Overhead Expenses Demystified for Handmade Business Owners
Overhead expenses are all those behind-the-scenes costs — rent, website hosting, shipping supplies, subscriptions, and more — that keep your handmade business alive… but often get ignored when you price your creations. This post shows you how to gather your expenses, calculate a realistic hourly or per-item overhead cost, and bake that number into your prices so you stop working for free.
Cost of Goods Sold for Makers: What It Means and Where Product Costs Belong
Cost of Goods Sold sounds like stiff accounting speak, but for handmade business owners it answers a very practical question: what did it actually cost to make and sell the products you sold? In this post, we’ll break down what COGS means, where it shows up on your Profit & Loss Report, and why the yarn, fabric, beads, wax, clay, packaging, and selling fees connected to sold products matter more than your sales number alone.
When Inventory + COGS Actually Hit Your Bookkeeping (And Your Taxes)
Confused about when inventory and Cost of Goods Sold actually affect your taxes? This post breaks down when inventory becomes COGS, why your profit can feel “off,” and how it all shows up on your Schedule C—without accounting jargon or panic.
This post was originally written & published 1/27/2020 and has been updated.
How to Calculate Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for a Single Handmade Item (Step-by-Step)
COGS doesn’t have to feel like a mystery novel. Here’s how to calculate cost of goods sold for one handmade item using a crochet amigurumi witch—materials, selling fees, and the bookkeeping flow. PLUS there’s a video showing how this is done using the 10-Minute Bookkeeper system including the Handmade Product Pricing & COGS Calculator. Part 7 of the Inventory + COGS for Handmade Businesses series.