How to Add Rule-Based Expenses (Automatic Order Costs)
Aggiornato il 20 luglio 2026
Rule-based expenses add a cost to every order automatically, based on a formula instead of a fixed monthly bill. Use them for costs that scale with your order volume, such as fulfillment fees, marketplace commissions, or pick and pack charges.
When to Use Rule-Based Expenses#
Each expense type in Profitario has its own tool:
| You want to record | Use |
|---|---|
| A cost per order, e.g. $3.50 fulfillment per order | A rule-based expense (this guide) |
| What you pay for the products in the order | Product costs, see How to Add Product Costs |
| A recurring flat cost, e.g. $99 per month for software | An operating expense, see Operating expenses guide |
| A correction on one specific order | A manual order cost, see How to Manually Change the Cost of an Order |
Where Rules Live#
Open your shop and go to Expenses, then the Rule-Based tab.
The table lists your rules with their calculation, effective period, and status. Active rules apply; Paused rules are kept but ignored. The dropdown on each row offers Edit, Enable or Disable, and Delete.
Create a Rule#
Click Add Rule. The dialog has two steps: Details and Preview.
Fill in the details:
- Rule Name: what the cost is, e.g. "Fulfillment Fee".
- Category (optional): the expense category the cost is reported under in the Expenses report. Without a category it shows as uncategorized.
- Effective From and Effective Until: the date range of orders the rule applies to. Leave Effective Until empty for an ongoing rule. Back-date Effective From if the fee also applied to past orders.
- Calculation Type and its amount fields (see the table below).
- Refund & Dispute Handling: choose which order statuses still count this expense. Unchecked statuses zero out the cost. For partial refunds you can also pick Prorate partial refunds, which reduces the cost proportionally to the refunded amount instead of counting it in full.
Calculation Types#
The cost is calculated per order from one of four formulas:
| Type | How it is calculated | Example ($114.00 order with 4 items) |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed per order | The same amount on every order | $3.50 per order adds $3.50 |
| Fixed per item | Amount × number of items in the order | $0.75 per item adds 4 × $0.75 = $3.00 |
| Percentage of order | Rate × the order total | 2.9% of total price adds $3.31 |
| Percentage + fixed fee | Rate × the order total, plus a fixed amount | 2.9% + $0.30 adds $3.61 |
For percentage rules, enter the rate as a percentage (e.g. 2.9 for 2.9%) and choose the Percentage Basis: Total price (including tax/shipping) or Subtotal price (before tax/shipping).
Preview and Save#
Click Next to see the impact before saving.
The preview estimates the rule against your orders from the last 30 days: how many orders it affects, the total amount, the average per order, and a few sample orders with the exact amount each would get. When it looks right, click Create Rule.
Where the Cost Appears#
Rule-based expenses are part of your cost breakdown, just like product costs and transaction fees:
- On each order, a Rule Expenses line in the cost breakdown, expandable to show each rule's share.
- In the dashboard's net profit and margin.
- In the Expenses report, grouped under the rule's category.
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