# Cost of goods sold, month by month

> Add your opening stock once, then post each month's cost of goods sold per marketplace at FIFO cost. Returns come back into stock; losses are written off.

Category: Stock and cost of goods · Web page: https://bookalyze.com/guides/cost-of-goods-sold

## Opening stock, once

**Where in Bookalyze:** Inventory → Stock lots → Add opening stock

For stock you already had: product, how many, the cost of one, and the day you counted. It posts to Inventory against Opening balance equity, and sets the month cost of goods sold starts from.

## Each month

**Where in Bookalyze:** Inventory → Cost of goods sold

| Status | Means |
| --- | --- |
| Ready | The cost at FIFO is worked out; **Post** it |
| Posted | In the books, with its entry; **Undo** on the latest month |
| Needs attention | A SKU sold that isn't linked, or more sold than the lots hold |
| Waiting | An earlier month posts first, or the marketplace's stock ledger isn't in yet |
| In progress | The current month |

Each posting is one entry on the month's last day: Cost of goods sold, Inventory losses and write-offs, and Inventory the other way. Months post in order, across marketplaces.

## Returns and losses

With Amazon's or Noon's stock ledger brought in, customer returns come back as stock at that month's cost, and lost or damaged units are written off (found ones come back).

## What you should see

What you should see:
- [ ] Every finished month **Posted** for each marketplace
- [ ] Inventory on the balance sheet agrees with Stock lots
- [ ] Channel profit shows cost of goods for posted months

## Related guides

- [Landed cost and FIFO stock lots](https://bookalyze.com/guides/landed-cost-and-lots.md): What a unit really cost you: the supplier's price plus its share of freight, duty, brokerage and prep. Each delivery becomes stock lots, and sales use the oldest first.
- [Amazon's FBA inventory ledger: returns, losses and write-offs](https://bookalyze.com/guides/fba-inventory-ledger.md): Amazon's own record of every unit it shipped, got back, lost or found. Bookalyze brings it in daily so cost of goods sold counts returns and losses.
- [Noon FBN stock: the ledger, the summary and the check](https://bookalyze.com/guides/noon-fbn-stock.md): Noon's FBN inventory ledger feeds cost of goods sold like Amazon's. Its summary shows what Noon holds, and Bookalyze checks the two reports agree.
- [Channel profit: what each marketplace really makes](https://bookalyze.com/guides/channel-profit.md): A column per marketplace, in its own currency, from sales down to profit after fees, ads, cost of goods and your own costs. All channels together in your main currency.