Reading and interpreting the Sales by Item Breakdown report

The Sales by Item Breakdown report shows a row for each distinct product or service sold. Each row contains information that helps you understand which items are driving your revenue and which are most profitable.

How to read it

Item name: The name of the product or service sold.

Quantity sold: The total number of units sold during the period. A high number means the item is popular; a low number may indicate slow-moving inventory or low demand.

Unit price: The average selling price per unit. This may vary from your list price if discounts or special pricing were applied.

Total revenue: The total sales value for this item (Quantity × Price). This is your gross sales figure before costs.

Cost of goods sold (COGS): The total cost to your business for the items sold. This includes the cost of raw materials, inventory, or service delivery.

Gross profit: (if shown) The difference between Total revenue and COGS. A positive number means the item is profitable; a negative number suggests a loss.

Gross profit margin: (if shown) The percentage of revenue retained as profit. A margin of 40% means that for every unit of currency sold, you keep 40 cents as profit.

Why it matters

This report helps you:

1. Identify top sellers: see which items generate the most revenue and volume.
2. Evaluate profitability: compare gross profit margins across items to find your most profitable products.
3. Spot underperformers: items with low quantity or negative margins may need to be repriced, reformulated, or discontinued.
4. Plan inventory: high-demand items need regular restocking; slow-moving items may tie up cash unnecessarily.
5. Make pricing decisions: if an item has a high margin, you may be able to increase its price; if margin is low or negative, consider cost reduction or price increase.
6. Track trends: run this report monthly or quarterly to spot seasonal or longer-term sales trends.

How it works in Usystems

Usystems calculates sales from all invoices and sales orders in the selected date range and warehouse(s). Each unique product or service is listed once. If the same item was sold at different prices (due to discounts or special pricing), the system averages the price and shows a single row. Costs are taken from your inventory records; if an item is not tracked in inventory, cost may show as zero.

Where you see it

• Run it from Reports → Sales by Item Breakdown any time you need to analyze product-level sales performance.
• Export to Excel to rank items by revenue or margin.
• Print or save as PDF for management review or board presentations.