Gateway Fees    $1,394     3% │
│   Custom Order Costs        $465     1% │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│   Total COGS            $22,775    49% │
│                                         │
│ GROSS PROFIT            $23,705    51% │
│                                         │
│ OPERATING EXPENSES                      │
│   Rent & Facilities       $3,000     6% │
│   Software & Tools          $850     2% │
│   Marketing (non-ads)     $1,200     3% │
│   Salaries & Personnel    $8,500    18% │
│   Professional Services     $600     1% │
│   Other Operating           $450     1% │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│   Total Operating Exp.  $14,600    31% │
│                                         │
│ ADVERTISING SPEND                       │
│   Facebook Ads            $2,500     5% │
│   Google Ads              $1,800     4% │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│   Total Ad Spend         $4,300     9% │
│                                         │
│ NET PROFIT               $4,805    10% │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Key Metrics:                            │
│   Gross Margin: 51%                     │
│   Operating Margin: 20%                 │
│   Net Margin: 10%                       │
│   ROAS: 4.8                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Statement Sections Explained

Revenue Section

Gross Revenue: All order totals including tax
Refunds: Money returned to customers
Discounts: Coupon and discount amounts
Net Revenue: What you actually kept from sales

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

Product Costs: Cost to acquire/produce products
Shipping Costs: Fulfillment and delivery costs
Payment Fees: Credit card processing fees
Custom Costs: Any additional per-order costs
Total COGS: Sum of all direct order costs

Gross Profit

Formula: Net Revenue – Total COGS

What it means: Profit before operating expenses and advertising

Benchmark: Healthy eCommerce stores target 40-60% gross margin

Operating Expenses

Rent & Facilities: Office, warehouse, utilities
Software & Tools: Subscriptions and software
Marketing: Non-ad marketing costs
Salaries: Employee and contractor costs
Professional Services: Accounting, legal, consulting
Other: Miscellaneous operating costs

Advertising Spend

Facebook Ads: From Facebook Ads integration
Google Ads: From Google Ads integration
Other Platforms: Manually added ad costs

Net Profit

Formula: Gross Profit – Operating Expenses – Ad Spend

What it means: True take-home profit after ALL costs

Benchmark: Target 10-25% net margin for sustainable eCommerce

Key Metrics at Bottom

Gross Margin

Formula: (Gross Profit / Net Revenue) × 100

Shows: Profitability before overhead

Operating Margin

Formula: ((Gross Profit – Operating Expenses) / Net Revenue) × 100

Shows: Profitability before advertising

Net Margin

Formula: (Net Profit / Net Revenue) × 100

Shows: Overall business profitability

ROAS

Formula: Net Revenue / Ad Spend

Shows: Return on advertising investment

Example Use Cases

Monthly Financial Review

Create P&L for each month:

Date range: This Month
Compare to: Previous Month
Share with team/investors

Quarterly Board Report

Formal financial statement:

Date range: This Quarter
Compare to: Previous Quarter
Export as PDF for board meetings

Annual Tax Preparation

Year-end financial summary:

Date range: This Year
Complete breakdown of all revenue and expenses
Share with accountant

Budget vs Actual

Compare actual performance to budget:

P&L shows actuals
Compare each line to budgeted amounts
Identify variances

Best Practices

Report Context

Use in formal financial reports
Include at end of comprehensive reports
Create dedicated P&L report template

Date Range Selection

Use complete periods (full months, quarters, years)
Enable period comparison to show trends
Avoid partial periods for cleaner statements

Sharing

Export as PDF for professional appearance
Include report title heading (H1) above P&L widget
Add date and period information

Regular Review

Generate monthly P&L for trend analysis
Compare to industry benchmarks
Use to identify cost-cutting opportunities

Interpreting the P&L

Healthy Ratios

Good signs:

Gross margin 40-60%
Operating expenses under 35% of revenue
Ad spend 10-20% of revenue
Net margin 10-25%

Warning Signs

Watch for:

Gross margin under 30% (pricing or cost issues)
Operating expenses over 45% (overhead too high)
Ad spend over 30% without proportional returns
Net margin under 5% (barely profitable)
Negative net profit (losing money)

Trend Analysis

Compare P&L month-over-month:

Revenue growing, profit flat: Costs rising too fast
Revenue flat, profit growing: Improving efficiency (good!)
Margins expanding: Better pricing or cost control
Margins shrinking: Investigate cost increases

Customization Limitations

Note: P&L widget has minimal customization by design – it follows standard accounting format

Cannot remove or reorder sections
Cannot change calculations
Categories are automatically populated from your data
Format is standardized for consistency

This is intentional: Ensures P&L statements are comparable across periods and meet accounting standards

Profit Loss Statement Widget

Alpha Insights Documentation

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