Cost of Goods Sold Formula | Learn How to Calculate COGS (Examples)

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) (Table of Contents)

What is the Cost of Goods Sold Formula?
Examples of COGS Formula
Cost of Goods Sold Formula Calculator

What is the Formula of Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)?

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) formula calculates the total cost involved in selling including the manufacturing costs as well as the cost to preparing a product or goods for sale.

Cost of Good Sold Formula = Beginning Inventory + Additions to Inventory – Ending Inventory

Beginning Inventory: – inventory at the start of the year. This should be exactly the same as your ending inventory from last year.
Additional Inventory: – inventory that you purchased during the year.
Ending Inventory: – inventory at the end of the year.

COGS Basic Example

Inventory recorded at beginning of the fiscal year ended 2017 is $2000. Additional Inventory: Inventory purchased during the fiscal year 2017-18 is $1500. Ending Inventory: Inventory recorded at end of fiscal year ended 2018 are $1000

Calculate the Cost of Goods Sold?

As per the cost of sales Formula, COGS is = 2000 + 1500 -1000 =$2500
Therefore, $2,500 is the cost of goods sold.

COGS Formula (Extended)

Below is the COGS Formula extended to include

COGS Formula = Starting Inventory + Purchases – Purchase Returns & Allowances – Purchase Discounts + Frieght In – Ending Inventory

Components of the Cost of Goods Sold Formula

Starting Inventory: Opening stock for the period.
Purchases: Any purchase made for manufacture / setting up the product (e.g. raw material)
Purchase Returns & Allowances: (a) Purchase Returns include items that are returned to suppliers (if any) (b) Allowances include any additional benefit received in the purchase chain for the product
Purchase Discounts: Discounts received in the supply chain; reducing it from costs as this is accountable for the increase in profits
Freight In: Transportation costs for the product raw materials to be brought to factory (or set up location)
Ending Inventory: Closing stock for the period.

Examples of Cost of Goods Sold Formula

Let’s see some simple to advanced example to understand the Cost of Goods Sold Equation better.

Cost of Goods Sold Formula – Example #1

Consider a basic example of Company ABC manufacturing a packet of pens. The direct cost of manufacturing is $1.00 / packet. Below are statistics

Opening Inventory as on 01/01/2017: 3500 packets
Closing Inventory as on 12/31/2017: 500 packets
Costs incurred during the year are as under:
Purchase cost: $100,000
Discounts received: $5,000
Freight In: $25,000

Solution:

Cost of opening Inventory: 3500 packets x $1.00 = $3500.00

Cost of closing inventory: 500 packets x $1.00 = $500.00

Hence, the calculation of Cost of Goods Sold using COGS Formula is

COGS Formula = $3,500 + $100,000 – $5,000 + $25,000 – $500
COGS = $123,000

Cost of Goods Sold Formula – Example #2

Now consider an example of 2 products manufactured by a company. Below are statistics for Product X and Product Y:

For Product X-

Opening Inventory: 5000
Closing Inventory: 1500
Cost per unit: $5.00
Cost of materials: $120,000
Cost of labor: $500,000
Freight In: $40,000

For Product Y-

Opening Inventory: 10,000
Closing Inventory: 7,500
Cost per unit: $2.00
Cost of materials: $80,000
Cost of labor: $300,000
Freight In: $25,000
Discount received: $5,000

Apart from the above direct costs, the manufacturing unit has the below overhead costs:

Annual rent of manufacturing unit: $50,000
Annual electricity charges: $75,000
Salary of the supervisor: $70,000

Calculate COGS using Cost of Goods Sold Formula for an individual product.

Solution:

For individual products, total direct cost is as below:

For Product X –

Cost of opening inventory: 5000 X $5.00 = $25,000
Cost of closing inventory: 1500 X $5.00 = $75,000
Direct cost = $120,000 + $500,000 + $40,000 = $660,000

As COGS is calculated using only direct costs, we should ignore the indirect costs related to these products. So the calculation of Cost of Goods Sold using COGS formula is as below

COGS Formula = $25,000 + $660,000 – $75,000
COGS = $610,000

For Product Y –

Cost of opening inventory: 10,000 X $2.00 = $20,000
Cost of closing inventory: 7,500 X $2.00 = $15,000
Direct cost = $80,000 + $300,000 + $25,000 – $5,000 = $400,000

As COGS is calculated using only direct costs, we should ignore the indirect costs related to these products. So the calculation of Cost of Goods Sold using COGS formula is as below

COGS Formula = $20,000 + $400,000 – $15,000
COGS = $405,000

Cost of Goods Sold Formula – Example #3

Consider an example of the service industry – a courier firm. For a courier firm, the basic service is to route packets from their customers to appropriate destinations. During this activity, there are different types of costs included. Consider, company XYZ is a courier firm, which picks up consignments from their customers and then connects it further for the right delivery. Below are statistics for the year 2017.

Pick up cost: $200,000
Packing Material: $50,000
Re-routing cost: $1,500,000
Labour: $100,000

There may be other costs involved like traveling, administrative, selling and marketing etc. However, these are not included as they are indirect expenses.

So, the calculation of Cost of Goods Sold Formula-

COGS Formula = $200,000 + $50,000 + $1,500,000 + $100,000
COGS = $1,850,000

Cost of Goods Sold Formula Calculator

You can use the following Cost of Goods Sold Formula Calculator.

Starting Inventory
Purchases
Ending Inventory
COGS Formula =

COGS Formula =	Starting Inventory + Purchases - Ending Inventory
	0 + 0 - 0 =	0

Relevance and Use Cost of Goods Sold Formula

Calculation of Cost of Goods Sold using COGS formula is critical for the company for the following reasons:

It directly gives a cost of manufacture of the company’s individual product.
Considers only direct costs, it cancels all chances of including any extra cost. Other administrative and selling costs are properly allocated later along with other products. Hence again, chances of ignoring other costs are ruled out as well.
COGS is required for the company’s profit or loss account – it is the first reduction category in the Profit and Loss statement.
It forms an integral part in financial ratio analysis to calculate ratios like Stock Turnover and Gross Margin Ratios.

Cost of Goods Sold Formula in Excel (with Excel Template)

Let’s see an example to understand the cost of goods sold equation with excel template.

In below screenshot is the Cost of Producing Product X.

So, using this data we have done the calculation of Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for the Product X

Therefore, COGS will be –

You can download this Cost of Goods Sold Formula Excel Template from here – Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Formula Excel Template

Conclusion

Cost of Goods Sold is slightly different from the Cost of Production. Cost of Production would include the entire cost of producing the line of products by the company. However, cost of goods sold equation only calculates the cost incurred for the sold goods by the firm.

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Formula