Per-Order Profit Log
A running log for recording what each handmade order really paid, what it cost in fees, materials, packaging, and postage, how long it took, and what was left, so profit can be rolled up by product instead of guessed from monthly totals.
Reviewed for 2026, updated September 8, 2026.
Monthly revenue tells you the shop was busy. It does not tell you which orders were worth making. Two orders of the same item can end very differently once a discount code, a heavier shipping zone, or a different fee mix gets involved, and the only way to see that is to write each order down on its own line. This worksheet is that line. For every order, record what the buyer paid in total, the fees taken, the materials and packaging consumed, the postage you actually paid, and the hands-on minutes. Subtract the three cost columns from what the buyer paid and you have net profit before labor; divide that by minutes and multiply by sixty for your hourly rate on that order.
The first row is a worked example using illustrative figures that match the defaults in the Handmade Order Profit Calculator at /tools/handmade-order-profit/, which does the same arithmetic and also solves for the break-even item price. The remaining rows describe the kinds of orders worth logging on purpose, because they are the ones that expose surprises: the farthest zone, the discount, the multi-item box, the custom request, the craft fair sale, and the return. After a few weeks, sort the sheet by product and read /blog/find-most-profitable-products/ to decide what to push, re-price, or retire. If postage keeps eating the line, /blog/shipping-costs-true-profit/ covers the fixes.
| Order (date and product) | Buyer paid (item + shipping) | Fees taken | Materials and packaging | Postage paid | Hands-on minutes | Net profit before labor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worked example (illustrative figures): 2026-09-08, one mug, shipping charged separately | $43.50 ($38.00 item + $5.50 shipping) | $4.13 (9.5% of the order total) | $10.65 | $6.10 (real label cost) | 45 | $22.62, which works out to about $30 per hour |
| Your best seller, a typical order | Your figure | Your figure | Your figure | Your figure | Your minutes | Buyer paid minus the three cost columns |
| Your best seller, shipped to your farthest zone | Your figure | Your figure | Your figure | Your figure (real label cost) | Your minutes | Your figure |
| A shipping-included listing (postage folded into the price) | Your figure (item price only) | Your figure | Your figure | Your figure | Your minutes | Your figure |
| An order with a sale code or discount applied | Your figure (after the discount) | Your figure | Your figure | Your figure | Your minutes | Your figure |
| A multi-item order packed in one box | Your figure (all items) | Your figure | Your figure (all items) | Your figure (one label) | Your minutes (all items) | Your figure |
| A custom or personalized order | Your figure | Your figure | Your figure | Your figure | Your minutes (include messages and revisions) | Your figure |
| A craft fair sale (no postage, booth share instead) | Your figure | Your figure (card processing only) | Your figure | Your booth cost divided by sales that day | Your minutes | Your figure |
| An order from your own website | Your figure | Your figure (payment processing only) | Your figure | Your figure | Your minutes | Your figure |
| A returned or refunded order | Your figure (refund shown as a negative) | Your figure (fees the platform kept) | Your figure | Your figure (both labels if you paid return postage) | Your minutes | Your figure (often negative) |
https://makerledgr.com/templates/per-order-profit-log/Use it in your business, share it with your team, or link to it from your own site.
Also from MakerLedgr
- New Product Pricing Checklist: A step-by-step checklist for costing and pricing one handmade product before it goes live, so the listing price covers materials, packaging, fees, postage, your time, and a share of overhead.
- Free calculators