Guides
Direct answers to the questions importers ask about cost of goods sold, landed cost and inventory valuation on Shopify. Each one opens with the answer, then shows the working.
Shopify COGS reports: what five tools give your accountant
Five tools graded on one question: what your accountant actually receives at month end. A journal to post, a number to rebuild, or nothing at all. Shopify plus a spreadsheet, TrueProfit, Prediko, Cin7 Core and Landara, as of August 2026.
Why your Shopify COGS is wrong
Cost per item is one static field per variant. It ignores freight and duty, cannot hold two shipment costs at once, and never catches the invoice that arrives late.
Landed cost vs COGS: what is the difference?
Landed cost is what a unit cost to get into your warehouse. COGS is that same cost booked as an expense when it sells. One is the input, the other the output, and what separates them is time.
FIFO vs average cost for Shopify stores
Two methods, one number, and a difference that only shows up when your landed costs move between shipments. What each does to COGS and inventory value, and how to choose.
How to handle landed cost in Xero
Xero has no landed cost feature. What people do instead, which account each charge belongs to, and the recoverable import GST mistake that inflates every number downstream.
How to handle landed cost in QuickBooks Online
QBO records the bills and never spreads them across your units. The workarounds people use, and which account each charge actually belongs to.
Landed cost and GST for Australian importers
Customs duty and import GST arrive on the same broker invoice and only one belongs in your stock value. What happens to your COGS and your BAS when that goes wrong.
Shopify inventory valuation
Units times Cost per item is not a valuation. Why the number in your admin drifts from the Inventory balance in your ledger, and how to reconcile them every period.