updates | May 05, 2026

What costs are included in COGS?

Cost of goods sold (COGS) is the cost of acquiring or manufacturing the products that a company sells during a period, so the only costs included in the measure are those that are directly tied to the production of the products, including the cost of labor, materials, and manufacturing overhead.

What are examples of COGS?

Examples of what can be listed as COGS include the cost of materials, labor, the wholesale price of goods that are resold, such as in grocery stores, overhead, and storage. Any business supplies not used directly for manufacturing a product are not included in COGS.

How do you find cost of goods sold?

The cost of goods sold formula is calculated by adding purchases for the period to the beginning inventory and subtracting the ending inventory for the period.

Are COGS good or bad?

Knowing the cost of goods sold is useful for analysts, investors, and business owners to estimate your company’s bottom line. If COGS increases, net income will decrease. For that reason, business owners try to keep their COGS low so their net profit will be higher.

Is freight included in COGS?

COGS expenses include: The cost of products or raw materials, including freight or shipping charges; Factory overhead expenses.

What does an increase in COGS mean?

An increase in COGS may be due to rising prices for supplies or be associated with a decline in revenues. By contrast, improvements in cost controls, productivity or the adoption of new technology can bring the COGS percentage down, resulting in a larger gross profit and an increase in net operating profit.

Are COGS part of Opex?

OPEX are not included in cost of goods sold (COGS) but consist of the direct costs involved in the production of a company’s goods and services. COGS includes direct labor, direct materials or raw materials, and overhead costs for the production facility.

Is COGS the same as operating expense?

COGS includes direct labor, direct materials or raw materials, and overhead costs for the production facility. Operating expenses are the remaining costs that are not included in COGS. Operating expenses can include: Rent.

Is COGS a debit or credit?

Cost of Goods Sold is an EXPENSE item with a normal debit balance (debit to increase and credit to decrease).

What is the difference between COGS and sales?

Companies will often list on their balance sheets cost of goods sold (COGS) or cost of sales (and sometimes both), leading to confusion about what the two terms mean. Fundamentally, there is almost no difference between cost of goods sold and cost of sales. In accounting, the two terms are often used interchangeably.

Is customs duty a cost of goods sold?

Cost of goods purchased for resale includes purchase price as well as all other costs of acquisitions, excluding any discounts. Additional costs may include freight paid to acquire the goods, customs duties, sales or use taxes not recoverable paid on materials used, and fees paid for acquisition.

Can COGS be positive?

Cost of Goods Sold can be defined as cost of goods intended to be purchased. Generally cost of goods sold is always positive because a firm generally sells something no matter firm sells a large volume or small volume.

What is the difference between COGS and operating expenses?

Are utilities part of COGS?

COGS does not include indirect expenses, like overhead costs. When calculating your cost of goods sold, do not factor in costs like utility, marketing, rent, and shipping expenses.

Why is COGS a debit?

A debit to Cost of Goods Sold means that that account balance has increased. It also means that more goods have just been sold, and thus must be increased since the cost (expense) can now be taken against income. The other side of the journal entry would be a credit to Inventory for the same amount.

Why would you debit COGS?

As the cost of goods sold is a debit account, debiting it will increase the cost of goods sold and reduce the company’s profits. The inventory account is of debit nature and crediting it will decrease the value of closing inventory. The cost of goods sold is also increased by incurring costs on direct labor.

Can COGS be higher than sales?

If the COGS exceeds total sales, a company will have a negative gross profit, meaning it is losing money over time and has a negative gross profit margin. When sales exceed costs by a large amount, the gross profit margin will tend to be high, while low sales will result in a low gross profit margin or negative profit.

How do you analyze COGS?

A relatively simple way to determine the cost of goods sold is to compare inventory at the start and end of a given period using the formula: COGS = Beginning Inventory + Additional Inventory – Ending Inventory.