Expenses
Track every business expense to achieve true net profit visibility. Add one-time or recurring expenses, categorize spending, visualize cash flow trends, and export data for tax preparation.
Difficulty: 🟢 Beginner · Reading time: ~10 min
Open this page in your dashboard: Go to Expenses →
The Expenses page lets you record and manage all business costs that fall outside of Amazon fees and COGS (Cost of Goods Sold). This includes advertising costs, software subscriptions, shipping supplies, warehouse rent, VA salaries, and any other operational expense. By tracking these costs in SellerMagnet, your profit calculations reflect your true net profitability.
Amazon fees and COGS are tracked automatically through the Transactions and Product Batches systems. The Expenses page is specifically for non-Amazon costs that you enter manually.
🎥 Video Walkthrough
Video tutorial coming soon. A full guided walkthrough of this feature will be available here shortly.
🗂️ Page Structure
Analytics Chart
Visual breakdown of expense distribution and cash flow trends
Summary Statistics
Six stat cards showing totals, averages, and counts
Expense Table
Full list of all expenses with filters, search, and actions
Add/Edit Modal
Form for creating or modifying expense records
Import Modal
Bulk CSV import for expense data
Export Modal
Download expense data as CSV or Excel
Analytics Chart
The top section features an interactive chart with two visualization modes:
Distribution View
A donut/pie chart showing your expense breakdown by category. Hover over any segment to see:
Category name
Total amount spent
Percentage of total expenses
Cash Flow View
A timeline bar chart showing your monthly expense trend over the last 12 months. This helps you:
Identify months with unusually high spending
Track whether total expenses are trending up or down
Plan budgets based on historical patterns
Toggle between views using the Distribution and Cash Flow buttons above the chart.
Pro Tip: Check the Cash Flow view monthly to compare actual expenses against your budget. If you see a sudden spike in a specific month, click into that month's expenses in the table to identify the cause.
Summary Statistics
Six stat cards provide a quick overview of your expense data:
Total Expenses
Sum of all expenses in the selected period
EUR 4,287.50
This Month
Expenses for the current calendar month
EUR 892.30
Average Monthly
Average monthly expense over the last 12 months
EUR 714.58
Expense Count
Total number of individual expense records
47
Recurring Total
Sum of all active recurring expenses per month
EUR 623.00
Largest Expense
Single highest expense amount in the period
EUR 1,200.00
Expense Table
The main table lists all expense records with the following columns:
Date
Date the expense was incurred
Yes
Description
Name or description of the expense
Yes
Category
Expense category (e.g., Advertising, Software, Shipping)
Yes
Amount
Expense amount in your base currency
Yes
Recurring
Indicator showing if this is a recurring expense
Yes
Marketplace
Associated marketplace (if applicable)
Yes
Actions
Edit, duplicate, and delete buttons
No
Filtering Options
Category Dropdown
Filter by a specific expense category
Search Bar
Search by description text
Date Range
(Inherited from page-level date selection)
Export
Click the Export button (file export icon) in the table header to open a menu with two formats, then download all expenses matching your current filters:
CSV
Importing into accounting software or re-importing via the Import modal
Excel
Opening directly in a spreadsheet with formatting preserved
The export includes all table columns plus any additional metadata. The CSV file is formatted for easy import into accounting software like Xero, QuickBooks, or DATEV.
Bulk Actions
Each row in the table has a checkbox, and the header checkbox selects every visible row at once. When one or more rows are selected, a red Delete Selected button appears in the table header.
Select rows
Tick individual row checkboxes, or the header checkbox to select all
Bulk delete
With rows selected, click Delete Selected and confirm in the dialog
Bulk delete permanently removes every selected expense. A confirmation dialog shows how many records will be deleted - review the count before confirming, as there is no undo.
👣 Step-by-Step: Adding a New Expense
Click the "+ Add Expense" button (blue button in the table header area).
The Add Expense modal opens.
Fill in the form fields:
Description
Yes
What this expense is for
"SellerMagnet Monthly Subscription"
Amount
Yes
Cost in your base currency
97.00
Currency
Yes
Currency of the expense (auto-set to base)
EUR
Category
Yes
Select from predefined categories
Software & Tools
Date
Yes
Date the expense was incurred
2026-04-01
Marketplace
No
Associate with a specific marketplace
Amazon.de
Recurring
No
Toggle on if this repeats monthly
On
Notes
No
Additional context
"Annual plan, monthly billing"
Click "Save" to create the expense.
The expense appears in the table, and profit calculations update across all dashboards.
