Example P&L for an Etsy Seller
What a statement-built P&L looks like for a one-person Etsy shop: three months of net deposits, the materials line that decides the margin, and why the bank disagrees with the dashboard.
- This example shows a fictional stationery shop, Foxglove Paper Goods, banking $4,123.18 to $4,799.80 a month in settled Etsy deposits plus three spring craft fairs.
- The revenue line is net of Etsy's fees because that is what the bank received. The shop dashboard and the 1099-K both report gross sales, which is a larger number, and the reading notes below reconcile the gap.
- Materials run about 23 percent of income across the quarter. That ratio, not any single month's spend, is the number a handmade seller should watch.
- Booth fees and the wholesale paper haul land in the month paid, so single columns wobble; the quarter view is the honest one.
- Net margin comes out near 63 percent before the owner pays herself, which is plausible for paper goods and would be lower for material-heavy crafts.
- The numbers are fictional, but the format, categories, and judgment calls are exactly what a reconciled statement-based P&L delivers.
Below is a complete example profit and loss statement for a fictional one-person Etsy stationery shop, Foxglove Paper Goods, covering April through June 2026. Every line is the kind that actually appears on an Etsy seller's bank and card statements, and every total on the page is computed from the lines, so the document foots the way a delivered report must.
The most important thing to understand before reading it: the income line is what Etsy deposited, not what buyers paid. Etsy takes its listing, transaction, and payment-processing fees before the money moves, and refunds net out inside the deposits too. So this P&L will always read lower than the shop dashboard and lower than the 1099-K, and the reading notes explain exactly how to reconcile the three numbers when a preparer or lender asks.
| INCOME | April | May | June | Total |
| Etsy deposits (net of fees) | $4,123.18 | $4,487.62 | $3,976.45 | $12,587.25 |
| Craft-fair deposits | $0.00 | $312.18 | $449.07 | $761.25 |
| Total income | $4,123.18 | $4,799.80 | $4,425.52 | $13,348.50 |
| EXPENSES | April | May | June | Total |
| Materials (COGS) | $987.34 | $1,214.06 | $872.15 | $3,073.55 |
| Shipping supplies & postage | $314.42 | $368.71 | $296.84 | $979.97 |
| Software & subscriptions | $89.97 | $89.97 | $104.96 | $284.90 |
| Booth & market fees | $145.00 | $0.00 | $185.00 | $330.00 |
| Fair vendor insurance | $0.00 | $216.48 | $0.00 | $216.48 |
| Total expenses | $1,536.73 | $1,889.22 | $1,458.95 | $4,884.90 |
| NET PROFIT | $2,586.45 | $2,910.58 | $2,966.57 | $8,463.60 |
- Owner draws $6,600.00: What the owner paid herself is not a business expense; it sits below the P&L so the shop's profit is not understated.
- Transfer from personal savings $800.00: The owner's own money arriving to fund the May paper haul is an owner contribution, not revenue, so it stays off the sales line.
Line notes
- Etsy deposits (net of fees): Weekly ETSY DEPOSIT lines as they settled to checking. Each one is already net of listing, transaction, and payment-processing fees, and of the two refunds issued this quarter.
- Craft-fair deposits: Square batches from three spring markets, counted when the batch deposited, not when the table was booked.
- Materials (COGS): Card stock, ink, envelopes, and the packaging that ships inside the order. May carries a wholesale paper haul; on cash basis it lands in the month paid.
- Shipping supplies & postage: Mailers, boxes, and post-office runs. Labels bought through Etsy come out of the payment account instead, so they never debit the bank separately.
- Software & subscriptions: Design tools and a bookkeeping app; a scheduling tool joined in June.
- Booth & market fees: Table fees paid weeks ahead of the events they buy. Cash basis records them in the month paid, which is why April carries fees for May's markets.
- Fair vendor insurance: An annual liability policy two of the summer markets require a certificate for; one premium, one month.
The margin story a reader sees
The quarter banks $13,348.50 of income against $4,884.90 of expenses, leaving $8,463.60, a net margin near 63 percent before the owner pays herself. For paper goods, where the material cost of a card or print is small against its price, that is believable; a jewelry or woodworking shop with the same revenue would show a fatter materials line and a thinner margin, and the industry guide is honest that handmade margins vary too much by craft for a universal benchmark.
The number worth tracking is the materials share: $3,073.55 of materials against $13,348.50 of income is about 23 percent. If that ratio drifts toward 40 percent over a few quarters and prices have not moved, the shop is quietly working for its suppliers. It falls straight out of the monthly columns, which is most of the reason to keep them.
Why the bank disagrees with the dashboard, in numbers
For the same quarter, Foxglove's shop dashboard showed $15,310.00 of gross sales. The bank received $13,348.50. The $1,961.50 difference is Etsy's listing, transaction, and payment-processing fees plus the two refunds, all deducted before anything deposited. Both numbers are true; they measure different points in the pipe, and this P&L takes the bank side because the bank side is the one an outside reader can verify.
The 1099-K reports the gross figure, so at filing time the preparer typically reports gross and deducts the fees, arriving at the same profit this page shows. What matters is that the gap is explained rather than discovered: a P&L whose basis note says settled cash, net of platform fees is a document a preparer can work with in minutes.
Timing wobble is not performance
May looks like the expensive month: the wholesale paper haul, the annual fair insurance premium, and the biggest shipping spend all land there, yet May still nets $2,910.58, ahead of April, because two market batches deposited on top of the Etsy weeks. April carries $145.00 of booth fees for events that happened in May. None of this is a problem; it is cash basis doing its job, recording money when it moved.
The honest reading is the quarter: $2,586.45 in April, $2,910.58 in May, $2,966.57 in June. A reader who judges a handmade shop on one column will be wrong in both directions, and the trailing view is what the shop's own pricing decisions should run on.
Use this format yourself
The free Etsy shop P&L template is this exact layout as a spreadsheet with the categories pre-loaded. For the full walk-through of categories, judgment calls, and what lenders ask a Etsy shop for, read the Etsy shop P&L guide. And to see a statement-built report with working charts and reconciliation detail, the full sample report is a complete delivered order for a different fictional business.
Common questions
Because the P&L records what settled to the bank, and Etsy deducts its fees and refunds before depositing. The dashboard and the 1099-K report gross sales; the gap between the two is the fees, and your preparer reconciles them at filing.
Netted inside the deposits, the same place the bank saw them. Revenue net of fees and gross revenue minus a fee expense reach the same profit; this format states its basis plainly instead of inventing fee lines the statements cannot back.
Yes. The free Etsy shop template below is this exact layout as a spreadsheet with the categories pre-loaded. Or upload your statements and RapidPnL builds the reconciled version for you in minutes.
Upload the PDFs and get a management-use profit & loss in minutes, with every statement reconciled to the penny. $79 for a quarter, $249 for a full year in monthly columns. Full refund if we can't reconcile.
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Written by a licensed CPA. This guide is general information, not tax, legal, accounting, or financial advice, and does not create a professional relationship. Lender requirements and bank websites change; confirm specifics with your lender and financial institution.