What is COGS (cost of goods sold)?
Definition
COGS (cost of goods sold) is the direct cost of delivering a job — for a film shop, mostly the film and consumables it actually consumed, plus install labour. True COGS is what separates a job's revenue from its profit, and it only reflects reality when film is costed from the real roll, not a list price.
Also called Cost of goods sold.
Why it matters to a shop
COGS is the difference between revenue and profit, and in a film shop it is dominated by material you bought weeks ago at a price you may not remember. Without real per-job COGS, the busiest month of the year can be the one that made the least.
Go deeper
Related terms
More from shop business & metrics — The owner-side numbers that decide whether a busy shop makes money.
- Gross marginRevenue minus COGS, shown in dollars or as a percentage of the price. It's the number that tells you whether a busy calendar is actually profitable. A wall-menu list price is a revenue number; margin is the profit number underneath it.
- Live-margin quoteA quote that shows projected profit in dollars and percent as you build it, costed from the real material on your shelf — so an underpriced package gets caught before you send it, not at month-end. Service VIN's core difference from a flat estimate.
- Film tracked to the footInventory that counts film by the linear foot remaining on each roll, at the real cost you paid, with lot numbers and reorder points — instead of treating a four-figure roll as a single line item. It's what makes true material COGS and reorder alerts possible.
- Average ticketThe average revenue per completed job. Raising it with upsells (a coating over PPF, a windshield film, a maintenance plan) is often faster than chasing more leads, because it earns more from work you already booked.
- Close rateThe share of quotes or leads that turn into booked, paid jobs. A low close rate usually points at slow follow-up or unclear pricing more than at price itself — which is why quote follow-up and speed-to-lead move it the most.
- Speed-to-leadHow fast you respond to a new inquiry. The shop that answers first usually wins the job, so replying in seconds — even with an AI lead responder after hours — beats a polished reply that lands the next morning.
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