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How To Set Up Cost And Expenses

A guide on how to properly set your COGS data in Modern Ai

Updated over 3 months ago

Cost & Expenses Guide

The Cost & Expenses section in Modern allows you to add and manage your product-level COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) data. This helps ensure your financial metrics and reports are accurate, whether you’re tracking Shopify or Amazon sales.

There are three ways to set up your COGS:

1. Set a Default Gross Margin

Use this option if you don’t have product-specific cost data available yet.

  • Go to Cost & Expenses → Default gross margin.

  • Enter your default margin as a percentage of the full-price item (e.g., enter 10 for 10%).

  • This default margin applies to all products (Shopify and Amazon).

👉 Even if you upload specific COGS later, it’s best to set a default margin as a fallback. This ensures new SKUs without cost data will still have accurate estimates.

2. Upload a CSV with Product-Level COGS

If you want precise COGS data by SKU or ASIN, you can upload a CSV file.

Your file must include three columns:

  1. SKU (or ASIN for Amazon products)

  2. Product Name

  3. COGS (cost of goods sold)

Steps:

  1. Go to Cost & Expenses → Costs & Expenses.

  2. Click the upload button and select your CSV file.

  3. Once uploaded, your product-level COGS will map directly to the corresponding SKUs or ASINs.

📌 Tip: You can include both Shopify SKUs and Amazon ASINs in the same CSV. Just make sure the correct identifier is used for each product.

3. Add Products Individually

If you only need to add or update a few products, you don’t need to re-upload a CSV.

  • Go to Cost & Expenses → Costs & Expenses.

  • Click Add Product.

  • Enter the product name, SKU/ASIN, and COGS manually.

  • Save changes.

This is useful if you’ve already uploaded a CSV but want to add just one or two new SKUs without re-creating the whole file.

Best Practices

  • Always set a default gross margin → It acts as a safety net for new SKUs.

  • Use CSV upload for bulk updates → Ideal for large product catalogs.

  • Use manual entry for small edits → Quick and efficient for single products.

  • Amazon support included → Just use ASIN instead of SKU in your CSV or manual entry.

✅ With these three methods, you’ll always have accurate COGS data driving your reports, regardless of whether you’re selling on Shopify, Amazon, or both.

🔹 FAQs

Do I need both a default gross margin and product-level COGS?
Yes. Even if you upload detailed COGS, a default margin acts as a backup for new SKUs or missing data.

Does this work for Amazon products too?
Yes. Use ASIN instead of SKU when uploading or entering data manually.

What happens if I don’t provide COGS for a product?
Modern will automatically use the default gross margin until you provide specific COGS.

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