Understanding the profit report (waterfall vs. P&L)

Under Profit (“Gewinn”) NorthProfit shows the classic P&L report and a waterfall view. Both use the same data base but emphasise different aspects.

The path to net profit:

1. Gross revenue: the sum of all orders before deductions.
2. − Discounts & vouchers: discounts granted, whether code or automatic.
3. = Net revenue: what actually ends up as revenue.
4. − Product costs: per variant or as a flat value.
5. = Gross profit: shows whether product prices and purchase prices fit together.
6. − Advertising spend: Meta, Google, TikTok and other channels.
7. − Shipping, payment fees, refunds, taxes and fixed costs.
8. = Net profit: the value that really stays with you.

P&L table vs. waterfall:

• The P&L table is structured more for accounting and tax advisors.
• The waterfall shows visually where money is lost.

Typical aha moments:

• Advertising spend eats 25%+ of net revenue? → check MER/ROAS.
• Product costs above 50%? → check purchasing, bundles or prices.
• Refunds and complaints above 5%? → check product quality or expectation management.

Filter & period:

• Default: last 30 days. With the period filter you can choose 7/30/90/365 days or a custom period.
• Comparison period: previous period or previous year.
• Per shop or across several shops: multi-shop accounts can filter.

Export:

• Tables are exported where the “Export” button appears, for example under Products, Customers, Invoices and Receipts.
• Export of all your data: Settings → Data and advanced (“Daten und Erweitert”).
• DATEV: Finance & taxes (“Finanzen & Steuern”) → DATEV review (“DATEV-Prüfung”) shows account assignment, source and mandatory checks for further work in the accounting system.

If the numbers do not look plausible, start with the article “Why do my numbers differ from Shopify/Meta?”. Most of the time it is a question of definition, not a bug.