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.

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🎥 Video Walkthrough

Video tutorial coming soon. A full guided walkthrough of this feature will be available here shortly.

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🗂️ Page Structure

Section	Purpose
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

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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.

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Summary Statistics

Six stat cards provide a quick overview of your expense data:

Stat Card	Description	Example Value
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

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Expense Table

SellerMagnet Expenses

The main table lists all expense records with the following columns:

Column	Description	Sortable
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

Filter	Description
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 download all expenses matching your current filters as a CSV file.

The exported CSV includes all table columns plus any additional metadata. This file is formatted for easy import into accounting software like Xero, QuickBooks, or DATEV.

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👣 Step-by-Step: Adding a New Expense

1. Click the "+ Add Expense" button (blue button in the table header area).

2. The Add Expense modal opens.

3. Fill in the form fields:

Field	Required	Description	Example
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"

1. Click "Save" to create the expense.

2. 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.

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👣 Step-by-Step: Bulk Importing Expenses

For sellers migrating from spreadsheets or other tools, the CSV import feature allows bulk data entry:

1. Click the "Import" button in the table header.

2. The Import Expenses modal opens.

3. Download the template CSV file to see the required column format.

4. Fill in your expense data in the template:

Column	Format	Required
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

1. Upload the completed CSV file.

2. Review the import preview showing parsed rows.

3. 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.

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Expense Categories

SellerMagnet provides predefined expense categories to help organize your spending:

Category	Typical Expenses
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

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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

Managing Recurring Expenses

Action	How To
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.

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🎯 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.

Step	Action	Finding
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."

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How Expenses Affect Profit Calculations

Expenses are factored into profit at the per-order level across the dashboard:

Profit = Revenue - Amazon Fees - COGS - (General Expenses / Total Orders)

The "General Expense per Order" metric distributes your total expenses evenly across all orders in the period. This means:

Monthly Expenses	Monthly Orders	Expense per Order
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.

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⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake	Impact	Better Approach
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

1. Enter expenses within 48 hours of incurring them to maintain accurate monthly records.

2. Use recurring for all subscriptions so they are automatically tracked each month.

3. Review the Distribution chart monthly to understand your cost structure.

4. Compare Cash Flow trends quarter-over-quarter to identify cost creep.

5. Export data quarterly for your accountant and for tax preparation.

6. Categorize accurately: this makes tax deduction categorization much easier.

7. Include marketplace association when an expense is specific to one market (e.g., UK VAT compliance service).

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❓ 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).

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➡️ What's Next?

TransactionsDashboard Overview