The Calculation Preference setting is when you can change how TrueProfit calculates some metrics for your store, for example, the COGS, taxes, and return metrics. Additionally, you can also change the default payment status filter and default date range.
Setting up Profit Calculation Rules
To set up profit calculation rules, in the left navigation, click Store Settings > then "Calculation Preferences"
In this part, you will see 4 customization rules that are related to your metrics on the dashboard.
1. Exclude Taxes Collected metric from Net Profit formula
What it is: Taxes Collected is the sales tax (or VAT) you charge your buyer on each order. This number is pulled directly from Shopify Analytics. TrueProfit doesn't calculate it.
What happens by default:
The buyer pays you the tax → TrueProfit adds it to your Revenue. But that money isn't really yours. You'll need to send it to the government later. So TrueProfit also subtracts it from your Net Profit. The two cancel out, and the tax doesn't change your profit number.
Formula:
☐ Unticked (default): Net Profit = Revenue + Tips + Gift Card Sales − Total Cost − Taxes Collected
☑ Ticked: Net Profit = Revenue + Tips + Gift Card Sales − Total Cost
Ticking just removes − Taxes Collected from the formula. Nothing else changes.
Example: Order = $100 product + $10 tax. Product cost = $40.
- ☐ Unticked → Net Profit $60 (110 − 40 − 10)
- ☑ Ticked → Net Profit $70 (110 − 40)
The difference is exactly $10 (the Taxes Collected amount).
Leave it UNTICKED (default) if:
You collect tax from buyers AND you pay that tax to the government. The default keeps your Net Profit honest by removing tax money that isn't really yours.
TICK it if:
You don't actually pay this collected tax to the government. For example, you sell only tax-free items, or your sales are under the legal limit where you don't need to register and pay tax.
2. Exclude item’s COGS from refunded orders or "Exclude COGS Return from formula Total COGS = Product COGS − COGS return"
What it is: COGS Return is the cost of the items in a refunded order, credited back to you because those items return to your inventory and can be resold.
This setting controls what happens to the item's cost when a customer is refunded, not the cash refund itself, just the inventory cost.
When you refund a customer, two things happen:
1. You give the cash back. This always happens and the setting doesn't affect it.
2. The item itself might come back to your shelf, or it might be gone forever (damaged, kept by customer, perishable, etc.).
What happens by default:
TrueProfit assumes the item returns to your inventory in sellable condition. So it adds the item's cost back as a credit, the "COGS Return", because you can sell that item again. The refund ends up netting to zero impact on Net Profit.
Formula:
☐ Unticked (default): Total COGS = Product COGS − COGS Return
☑ Ticked: Total COGS = Product COGS
Ticking just removes − COGS Return from the formula. Nothing else changes.
Example: T-shirt sold for $100, your cost was $40. Customer is fully refunded.
☐ Unticked → Net Profit $0 (cost credited back — shirt assumed back in stock)
☑ Ticked → Net Profit −$40 (cost stays — shirt assumed gone)
The $100 cash refund happens either way. The difference is whether the $40 inventory cost is treated as recoverable or lost.
The question to ask yourself:
When you refund a customer, does the item usually come back to your inventory in a condition you can resell?
Leave it UNTICKED (default) if:
- You have a strict "must return for refund" policy AND items typically come back in sellable condition common for apparel, electronics, and other physical goods with tight return rules.
TICK it if any of these describes your business:
You refund customers without asking for the item back —common for low-value items where return shipping costs more than the product
You sell perishables: food, fresh flowers, anything that expires before it can be resold
You sell hygiene-sensitive items: opened cosmetics, intimate apparel, anything that can't be resold for safety reasons
You sell digital products, services, or subscriptions. There's no physical inventory to return
Customers do return items, but they often arrive damaged or unsellable
3. Don't count zero-revenue orders
What it is: A zero-revenue order is one where the customer paid $0, for example, a free sample or a 100%-off coupon order.
By default, this option is unticked. TrueProfit counts $0 orders normally on your dashboard.
When you tick it, the following changes apply to $0 orders only:
Their COGS (product cost) is no longer counted on the dashboard.
Their shipping cost and transaction fees are still displayed on the dashboard.
They are not counted in the Order Count metric on the dashboard.
In the Orders Report, every order, including $0 ones, still shows its full cost breakdown, order by order.
4. Calculate Returns on the same day the order is placed
What it is: This setting controls which date a refund counts on: the day Shopify processed the refund, or the day the original order was placed.
By default, this option is unticked: returns are calculated on the return date (the day Shopify processed the refund).
When you tick this option: Returns are calculated on the order date instead (the day the customer originally placed the order).
Saving this setting recalculates your reports. Every metric that includes refund amounts: Revenue, Gross Profit, and Net Profit will be recalculated across all your reports.
Example: A customer placed an order on April 28 for $2,000. They were refunded on May 15.
☐ Unticked (default):
The $2,000 refund counts on May 15 (the refund date)
April report stays unchanged
May report shows the −$2,000 refund
☑ Ticked:
The $2,000 refund counts on April 28 (the original order date)
April's Revenue, Gross Profit, and Net Profit are recalculated to reflect the −$2,000 refund
May report stays unchanged for this order
⚠️ Please note: If you tick this option, your TrueProfit Revenue will not match Shopify's Revenue. This is expected Shopify calculates refunds on the day they are processed (the default behavior). When you switch TrueProfit to "order date," the two systems will use different dates for refunds.
Select a default payment status filter for all orders
When syncing your order data from Shopify, TrueProfit will count all orders in all statuses by default. If you want to change this setting, click on the dropdown menu and select the order statuses you want to view in the TrueProfit app.
Note that this filter will affect all order data in your Dashboard, Orders Report, mobile app, and email reports.