Which Shopify report shows profit?
Short answer
Shopify's profit reports are in your store's reports list, under the Profit Margin category. There are five: Gross profit by product, Gross profit by product variant, Gross profit by POS location, Profit margin by order and Average profit margin by market.1 They show gross profit: sales minus the product cost you entered. None of them mention ad spend, payment processing fees or app subscriptions, so none of them is your net profit.
The five profit reports
| Report | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Gross profit by product | Net quantity, net sales, cost, gross margin and gross profit for each product. |
| Gross profit by product variant | The same columns for each variant (size, colour and so on). |
| Gross profit by POS location | The same columns for each point-of-sale location. |
| Profit margin by order | Margin for each order, counting product charges, shipping charges, duties and import taxes, against product costs, shipping costs, duties and import taxes paid by your store. |
| Average profit margin by market | The same idea grouped by market (country or region you sell to). |
Shopify defines gross margin in these reports as (net sales − cost) ÷ net sales × 100.1
Do I need a higher plan for profit reports?
Probably not. Shopify's help center says “The Basic plan comes with access to all reports, including the ability to create custom reports with data explorations.”2 Shopify's help pages don't list plan availability for each report, so if a report is missing from your admin, check with Shopify support.
Why the profit reports look better than your bank account
Three reasons, all from how the reports are built:
- They stop at product cost. The help page describes profit as sales minus recorded costs (plus shipping, duties and import taxes in the order and market reports). It doesn't mention ad spend, payment processing fees or app subscriptions.1
- Sales without a cost show no profit. In Shopify's words: “Profit is reported only for products and variants that had cost recorded at the time they were sold.”1 If you filled in costs late, earlier months are incomplete.
- Gross profit isn't net profit. Shopify's own definition: gross profit is “calculated by subtracting the product cost from the net sales.”3 Everything else you pay comes after that.
How to get from gross profit to net profit
Start with the report's gross profit for the month, then subtract the costs it leaves out:
- Payment fees. Your Shopify Payments payout export lists a fee for every transaction.4
- Shipping labels you paid for, if the report you used doesn't include them.
- Ad spend for the month, from Meta, Google, TikTok and the rest.
- Your Shopify plan and app subscriptions.
What's left is your net profit. The Shopify profit calculator does this for one month in about a minute. For each product and each month, the Shopify Profit Report builds it from your exports.
What none of the reports can do
Merchants in the Shopify Community ask how to track real profit per order, after cost of goods, shipping, fees and ad spend.5 Shopify's profit reports don't include ad spend, and they report profit only for sales that had a cost recorded at the time. Adding a cost now generally won't fill in profit for earlier sales. That's the gap a spreadsheet, an app or a done-for-you report fills.
Questions
Which Shopify report shows profit?
The reports in the Profit Margin category of your reports list: Gross profit by product, by product variant and by POS location, Profit margin by order, and Average profit margin by market. They show gross profit, which is sales minus the product cost you recorded.
Does Shopify's profit report include ad spend or payment fees?
Shopify's help page for the profit reports doesn't mention ad spend, payment processing fees or app subscriptions. To get net profit, subtract those yourself or use a tool that combines them.
Why are some orders missing from my profit report?
Shopify reports profit only for products and variants that had a cost recorded at the time they were sold. Orders of products without a cost at that time don't show profit.
Is the profit report available on the Basic plan?
Shopify's help center says the Basic plan comes with access to all reports. If a report is missing from your admin, check with Shopify support.
What's the difference between gross profit and net profit?
Gross profit is net sales minus product cost. Net profit also subtracts everything else: payment fees, shipping labels, ad spend, your plan and apps.
Sources
- Shopify Help Center: Profit reports
- Shopify Help Center: Basic plan
- Shopify Help Center: Sales reports (common sales report terms)
- Shopify Help Center: Viewing payout details
- Shopify Community: Understanding profit tracking for Shopify stores
Checked October 18, 2026. If something has changed, email hello@groundworkmetrics.com and I'll fix it.