How to prepare before the onboarding meeting

Follow this guide to prepare for the onboarding by creating an account, adding your first website, creating the integration, and preparing your fallback cost


Part 1A: Create a business account and add your first website
(Part 1B: Create an Agency account Agencies only)
Part 2: Install the ProfitMetrics module/app
Part 3: Get an overview of your variable order costs (fallback costs)
Part 4: Install the Zoom app


Part 1A: Create account and add your first website

  1. Create account and add your first website.
    1. For Shopify, follow this guide
    2. For any other platforms, follow this guide
  2. Come back to this article to complete the next steps

(Part 1B: Create an Agency account Agencies only)

  1. Create an Agency Account:  How to create an Agency Account
  2. Optional: Grant Agency access: How to grant Agency Access

Part 2: Install the Right ProfitMetrics Module/App

 Choose and install the ProfitMetrics module or app that fits your setup.

NOTE: For custom CMS

For a custom CMS we recommend a full Hybrid Server-side Integration where possible. This requires effort from your developer to create the integration. Alternatively, there is a Client-Side integration that can be fully completed within GTM if necessary:

 
Part 3: Get an overview of your variable order costs (fallback costs)

At a minimum, you will need the following for each website: 

  1. VAT of the specific country  (%)
  2. Average mark-up or margin on products (%)
  3. Average cost of shipping per order ex-VAT
  4. Average payment processing fee per order (%)
  5. Average cost for packaging, tape, labels, etc. ($)

Please note that specific Shipping method costs and Payment method costs will still need to be set up after we have started receiving orders.

Fallback Costs

Fallback costs are configured in Expenses > Fallback Costs, and are used to provide average costs when specific costs are not available:

2025-04-07 - 10_04_33 - Order expenses - ProfitMetrics

What is your VAT/Tax rate?

We use this to calculate the full payment processing fee as well as calculate the revenue incl. VAT/Tax for Google Ads and Analytics. 

What is your average Product Markup or Margin?

These are dynamic fields - as soon as you enter a value in any of these three fields, the others auto-calculate based on what you've entered. We use these to calculate the estimated cost price for each product in case the cost price is missing. You only need to know one of them, but it is important that you understand the difference.

Markup

Description: Markup is the amount added to the cost price of a product to determine the selling price. It is usually expressed as a percentage of the cost price.

Example: If the cost price of a product is $100 and the sales price is $300, the “Markup” is calculated as follows:

Markup Percentage=((Sales Price−Cost Price)/Cost Price)×100

Markup Percentage=((300−100)/100)×100=200%

Margin

Description: Margin is the difference between the sales price and the cost price, expressed as a percentage of the sales price. It represents the profit made on the sale.

Example: If the cost price of a product is $100 and the sales price is $300, the “Margin” is calculated as follows:

Margin Percentage=((Sales Price−Cost Price)/Sales Price)×100

Margin Percentage=((300−100)/300)×100=66.67%

Price/Cost Ratio

Description: The price/cost ratio is a simple comparison of the sales price to the cost price. It shows how many times the cost price is contained in the sales price.

Example: If the cost price of a product is $100 and the sales price is $300, the “Price/Cost Ratio” is calculated as follows:

Price/Cost Ratio=Sales Price/Cost Price

Price/Cost Ratio=300/100=3

What is your Average Shipping Cost ex. VAT/Tax?

We use this to deduct the shipping cost when no specific Shipping Method is set. We will define the specific Shipping methods in Expenses > Shipping Methods, so in this field please add either your most common shipping cost, or your average shipping cost.
NOTE: this is the amount you pay to the shipping company, not the amount you charge customers at checkout.

What is your Average Payment Processing Fee (%)?

We use this to deduct the Payment Processing Fee when no specific Payment Method is set. We will define the specific Payment methods in Expenses > Payment Methods

What is your Packaging and handling cost?

This is a fixed amount deducted from all orders and usually covers things like packaging, labels, and other handling-related expenses.
 

Product costs

Make sure you know the cost price of all, or the most popular, products and import them into your e-commerce platform for more precise profit calculations. Some modules will generate a feed for you automatically, though you may need to generate your own XML feed as well. Please see our knowledge base for additional guides.


Part 4: Install the Zoom app


During our onboarding call we will request control of your mouse for a smoother onboarding process. Please ensure that you have the app installed, and are not joining through the browser as we cannot request control of your mouse without the app.

Click here to download and install Zoom.


Contact customer success at support@profitmetrics.io in case you have further questions.