Let's call this our 2026 prediction edition. We've made some predictions and are sharing those of others. Here's to hoping for a good 2026!

If you need help with your ecommerce accounting, sales tax, inventory management, CFO, or other accounting related issues, let us know.

Top 3

1. [LISTEN] 4 Ecommerce Profit Margins to Master

• Do you understand the 4 margins? Gross, contribution, net operating, profit?
• Gross margin explains product costs and is often miscalculated.
• Contribution margin is misunderstood and reveals sales efficiency.
• Operating margin reveals business efficiency.
• Bottom line profit margin can be obscured by debt challenges and tax strategy.

2. [READ] Amazon Rules Product Discovery, for Now

• Amazon still leads product search, but initial product searches on Amazon fell to 56%, down from 61% in 2022.
• The top product discovery sites are Amazon, Search engines, Walmart.com, YouTube, Target.com, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest
• AI commerce is likely to shift where the first query occurs while Social commerce will increasingly resemble search engines for lifestyle-driven categories

3. [READ] Why Your COGS Numbers Are Probably Wrong (+ 5 Ways to Fix Them)

If your profit margins feel unpredictable, your product costs are probably wrong, and it's costing you more than you think.

• The 5 reasons your COGS numbers are off (and why outdated costs are the biggest culprit)
• 3 Simple checks to diagnose if your cost tracking is broken
• What it actually costs when you can't trust your margins - from missed opportunities to year-end chaos
• The step-by-step fixes that stabilize margins. Not sexy, but they work.

In Other News

[READ] Shopify Pricing 2026: How Much Does It Really Cost to Run a Store?

• Compare the fully loaded costs of Shopify's different versions.
• Shopify Payments can be a significant cost depending on the version and volume of sales.
• Apps expand costs as most stores run 3-7 apps costing $5–$50 per month per app.

[WATCH] Revenue Up, Profit Down? Your COGS Tracking Is Broken

Revenue climbing but profit margins swinging wildly? Most 7-figure sellers use the "cash approach" to COGS - expensing inventory immediately - which sorta works until growth exposes the cracks.

• Why the default COGS method creates unpredictable margins
• The proper inventory accounting method that matches costs to revenue (with real examples)
• How a $2M client discovered hidden profitability issues and fixed them
• When spreadsheets stop working and what to do instead

You can also read it here instead.

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