Who the audit is for
- Independent UK brands selling on Shopify
- Stores with regular sales and more than a handful of products
- Businesses with real costs to untangle: advertising, shipping, returns
- Founders, owners and ecommerce managers who want a second pair of eyes on the numbers
It is probably not for you if
- Your store is new and has little sales history yet
- You need bookkeeping, tax returns or statutory accounts
- You want a live dashboard rather than a one-off review
Questions this audit is built to answer
- Which products still make money once ads and shipping are counted?
- Is our advertising paying for itself?
- Why doesn't the bank balance match the sales chart?
- What do returns really cost us?
- Are discounts and free shipping eating the margin?
- Do the numbers in our different reports even agree?
What the audit includes
- Profit by product
- Which products keep money after their costs and which don't, as far as your data allows.
- Where the margin goes
- The costs that take the biggest share of your sales, and anything that looks out of line.
- Three recommendations
- Specific things to look at, in the order we would tackle them. Each comes with an estimated impact, the effort involved, how confident we are, and the assumptions behind the estimate.
- A PDF report
- Everything written down, so you can share it or come back to it.
- A 30-minute call
- We go through the findings together and you ask whatever you like.
What we look at
The audit works from the last 30 days of figures you are able to share. More complete data means a more detailed audit.
- Net sales and refunds
- Cost of goods sold
- Advertising spend
- Shipping and fulfilment costs
- Payment processing fees
- Returns and related costs
- Other variable costs
How it works
Request an audit
Tell us a little about your store using the form below. We reply by email to check the audit is a good fit.
Share your last 30 days
We agree by email which figures to share and how to send them securely. Nothing financial goes through this website.
Get your report and call
You receive the PDF report, then we spend 30 minutes going through it with you.
What an audit looks like
Fictional exampleThis store does not exist. Every figure, product, note and estimate below is invented to show the format of an audit. It is not a client result.
Invented figures, 30 days
- Gross sales
- 42,180
- Refunds
- -2,310
- Net sales
- 39,870
- Cost of goods
- -16,450
- Advertising
- -9,870
- 25% of net sales. Only two campaigns pay back
- Shipping
- -4,120
- Payment fees
- -1,180
- Returns handling
- -640
- Mostly one product. Worth a look
- Contribution margin
- €7,610
19% of net sales. Start with ads.
19 cents left from every euro of net sales.Not a real store.
Contribution by productFictional example
| Product | Net sales | Contribution | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linen apron | €13,500 | €4,120 | 31% |
| Stoneware mug set | €11,300 | €2,860 | 25% |
| Oak serving board | €8,900 | €1,230 | 14% |
| Gift bundle | €6,170 | -€600 | -10% |
Three recommendationsFictional example
Review the gift bundle
After its discount, advertising and shipping it sells at a loss. Reprice it, change what goes in it, or stop promoting it.
- Estimated impact
- Up to €600 a month
- Effort
- Low
- Confidence
- High
Move ad spend to the two campaigns that pay back
Most of the advertising cost sits in campaigns that bring in less than they cost. Test pausing the weakest ones first. The estimate depends on how reliable the ad platform's attribution is.
- Estimated impact
- €500 to €900 a month
- Effort
- Medium
- Confidence
- Medium
Test a higher free-shipping threshold
Small single-item orders ship free and lose most of their margin on postage. A higher threshold can also reduce orders, so this needs a test before a decision.
- Estimated impact
- €200 to €400 a month
- Effort
- Low
- Confidence
- Low
The impact figures are illustrative estimates for this invented store, in contribution per month. In a real audit each estimate comes with the assumptions behind it. Estimates are not guarantees.
How to read these figures
- Gross sales
- Everything customers paid for orders in the period, before refunds.
- Net sales
- Gross sales minus refunds. Here €42,180 minus €2,310 is €39,870. Margins are measured against this figure.
- Variable costs
- Costs that rise and fall with orders: the goods themselves, advertising, shipping, payment fees and returns handling. Here they add up to €32,260.
- Contribution margin
- Net sales minus variable costs. Here €39,870 minus €32,260 is €7,610, or 19% of net sales. It is what remains to cover fixed costs such as salaries, rent and software, so it is not the same as net profit.
30-Day Profit Clarity Audit
€199pilot price, one-time
MarginTrove is a new service and this is a pilot. The price is lower while we learn what merchants find most useful, and we will ask for your honest feedback afterwards.
Included in the price
- Profit by product
- Where the margin goes
- Three recommendations
- A PDF report
- A 30-minute call
- We do not promise or guarantee any improvement in profit.
- The audit is not accounting, tax or financial advice and does not replace your accountant.
Questions
Is this accounting or tax advice?
No. The audit looks at how your store makes and loses margin day to day. It does not replace your accountant, bookkeeper or tax adviser, and it is not financial advice.
Do you guarantee I will make more profit?
No. You get a clear picture and three recommendations. What you do with them, and what happens next, depends on your business.
How is this different from a profit dashboard?
Apps such as Shopify Analytics, TrueProfit, BeProfit and Lifetimely show you numbers. The audit is a person reading your numbers, checking whether they hold up, and telling you what they would look at first. You can keep using any dashboard alongside it.
Why is it €199?
MarginTrove is a new service and this is a pilot. The price is lower while we learn what merchants find most useful, and we will ask for your honest feedback afterwards.
Why is the price in euros?
The pilot is priced and invoiced in euros for now. Your bank or card provider converts it to pounds at their rate.
How do I pay?
By invoice, once we have agreed by email that the audit suits your store. There is no checkout on this website.
What data do you need, and how do I send it?
Sales, refunds, product costs, advertising spend, shipping, payment fees and returns for the last 30 days, or as much of that as you have. We agree how to share it securely by email. Please do not send figures or files through the form on this page.
What if my data is incomplete?
That is common. We work with what you can provide and say plainly in the report what we could not conclude. Product-level profit is only included where the data supports it.
Who is behind MarginTrove?
MarginTrove is operated by Tessora LLC. You can reach us at hello@margintrove.com.
Request a Profit Audit
Tell us about your store and we will reply by email. Requesting an audit does not commit you to anything.
Please do not include financial figures or attach files here. We will agree a secure way to share data by email.
Prefer email? Write to hello@margintrove.com. Read the privacy notice.