What is the difference between COGS and operating expenses?

COGS (cost of goods sold) are direct costs tied to producing or delivering each sale, such as materials and payment fees. Operating expenses are overheads that exist regardless of sales volume, like rent, salaries, and software subscriptions.

How is gross profit calculated?

Gross profit equals total revenue minus total COGS. Dividing gross profit by revenue gives the gross margin percentage, which shows how much of each sale is left after direct costs to cover overheads and profit.

How is net profit calculated?

Net profit equals gross profit minus total operating expenses, which is the same as revenue minus COGS minus OpEx. A negative result is a net loss and the tool highlights it so you can adjust the plan toward break-even.

Is this a substitute for accounting software?

No. This is a planning and budgeting outline, not bookkeeping. Use it to model a month ahead, then track actuals in proper accounting software and compare them against this budget.

Does my data leave the browser?

No. All calculations run locally in your browser and nothing is uploaded or stored between sessions. Export your budget to CSV or Markdown before closing the tab to keep a copy.

Small Business Budget Builder

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Plan a profitable month before it starts

A small business budget is a forward-looking, simplified profit and loss statement. This builder lets you model a single month: list your revenue streams, separate direct costs from overheads, and instantly see whether the plan turns a profit. It computes gross profit, net profit or loss, and both margins, then exports a clean table you can drop into your accounting spreadsheet.

How it works

The tool follows the standard P&L structure:

Gross profit = Revenue − COGS
Net profit   = Gross profit − Operating expenses
             = Revenue − COGS − OpEx

Margins are expressed as a share of revenue: Gross margin = Gross profit ÷ Revenue × 100 and Net margin = Net profit ÷ Revenue × 100. Keeping COGS and OpEx in separate buckets matters because gross margin tells you whether each sale is fundamentally profitable, while net margin tells you whether the whole operation covers its overheads.

Tips and example

Imagine 28000 in revenue, 5900 in COGS, and 12900 in operating expenses. Gross profit is 22100 (a 78.9% gross margin), and after overheads the net profit is 9200 (a 32.9% net margin). If a new hire pushed OpEx to 17000, net profit would fall to 5100 — still positive, but the lower net margin signals less cushion. Build the model, save the CSV, and update only the lines that change each month so you can compare planned versus actual performance.