#cost-of-goods-sold
Cost of Goods Sold
Learn how to calculate and track cost of goods sold for inventory valuation
Storage Unit Auction Reselling Bookkeeping: How to Price a Lot You've Never Opened
How to keep books for storage-unit auction flips — allocate one winning bid across dozens of items with the relative fair value method, deduct COGS only when items sell, use the Section 471(c) small-business exception, and report income even below the $20,000/200-transaction 1099-K threshold.
Tailoring and Alterations Shop Bookkeeping: Separating Fabric COGS From Labor, Depreciating Equipment, and Knowing When You Need a Seller's Permit
Alteration labor on a new garment is often taxable while the same work on a used one is exempt — one of several rules that make tailoring shop bookkeeping tricky. How to split fabric COGS from labor revenue, depreciate sewing equipment via Section 179 or MACRS, and know when selling a single zipper triggers a seller's permit.
USTR's Forced-Labor Section 301 Tariffs: What 10–12.5% Duties on 60 Economies Mean for Small Importers
In June 2026, USTR concluded 60 simultaneous Section 301 investigations and proposed additional tariffs of 10% (economies with an unenforced forced-labor import ban, including Canada, Mexico, and the EU) or 12.5% (the 54 economies with no ban, including China, India, and Vietnam) — duties that stack on top of existing Section 232, IEEPA, and China 301 rates. Here is who is on each list, how the surcharge compounds landed cost, and five steps small importers should take before the final rate publishes.
Vending Machine Route Bookkeeping: Why Your Total Revenue Number Is Lying to You
Route-wide revenue totals hide losing machines. How vending operators track profit per machine: 5–25% location commissions on gross vs. net, cashless fees that reach 8–10% on sub-$2.25 transactions, and monthly per-machine shrinkage reconciliation.
Colorado's Tamale Act: What HB26-1033 Means for Cottage Food Businesses
Colorado's HB26-1033, the "Tamale Act," legalizes home-kitchen sales of tamales and other temperature-sensitive foods starting January 1, 2027, and raises the cottage food revenue cap from $10,000 to $150,000 per product per year. Here are the food-safety, labeling, and transport rules producers must meet — and the bookkeeping needed to run at the new scale.
Bookkeeping for Commercial Composting and Food-Waste Haulers: Tipping Fees, Volume Contracts, and Diversion Savings
With landfill tipping fees averaging $35–125 per ton and rising 3–7% annually, food-waste haulers and composting operators need books that separate revenue by contract type, track tipping fees by disposal site, and isolate contamination costs — here is a chart-of-accounts structure that makes landfill-diversion savings pitches defensible.
Etsy's DDP Mandate: What Non-US Sellers Must Change About Pricing and Bookkeeping
As of July 9, 2026, Etsy requires non-US sellers shipping to US buyers to use Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) — prepaying US tariffs and building them into the listing price — or lose Purchase Protection. This guide covers re-pricing by tariff category and why prepaid duties belong in inventory cost and COGS, not overhead.
Food Truck Bookkeeping: Food Cost Percentage, Commissary Fees, and Daily Cash Drops
Food trucks average about $346,000 in annual revenue but net only 6-9% margins. This guide covers the three numbers that decide profitability: keeping food cost between 28% and 35%, breaking commissary invoices ($300-$1,500/month) into trackable sub-accounts, and reconciling the cash drawer after every service.
Inventory Turnover Ratio Explained: Formula, Industry Benchmarks, and How to Improve It
Inventory turnover ratio = COGS ÷ average inventory, and it shows how many times a business sells through its stock each year. This guide covers the formula, converting turnover to days sales of inventory, industry benchmarks from 2–4 turns (industrial parts) to 10–20+ (grocery), and why slow-moving stock costs 20–30% of its value annually to hold.
The Section 122 Import Surcharge Expires July 24, 2026 — What Small Importers Should Do With the Week Left
The 10% Section 122 import surcharge expires automatically on July 24, 2026, when its 150-day statutory limit runs out — but expiration is not a refund, and Section 301 and Section 232 tariffs are already queued to replace it. Here's how small importers should tally what they paid, preserve refund rights, and model landed costs before the deadline.
Self-Serve Dog Wash Station Bookkeeping: Reconciling Unattended Revenue, Costing Per Wash, and Depreciating Equipment
A bookkeeping guide for unattended self-serve dog wash stations: how to reconcile coin and card revenue against machine counters, calculate a true cost per wash (roughly $3.50 against an $18–20 session price), classify shampoo and consumables as COGS, and depreciate $20,000–$30,000-per-bay equipment — including Section 179 timing and separating payment terminals from wash tubs in your fixed-asset register.
Ghost Kitchen Bookkeeping: How to Stop Three Virtual Brands From Wrecking One P&L
Delivery platforms take an effective 30–40% of each order once commissions, promotions, and processing fees stack up — and a multi-brand ghost kitchen that books only net deposits can't tell which concept is profitable. This guide covers per-brand revenue categorization, three methods for allocating shared rent, utilities, and labor (square footage, revenue share, labor hours), per-brand food cost tracking, and a six-step monthly close checklist.