P&L and Metrics: Solving the Absolute Beauty Case in Excel, the P&L Structure, and Choosing the Key Metric

PROCEDURE: pivot via Alt, N, V; tabular layout, remove subtotals, repeat item labels (eases later VLOOKUP/SUMIF); sort; share = value / grand total with F4 anchor, Ctrl+Shift+5 for percent; Alt, H, 0 / 9 for decimals. Formulas: ASP = GMV / quantity (serums ~3,004; nail paint lowest); GMV = MRP sales - discounts; discount % = 1 - GMV/MRP (moisturizers 31.2%); Pareto = sort SKUs by GMV, running cumulative share, 80% at SKU 23 of 553; AOV = GMV / unique orders (order number in pivot rows, COUNTA per month; September ~2,006); retail contribution via 'Show values as % of column' (YTD 8.16%); rate of sale = units / 91 days for Sept-Nov, filtered to store BLR 2 (6.57 and 1.744/day); replenishment = ROS x days of cover - on hand (6.57 x 30 = 197, hold 90, allocate 107; negatives mean 0; one SKU overstocked). Head of retail check: GMV up 8.6 to 11.29 crore but retail share fell in September, so websites and marketplaces drove growth. Chennai moisturizer: ROS ~2.92/day, 60 on hand, ~20 days of cover - check SKU-level stockouts.

MRP revenue (MRP x quantity) - discounts - returns = net revenue. Cost of goods sold (material plus manufacturing, or one line for finished goods). Supply chain: warehousing (rent, people, systems, temperature control) and logistics (own or 3PL). Direct selling: marketplace commissions (Amazon, Flipkart), payment gateway fees, performance marketing (Google, Facebook). Central fixed costs: cataloguing, support, brand marketing, technology (G Suite, AWS), salaries, admin. Then depreciation, other income, net profit. Margin levels carry company-specific names (CM1, CM2, gross, net). Owners: category management, marketing, finance, production, supply chain. Key metric: 'if you can't measure it, you can't achieve it' - the ops head's metric is cost per unit, defect rate or an NPS-type score, whichever is the year's burning problem.