--- id: "accounting-overview" lang: "en" title: "Read the Accounting overview" summary: "The Accounting overview reads as a profit and loss: what came in, what it cost, what is left. Stock purchases, salaries, bonuses and deductions sit apart because they don't change profit." area: "Money & accounting" kind: "reference" url: "https://zeropos.shop/help/accounting-overview" alternate: "https://zeropos.shop/help/accounting-overview?lang=es" markdown: "https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/accounting-overview.md" screens: ["/reports/accounting","/reports/accounting/payments"] where_to_find: ["INSIGHTS › Accounting › Overview","INSIGHTS › Accounting › Payments"] related: ["log-an-expense","cash-and-bank-accounts","simple-or-expert","payroll","purchase-orders"] updated: "2026-10-16" --- # Read the Accounting overview The Accounting overview reads as a profit and loss: what came in, what it cost, what is left. Stock purchases, salaries, bonuses and deductions sit apart because they don't change profit. [INSIGHTS › Accounting › Overview](https://app.zeropos.shop/reports/accounting) shows one month at a time; use the arrows to change month, or **Last 7 days**, **This year** and **Custom** for other periods. With more than one region, a **Region** filter appears. Where to find it: INSIGHTS › Accounting › Overview; INSIGHTS › Accounting › Payments. ## Before you start - The first time an owner opens it, Zero POS asks you to choose Simple or Expert ([Simple or Expert accounting](https://zeropos.shop/help/simple-or-expert)). ## Sales: what came in **Revenue**: what customers paid, after refunds, VAT included. A gift card counts on the day it is sold, not again when it is spent; a layaway counts in the month it is completed, so completing one never changes a month you have closed ([Layaway: hold items while a customer pays over time](https://zeropos.shop/help/layaway)). **Revenue ex. VAT**: your prices without VAT, before discounts. **Net revenue ex. VAT**: the same after discounts. Every margin is worked out on this figure ([How prices and tax work: VAT or sales tax](https://zeropos.shop/help/prices-and-vat)). ## Costs: what it cost **Cost of goods sold**: what the items you sold cost you, from each product's cost price. **Operating expenses**: everything logged in Expenses for the period ([Record an expense (including wages you paid)](https://zeropos.shop/help/log-an-expense)). **Processor fees** appears when card fees were recorded ([Add a payment method](https://zeropos.shop/help/payment-methods)). **Inventory losses** appears when stock left as testers or damaged ([Mark tester or damaged](https://zeropos.shop/help/tester-or-damaged)). **Total operating costs** adds the expenses, fees and losses together. ## Profit: what is left **Gross margin**: net revenue ex. VAT minus cost of goods sold, with its percentage. **Net profit**: gross margin minus total operating costs, with the net margin percentage. ## Stock purchases **Supplier spend** is the goods on orders received in the period; **Total outlay** adds shipping and customs. **Pending commitment** is orders not received yet ([Order from a supplier and receive it](https://zeropos.shop/help/purchase-orders)). None of it reduces profit here: stock becomes a cost when it sells, or a loss when it is written off. ## Salaries, bonuses and deductions **Estimated salaries — live** is what the team has earned so far in the period. It doesn't change **Net profit**: log real wages as an expense once they are paid ([Team salary and payroll runs](https://zeropos.shop/help/payroll)). **Bonuses and deductions paid** is the bonuses marked as already paid, less the deductions paid back: money that has already moved on your ledgers. It isn't counted in **Net profit** either, because pay counts as a cost once you log what you paid as an expense. It never holds a cash advance before payday, which is recorded another way ([Team salary and payroll runs](https://zeropos.shop/help/payroll#faq-cash-advance)). ## Holdings (Expert) **Total holdings (live)** is the money in your accounts plus your stock at cost, with the change against last month ([Cash and bank accounts (Expert)](https://zeropos.shop/help/cash-and-bank-accounts)). On a past month it shows the figure at the end of that month. Simple mode shows everything else on the page, without this row or the **Transfer** button. ## Every payment in one list [INSIGHTS › Accounting › Payments](https://app.zeropos.shop/reports/accounting/payments) lists every payment made through the app: expenses, supplier payments, and bonuses and deductions already paid. Filter by **Type** or **Ledger**, or search. Switch between **List** and **Calendar**, and tap a row or a day to see the details and open where it came from. Tick **Include processor fees** to add card fees. ## Common questions ### Why does a month with lots of gift cards look so profitable? A gift card counts as revenue when it is sold, with no cost. When it is spent, the goods' cost lands with no new revenue, so that month looks thinner. Over the two months it evens out. ### Does running payroll change net profit? No. Payroll only works out what people earned. Net profit changes when you log what you paid as an expense ([Record an expense (including wages you paid)](https://zeropos.shop/help/log-an-expense)). ### How do I give these figures to my accountant? The data reports export to CSV, including **Expenses** and **Payments** ([What each report answers](https://zeropos.shop/help/reports-overview)). ## Good to know - The buttons at the top jump straight to **Log expense**, **Payroll history** and **Run payroll**. ## Related guides - [Record an expense (including wages you paid)](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/log-an-expense.md) - [Cash and bank accounts (Expert)](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/cash-and-bank-accounts.md) - [Simple or Expert accounting](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/simple-or-expert.md) - [Team salary and payroll runs](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/payroll.md) - [Order from a supplier and receive it](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/purchase-orders.md)