Enter Your Financials
How It Works
Input your total monthly revenue from all sources.
List all costs from COGS to labor to software subscriptions.
View net profit, profit margin, and expense breakdown.
Buyers value businesses with clear, documented profitability. Understanding your true profit margin helps you price and sell smarter.
Healthy Profit Margin Range
Understanding Business Profit
True net profit accounts for every cost category that impacts your bottom line.
Gross vs Net Profit
Gross profit is revenue minus COGS (direct costs). Net profit is what remains after ALL expenses including hosting, tools, labor, and ads. Many sellers only quote gross profit — savvy buyers insist on net profit figures.
Cost Categories
We categorize expenses into six groups: COGS (direct production), hosting and infrastructure, software subscriptions (SEO tools, email, analytics), labor and contractors, advertising spend, and miscellaneous costs (fees, subscriptions, domain renewals).
Hidden Costs
Commonly overlooked costs: payment processor fees (2-3% of revenue), domain renewals, CDN and security services, accounting software, bank fees, chargebacks and refunds, contractor management time, and your own labor hours if not already accounted for.
Profit Margin
Your net profit margin (net profit / revenue x 100) is the single most important metric for valuation. Margins above 40% are considered healthy for content sites, while SaaS businesses aim for 60-80% gross margins with 20-40% net margins after operating expenses.
Profit Calculation FAQ
Why is knowing true net profit important for selling?
Buyers calculate valuation based on net profit, not revenue. Two sites with $10K monthly revenue can have wildly different valuations — one with 60% profit margin ($6K net) is worth far more than one with 20% margin ($2K net). Accurately calculating your net profit helps you price correctly and negotiate from a position of knowledge.
What are typical costs for an online business?
Typical cost structure for a content site: hosting ($30-200/mo), SEO tools ($100-500/mo), email marketing ($50-300/mo), content writers ($500-5,000/mo), virtual assistant ($300-1,500/mo), software subscriptions ($100-400/mo), and domain renewals ($10-50/mo). eCommerce stores additionally have COGS (30-50% of revenue), payment processing (2-3%), and fulfillment costs.
How can I improve my profit margin?
To improve margins: automate repetitive tasks to reduce labor costs, negotiate bulk discounts on tools and services, optimize ad spend ROI by cutting underperforming campaigns, increase prices gradually (test 5-10% increases), consolidate overlapping software subscriptions, and outsource to lower-cost regions while maintaining quality.
Should I include marketplace fees in my profit calculation?
Yes. If you sell on Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, or similar platforms, their fees directly impact your profit. Shopify charges 2-3% transaction fees. Amazon FBA fees can eat 15-35% of revenue. Etsy takes 6.5% per transaction plus listing fees. Always include these as a cost line item rather than netting them from revenue for accurate profit calculations.
What is seller discretionary earnings (SDE)?
SDE is the true financial benefit a business owner receives from their business. It is calculated as net profit plus the owner's salary, benefits, and one-time expenses. SDE is the standard metric used to value small online businesses (under $1M) because it reflects what a new owner would earn. Our profit calculator provides the net profit baseline needed to compute SDE.