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Cost of goods sold (COGS) calculator

Compute cost of goods sold from beginning inventory, purchases and ending inventory.

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Need Cost of goods sold? The Cost of goods sold (COGS) calculator derives it from Beginning inventory, Purchases, Ending inventory in one step. For instance, with Beginning inventory = $20,000.00, Purchases = $50,000.00 and Ending inventory = $15,000.00 it returns Cost of goods sold = $55,000.00.

How to use it

  1. Enter your values: Beginning inventory, Purchases, Ending inventory.
  2. Read the result instantly: Cost of goods sold.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Cost of goods sold (COGS) calculator actually compute?

It takes Beginning inventory, Purchases and Ending inventory and derives Cost of goods sold from them. The calculation is live as you type, so the result updates on every change.

What information do I need to provide?

3 values: Beginning inventory ($), Purchases ($) and Ending inventory ($). Nothing else is required — no account, no file upload.

Can you show a worked example?

With Beginning inventory = $20,000.00, Purchases = $50,000.00 and Ending inventory = $15,000.00, the calculator returns Cost of goods sold = $55,000.00. Those figures come from running this exact tool, so you can reproduce them by entering the same values.

What happens if I enter larger values?

It moves a lot. Using Beginning inventory = $40,000.00, Purchases = $100,000.00 and Ending inventory = $30,000.00 instead, Cost of goods sold goes from $55,000.00 to $110,000.00 — which is why it is worth testing a few scenarios rather than trusting a single figure.

What does it give for smaller values?

Scaled down to Beginning inventory = $10,000.00, Purchases = $25,000.00 and Ending inventory = $7,500.00, Cost of goods sold comes out at $27,500.00. The relationship is worth checking at both ends before you rely on a single result.

When would I actually use this?

Running the week: issuing an invoice or a quote, knowing what is in stock and what to reorder, and seeing whether cash covers what is due.

What is the most common mistake?

Reading profit as cash. A profitable month with sixty-day payment terms can still leave the account empty — the two numbers answer different questions.

What is the difference between the Cost of goods sold (COGS) calculator and the GMROI calculator?

This one returns Cost of goods sold; the GMROI calculator returns GMROI. That is the whole difference — open the one whose figure you need.

Is there a tool for the next step?

Sell-through rate calculator is the closest one after this: Compute the sell-through rate — the share of received stock that sold.

What else is worth having open alongside it?

Inventory period calculator and Quick ratio calculator — they come up in the same task often enough to be worth a second tab.

Further reading

All guides →
ComparisonFIFO vs LIFO: What Actually Changes, and What Does NotFIFO and LIFO are assumptions about which cost you attach to a sale, not about which box leaves the warehouse. Worked through identical purchases and sales, they move cost of sales, inventory, profit and tax — but operating cash before tax is identical to the cent.ExplainerContribution Margin, and the Break-Even That Actually MattersGross margin nets off cost of goods sold; contribution margin nets off only the costs that vary with the unit. The gap decides your break-even, your operating leverage, and how much extra volume a price cut really needs.ExplainerGMROI: the Inventory Number That Outranks MarginGross margin return on inventory investment divides gross margin by the cash tied up in stock. It exists because margin alone ranks products wrongly: a 60% margin turning twice a year loses to a 25% margin turning twelve times.ExplainerWhat Is Food Cost Percentage? Portion Drift Beats Supplier PricesA $3.30 plate on a $12.00 menu is 27.5 percent. An extra 30 grams of chicken and 6 percent waste push it to 31.65 percent — while a 5 percent supplier increase moves it only 1.38 points.ExplainerThe Cash Conversion Cycle: the Number That Explains Why You Are Out of CashCCC = DIO + DSO − DPO. It is the number of days your cash is out of your hands, and it is the reason a profitable, growing business runs out of money. Worked end to end, with the negative-cycle case that makes suppliers your cheapest lender.ExplainerThe EOQ Square-Root Formula, and Where It Stops Being TrueEOQ = √(2DS/H) balances ordering cost against holding cost. Its most useful property is how flat the cost curve is around the optimum — and its four failure modes are quantity discounts, lumpy demand, a finite replenishment rate, and the two inputs nobody can measure.