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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sellfern.com/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Operating Expenses captures overhead and indirect costs that are not tied to individual orders but still affect your bottom line. Costs like advertising spend, software subscriptions, office lease, and other services belong here. When you record them in Sellfern, the Analytics module subtracts them from your Gross Profit to calculate your true Net Profit.

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What belongs in Operating Expenses

Use Operating Expenses for any cost that supports the operation of your business but is not directly attached to a specific order:
  • Ad spend (Facebook, Google, Etsy Ads, etc.)
  • Software subscriptions and tools
  • Logistics and service fees
  • Office costs and other overhead
  • Any custom category you define
Production costs tied to a specific order — like supplier base costs — belong in the Ledger, not here.

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Setting up expense categories

Before you start recording expenses, configure your categories in Settings → Expense Categories.
  • Categories are split into Operating and Payroll groups.
  • You can drag and drop categories to reorder how they appear in dropdown menus.
  • Mark a category as Inactive if you no longer use it. Inactive categories are hidden from dropdowns but your historical data is preserved.
  • Only admin users can create or modify categories.

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Recording an expense

You can add expenses three ways:
  • Single Entry — enter one expense at a time. Best for one-off costs.
  • Bulk Entry — enter multiple expenses in a grid. Faster when you have several items to log at once.
  • CSV Upload — upload a spreadsheet of expenses. The fastest option when importing from another system or your bank statements.

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Required fields

Every expense entry requires:
  • Date — when the expense occurred.
  • Category — select from your configured categories, or choose Other and enter a custom label.
  • Amount — the cost in USD (currently the only supported currency).
You can optionally assign an expense to a specific Store, or leave it blank to apply it as a general (consolidated) expense. A Description field is also available for notes.
When entering expenses manually or via bulk entry, Sellfern checks for potential duplicates — same date, category, and store. You will see a warning before saving if a matching record already exists.

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Ad spend and VAT

A 5% VAT is automatically added to any expense recorded under an Ads category. The VAT is calculated and tracked separately, so your Analytics reports show both the net ad spend and the VAT component.

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Recurring expenses

For costs that repeat on a regular schedule, you can set up a recurring expense entry. Sellfern will apply the same amount, category, and store assignment on the recurrence you configure, so you do not need to re-enter predictable overhead costs manually each period.

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How expenses affect Analytics

Operating expenses feed directly into the Net Profit calculation in your Analytics reports: 
Net Profit = Gross Profit - Operating Expenses
For this calculation to be accurate, expenses must be logged for the same time period you are analyzing. If you run an Analytics report for October but have not recorded October’s ad spend yet, your Net Profit will appear higher than it actually is. After logging new expenses, apply the matching date range in Analytics and click Update to see the recalculated figures.
Payroll is a separate admin-only module in Sellfern. Payroll costs are not entered through Operating Expenses, but they do feed into the same P&L calculation. If you have payroll costs that are not appearing in your net profit, confirm with your admin that payroll entries have been recorded for the relevant period.