Cost of goods sold

Cost of goods sold (COGS) includes the direct costs attributable to the production of the goods sold by a company. This amount includes the materials cost used in creating the goods along with the direct labor costs used to produce the good. It excludes indirect expenses such as distribution costs and sales force costs. COGS appears on the income statement and can be deducted from revenue to calculate a company's gross margin.

COGS is the costs that go into creating the products that a company sells; therefore, the only costs included are those that are directly tied to the production of the products. For example, the COGS for an automaker would include the material costs for the parts that go into making the car along with the labor costs used to put the car together. The cost of sending the cars to dealerships and the cost of the labor used to sell the car would be excluded.

The accounts included in the COGS calculation will differ from one type of business to another.