When adding recurring expenses, SellerMagnet automatically creates future entries each month. Make sure the amount is the monthly cost, not the annual total. For example, a EUR 1,164/year subscription should be entered as EUR 97/month recurring.
👣 Step-by-Step: Bulk Importing Expenses
For sellers migrating from spreadsheets or other tools, the CSV import feature allows bulk data entry:
Click the "Import" button in the table header.
The Import Expenses modal opens.
Download the template CSV file to see the required column format.
Fill in your expense data in the template:
date
YYYY-MM-DD
Yes
description
Text
Yes
amount
Decimal number
Yes
currency
ISO code (EUR, USD, GBP)
Yes
category
Must match predefined categories
Yes
marketplace
Marketplace identifier
No
recurring
true/false
No
notes
Text
No
Upload the completed CSV file.
Review the import preview showing parsed rows.
Click "Import" to create all expense records.
The import process creates all records immediately. There is no bulk undo. Carefully review the import preview before confirming. If you make a mistake, you will need to delete individual records manually.
Expense Categories
SellerMagnet provides predefined expense categories to help organize your spending:
Advertising
PPC campaigns, sponsored display, external ads
Software & Tools
SellerMagnet, keyword tools, analytics platforms, repricers
Shipping & Logistics
Inbound shipping, prep center fees, packaging
Warehouse & Storage
Warehouse rent, 3PL fees (non-Amazon)
Personnel
VA salaries, freelancer payments, employee costs
Professional Services
Accounting, legal, photography, design
Office & Admin
Office supplies, internet, phone, insurance
Taxes & Compliance
VAT registration fees, compliance services
Returns & Disposal
Return processing, disposal fees
Other
Any expense not fitting above categories
Expense Duration Types
Besides a category, every expense has a duration type that controls how its cost is spread over time and how it flows into your profit numbers:
One-Time
The full amount lands in its start month (unless you amortise it, see below)
Weekly / Monthly / Yearly
Recurring: repeats automatically on that cycle
Flat fee / order
A rate multiplied by the number of orders in the period
Flat fee / unit
A rate multiplied by the number of units sold in the period
Flat fees (per-order and per-unit)
A flat fee is not a fixed monthly figure, it is a rate x volume cost. SellerMagnet's server ledger computes each month's value as your rate multiplied by that month's order or unit count.
Flat fees are inherently per-order costs, so they are always counted in both Orders and Reports (you cannot switch them to Reports-only). Because they depend on real order and unit counts, they cannot be projected into future months, only months with actual volume show a flat-fee amount.
For example, a EUR 0.30 "flat fee / unit" prep cost across a month with 400 units sold contributes EUR 120 that month.
Amortising a one-time cost
A large one-time cost (for example, a year of software paid upfront, or product photography) can be amortised, spread evenly across several months instead of hitting a single month. The monthly figure is simply:
You can amortise across 12 months from the start month or a custom number of months (1 to 600). Example: a EUR 2,000 license amortised over 32 months shows as EUR 62.50/month of burn.
Allocation target
Each expense also has an allocation target that decides where it is counted:
Reports only (default)
Counted in Reports and P&L, but leaves your per-order breakdown untouched
Per-order and Reports
Counted in Reports and P&L and spread across orders (lowers per-order profit)
Per-order only
Spread across orders, but excluded from Reports and P&L
Flat fees ignore this setting, they are always Per-order and Reports because they are per-order by nature.
Recurring Expenses
Recurring expenses automatically generate a new entry each month. This is ideal for:
Monthly software subscriptions
Warehouse rent
VA salaries
Fixed advertising budgets
Mid-month starts are pro-rated. A monthly recurring expense is charged by active days, so if it starts (or ends) partway through a month, that month shows only the partial amount. Example: a EUR 300/month expense starting on the 16th of a 30-day month counts EUR 150 that first month, then the full EUR 300 each month after.
Managing Recurring Expenses
Create
Toggle "Recurring" on when adding a new expense
Pause
Edit the expense and toggle "Recurring" off
Change amount
Edit the expense; future entries use the new amount
Stop permanently
Delete the expense or toggle recurring off
Pro Tip: At the start of each month, review the Summary Statistics "Recurring Total" card. This is your fixed monthly cost baseline. Subtract this from your expected monthly profit to see your minimum required margin.
Your SellerMagnet Subscription
Your SellerMagnet plan price is automatically added as a recurring expense so your operating costs reflect the true cost of running your business, not just the costs you enter by hand. You do not need to create this entry yourself, and its amount stays in sync with your current plan. Use the Manage Plan button in the table header to review or change the plan that drives this figure.
