If you’re running a Shopify store in 2025, chances are you’re dealing with rising ad costs, fluctuating shipping fees, and increased competition. That’s why it’s not enough to just track revenue—you need to know your true profit and loss (P&L).
Accurately tracking profit and loss helps you understand how healthy your business really is. It shows whether your store is scaling sustainably, highlights where expenses are creeping in, and helps you make smarter, data-driven decisions.
In this guide, we’ll walk through the best ways to track P&L on Shopify in 2025, which tools to use, and which financial metrics you should always keep an eye on.
Revenue alone can be misleading. A store might be hitting five or six figures in sales, but if advertising spend, transaction fees, and product costs aren’t carefully tracked, the actual profit could be razor-thin—or even negative. Many sellers get excited by revenue screenshots, but without factoring in expenses, those numbers don’t reflect real business health.
By staying on top of your profit and loss (P&L), you can:
Spot your most and least profitable products. A product that sells well might still be unprofitable once returns or shipping costs are considered.
Understand whether your ad spend is truly paying off. Ads can drive sales, but unless they generate profit after costs, they may just inflate revenue.
Avoid cash flow surprises caused by hidden fees. Shopify fees, payment gateways, and app subscriptions can add up quickly.
Build a clear roadmap for scaling profitably. Knowing your true numbers helps you reinvest with confidence instead of guessing.
Put simply: knowing your P&L means knowing the real story behind your numbers. It ensures you’re not just chasing sales but actually building a profitable, sustainable business.
Shopify provides built-in reports that allow you to monitor sales, revenue, and profit margins. To access them, follow these 4 simple steps:
Log in to your Shopify Admin Panel.
Click on Analytics in the left-hand menu.
Select Reports for detailed insights.
Filter by Profit Margin to view profit-related data.
These reports are easy to use and give you a quick snapshot of store performance. However, they have some important limitations:
They aren’t updated in real time.
Expenses like advertising, shipping, or software subscriptions need to be added manually.
External costs such as taxes, processing fees, and fulfillment charges aren’t automatically included.
Forecasting and long-term trend analysis are limited.
For small stores, Shopify’s reports might be enough. But as your business grows, you’ll likely need a more powerful solution.
This is where profit-tracking apps step in. Instead of relying on delayed reports and manual expense tracking, apps like TrueProfit give you real-time, accurate data.
TrueProfit is a net profit analytics platform built for Shopify, giving you a complete view of every cost and expense so you can see exactly how much you take home—your net profit.
With TrueProfit, you can:
Track net profit and all other important business metrics up to the second with real-time profit and loss dashboard.
Automatically record costs like COGS, shipping, ad spend, transaction fees, and any other types of expenses.
See your net profit and net profit margin—not just gross profits or revenue.
Integrate seamlessly with platforms like Facebook Ads, Google Ads, shipping platforms, dropshipping & POD platforms.
Analyze product performance and customer lifetime values.
In short, TrueProfit gathers all your Shopify financial data into one place, giving you a complete and accurate picture of your business performance.
Once you’ve got the right tools in place, the next step is knowing which numbers to track. Here are the key metrics every Shopify seller should monitor:
Net Profit: What’s left after subtracting all costs (products, ads, shipping, operations). This is your real bottom line.
Net Profit Margin: The percentage of revenue that remains as profit after all expenses. It shows how efficiently your store turns sales into actual earnings.
Gross Profit Margin: How much money you keep after covering just the cost of goods sold (COGS).
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV): The total revenue you can expect from a customer over their entire relationship with your brand.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): How much revenue you generate for each dollar spent on advertising.
Shipping & Transaction Fees: Often overlooked, but these hidden costs can chip away at margins quickly.
By regularly reviewing these metrics, you’ll stay ahead of problems and know exactly where to focus your attention.
The cost of goods sold (COGS) is a major piece of the P&L puzzle. If your COGS aren’t accurate, your profit calculations won’t be either. Here’s how to stay on top of it:
Use advanced inventory tracking systems to monitor stock and fulfillment in real time.
Don’t forget hidden costs like packaging, labor, warehousing, or import duties.
Update your cost structures regularly to account for fluctuating prices in materials and shipping.
Rely on automated tools that dynamically sync and update COGS to save time and reduce errors.
When you nail down accurate COGS, every other financial metric becomes more reliable.
Shopify’s built-in reports are a helpful starting point, but they have their limits. As eCommerce grows more competitive, serious sellers can’t afford to guess when it comes to profit and loss.
That’s why the smartest approach is combining Shopify’s native tools with automated solutions like TrueProfit. With everything tracked in real time, from ad spend to shipping fees, you’ll always know exactly where your business stands—and how to grow it profitably.
If you want peace of mind and sharper insights this year, make P&L tracking a priority. The clarity it brings could be the difference between running a store that just sells and a business that truly profits.