What is Net Revenue (Definition, Formula, And More)

July 8, 2022

What is Net Revenue (Definition, Formula, And More)

Net revenue is an important metric for businesses to calculate and track. But what is net revenue, exactly?

Net revenue can be defined as a business's total sales minus the cost of goods sold. It is important to track net revenue because it can give businesses a better understanding of their profit margins and how well they are performing financially.

In this blog post, we will discuss the definition of net revenue, its formula, and some benefits of calculating/estimating net revenue for businesses!

What is net revenue?

Net revenue, also known as the "top line," is a company's total sales minus the cost of goods sold. It is a metric that businesses use to track their financial performance.

Revenue vs profit

It is important to note that net revenue is not the same as profit. Profit is the amount of money that a business has left after all expenses have been paid. Net revenue only takes into account the cost of goods sold, not other expenses such as rent, salaries, and advertising.

How do you calculate net revenue?

The formula for net revenue is relatively simple:

Net Revenue = Total Sales - Cost of Goods Sold

Total sales is the amount of money that a company brings in from all its sales, both online and offline.

The cost of goods sold (COGS) is the direct costs associated with producing the goods or services that a company sells. This includes materials, labor, and shipping.

For example, if a company has total sales of $100,000 and the cost of goods sold is $40,000, the company's net revenue would be $60,000.

With Liveflow, you can automate the calculation of net revenue for your business.

Benefits of calculating net revenue to a business

Now that we know the definition and formula for net revenue, let's discuss some benefits of calculating/estimating it for businesses:

Net revenue is a helpful metric for businesses to track their financial performance because:

  • It provides insights into a company's overall sales figures
  • It can help businesses identify areas of improvement in their cost structure
  • It is a key input for other financial calculations, such as gross profit margin and operating income
  • It can help identify areas of improvement in terms of cost-cutting
  • It is a key ingredient in various financial ratios (e.g. gross profit margin)
  • It can be used to forecast future sales and profits

Net revenue is a good metric to use when comparing the financial performance of different companies because it strips out the effect of different accounting methods.

This allows for a more accurate comparison of profitability.

An important facet of accounting

Net revenue represents the total sales of a company minus the cost of goods sold, operating expenses, and taxes. In other words, it's the amount of money that a company has left over after all its expenses have been paid.

As you can imagine, calculating net revenue is important for businesses because it allows them to see how much money they're generating periodically, making it an essential metric for business owners and investors alike.

Effective accounting is critical for businesses of all sizes, and with LiveFlow, you can save time importing transactions from QuickBooks into Google Sheets and generating custom reports with ease.

The Smartest Finance Pros Choose LiveFlow!
Save time and stress on your QBO reporting.
Our average customer saves 8 days a year!
Book a demo

Continue reading

Set your financial reporting on autopilot. Goodbye manual work.

Eliminate manual data entry and create customized dashboards with live data.