Hiding the subscription from analytics
Some sellers prefer to measure only the operational spend they control and exclude the software cost of SellerMagnet itself. The toolbar includes a "Hide SellerMagnet subscription" checkbox for exactly this:
When ticked, the auto-imported subscription is removed from the analytics totals, the chart, and the OpEx % of revenue stat, so it does not skew your real operating-cost ratio.
The expense still exists and is still counted in Reports and P&L - the toggle only affects how the analytics on this page are displayed.
The OpEx % of revenue stat uses the same monthly-equivalent logic as the analytics cards, so a yearly plan is normalized to its monthly cost - and is included unless you hide it with this toggle.
🎯 Real-World Scenario: Monthly Expense Audit
Situation: Your monthly profit dropped from EUR 5,200 to EUR 3,800 despite stable sales. You suspect expenses increased.
1
Check the Summary Statistics "This Month" card
EUR 1,420 (up from EUR 780 last month)
2
Switch the chart to Cash Flow view
Clear spike in the current month
3
Switch chart to Distribution view
"Advertising" category dominates at 55%
4
Filter the table by Advertising category
New PPC campaign added at EUR 500/month
5
Filter by Software & Tools
New tool subscription at EUR 140/month
6
Calculate total new expenses
EUR 640/month in new recurring costs
Before: "Profit dropped by EUR 1,400 and I do not know why." After: "EUR 640 comes from two new recurring expenses. The remaining EUR 760 drop requires investigation in COGS or Amazon fees."
How Expenses Affect Profit Calculations
Expenses are factored into profit at the per-order level across the dashboard:
The "General Expense per Order" metric distributes your total expenses evenly across all orders in the period. This means:
EUR 600
300
EUR 2.00
EUR 600
150
EUR 4.00
EUR 1,200
300
EUR 4.00
If your order volume drops significantly (e.g., during a slow season), the per-order expense allocation increases, which can dramatically reduce per-order profit even if individual order economics remain the same.
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
Not tracking any expenses
Profit numbers are overstated by the full expense amount
Enter at least your major recurring costs
Double-counting Amazon fees
Amazon fees are already tracked in Transactions
Only add non-Amazon expenses here
Entering annual costs as monthly
12x overstated monthly expense impact
Enter the monthly amount; use notes for annual reference
Forgetting to update recurring amounts
Old prices persist indefinitely
Audit recurring expenses quarterly
Not categorizing expenses
Analytics chart and reports are useless
Always select the correct category
Entering amounts in wrong currency
Expense calculations use wrong conversion rates
Always verify the currency matches your base currency
## ✅ Best Practices
Enter expenses within 48 hours of incurring them to maintain accurate monthly records.
Use recurring for all subscriptions so they are automatically tracked each month.
Review the Distribution chart monthly to understand your cost structure.
Compare Cash Flow trends quarter-over-quarter to identify cost creep.
Export data quarterly for your accountant and for tax preparation.
Categorize accurately: this makes tax deduction categorization much easier.
Include marketplace association when an expense is specific to one market (e.g., UK VAT compliance service).
❓ FAQ
Are Amazon fees automatically tracked as expenses?
No. Amazon fees (referral fees, FBA fees, etc.) are tracked separately in the Transactions section. The Expenses page is only for costs you manually enter, business expenses outside of Amazon's fee structure.
Can I set up different recurring frequencies (weekly, quarterly)?
Currently, recurring expenses operate on a monthly cycle. For quarterly expenses, you can enter the quarterly amount divided by three as a monthly recurring expense, or add individual entries each quarter.
How are expenses allocated to individual orders?
Expenses are distributed evenly across all orders in the selected time period. SellerMagnet divides total expenses by total order count to calculate the "general expense per order" value shown on the dashboard.
Can I import expenses from my bank statement?
You can import expenses via CSV using the Import function. You would need to format your bank statement data into the template format first. Direct bank integration is not currently available.
What happens if I delete a recurring expense?
The existing historical entries remain in the system. Only future automatic entries are stopped. If you want to remove historical entries as well, you must delete them individually.
Can multiple team members add expenses?
Expense management follows your account's user permission settings. Check Settings > Team to configure which team members have access to add, edit, or delete expenses.
Is there a limit to how many expenses I can track?
There is no hard limit on the number of expense records. However, for optimal performance, we recommend keeping the active table view filtered to a manageable date range (e.g., the current month or quarter).
➡️ What's Next?
TransactionsDashboard OverviewLast updated