Hire an AI store profit and margin analyst

Everything it can hand back

Your task sets the actual outputs. The specialist picks the methods that cover them.

• Landed cost per unit with every layer shown, margin per unit and a late-cost checklist
• Every cost line sorted into cost of goods or expense, with gross margin before and after and a score out of 100 (lines already in the right place)
• A monthly P&L in dollars, percent of sales and per order, with the line to fix first
• A first-time and a returning P&L, who pays for whom, and an acquisition health score out of 100
• A daily margin sheet with returns set aside each day and checked against the month

How it does the job well

• Reconcile to source documents, such as bank statements, ledgers and invoices, before reporting.
• Show the calculation, inputs and period for every figure.
• Label actuals, estimates and forecasts clearly.
• Send tax, legal and regulatory questions to a qualified professional.

Mistakes it avoids

• Mixing cash and accrual figures, or different periods, in one comparison.
• Rounding or formula errors that do not tie back to totals.
• Giving personal investment advice.

What a good result looks like

An example, not your task: Your profit report looks fine but cash is tight, and you do not trust the margin it shows.

• Landed cost allocator result. The real cost of each product with freight and duty spread across it, and margin per unit.
• COGS line sorter result. Every cost line sorted into cost of goods or expense by one rule, with a score out of 100.
• Store P&L builder result. A monthly P&L in dollars, percent of sales and per order, with the line to fix first.
• New and returning P&L splitter result. One P&L for first-time buyers, one for returning buyers, and an acquisition health score out of 100.
• Daily contribution margin tracker result. A daily margin sheet with returns set aside each day and checked against the month. This file holds the spreadsheet.
• HAND-BACK SUMMARY. Each step's file, any step not run and why, and every MISSING line in one list.

How the work is checked

• Each step passed its own checks, or the run stopped at the step that failed and says why.
• The steps ran in order, and each one used the result of the one before.
• Nothing was invented to fill a gap. Every gap is a MISSING: line.
• Nothing was sent, published or paid for without a clear yes.
• States which checks passed, failed or could not run, and names missing inputs.

These checks have not been run against a model yet. Your AI uses them to check its own work.

Capabilities

• Work out true unit cost. Ties each invoice to its purchase and spreads each lump on a stated basis, never evenly. Divides by units received and shows margin per unit.
• Sort the cost lines. Applies one rule for what counts as cost of goods, using the landed costs from step 1. Splits packaging, shipping, fees, discounts and returns. Scores the sort out of 100 as the lines already in the right bucket over the lines with a known bucket.
• Build the monthly P&L. Uses the unit costs from step 1 and the rule from step 2. Bridges gross to net sales, sorts costs into delivery, marketing and running buckets, and shows each line in dollars, percent and per order. It has no score.
• Split new and returning. Puts ad spend on first-time buyers and splits shared costs by a rule you approve. Scores acquisition health out of 100: first-time result up to 50, trend up to 30, funding up to 20.
• Set up the daily margin. Uses the P&L rules from step 3 and your own daily numbers, not the step 4 split. Builds a daily sheet with returns set aside on each day's sales, checked against the month, and ranks the numbers worth showing.

How the role works

1. Checks your task, context and available tools.
2. Picks the methods needed and prepares a work plan.
3. Carries out supported tasks, with each method's limits and review gates.
4. Checks the real deliverables and corrects supported faults.
5. Hands back files, evidence and unresolved gaps.

Your specialist's working setup

Download the base specialist without a task form or account. README.md and SETUP.md explain how to use the folder. SOUL.md defines its scope. INTAKE.md asks missing questions inside your AI. PLAYBOOK.md, SKILLS.md, BEST_PRACTICES.md, CHECKS.md and HANDOFF.md guide the work and its checked deliverables.

Complete associated skills, supporting files and licences are included. Choose only the methods needed for the actual task. Keep context, working files and accepted feedback in your AI project.

Use this specialist through MCP or the API

Call prepare_specialist with role_id build-a-monthly-p-and-l-and-know-your-real-margin only. No task is required to load it. Your AI asks what job you need done, what you want back and which relevant context it can use.

For task-led hiring, call find_specialist, explain the suggested specialists and let the user accept or change the team.

Complete ZIP: Download base specialist. API: GET /api/v1/specialists/build-a-monthly-p-and-l-and-know-your-real-margin/pack. The host AI supplies its own model, tools and execution; a pack does not connect accounts or run a task.

Inputs and helpful context

The specialist starts from the task brief. Only active methods require their inputs.

For the primary method, when used

• Supplier, freight, duty and other import invoices, with the purchase order lines
• Your selling price for each product, if you know it
• Your sales export with discounts, refunds and shipping charged
• Your cost lines, with where they sit now in your books
• How you sell (own stock, dropship, 3PL or Amazon FBA) and whether shipping is charged or built into the price
• Marketing spend by channel and your running costs
• Orders marked first-time or returning
• Daily sales, costs and ad spend, and your return rate from the last 90 days
• A profit target (optional)

Tools and access

• A spreadsheet tool: Holds the order lines and invoices and lets you check the allocation sums.
• Shopify: The landed cost per unit goes in as cost per item so profit reports use it.
• Your accounting tool: Source of the cost lines. Xero, QuickBooks and similar tools export a profit and loss to paste.
• Any good chat AI: Any current chat AI can sort pasted lines and ask the setup questions.
• Your accounting tool: Source of the P&L export. Ask your bookkeeper to tag costs by bucket.
• Shopify: Gives gross sales, discounts, refunds and shipping charged.
• Any good chat AI: It can filter lines and add them up if you attach the tagged order list and show its sums.
• Google Sheets: Pivot tables split a P&L by order tag well, and you can keep a month-by-month history.
• Google Sheets: A daily sheet with a few formulas is easy to share, and everyone sees the same number.
• Shopify: Its sales and returns reports feed the sheet, and cost per item gives product cost.
• Any good chat AI: It writes the formulas and checks them against a few days you work out by hand.

Functions and deliverables

• Store profit and margin analyst: Build unit costs and a monthly profit report from invoices and sales. Split new and returning buyers, then track daily margins.
  • Landed cost per unit with every layer shown, margin per unit and a late-cost checklist
  • Every cost line sorted into cost of goods or expense, with gross margin before and after and a score out of 100 (lines already in the right place)
  • A monthly P&L in dollars, percent of sales and per order, with the line to fix first
  • A first-time and a returning P&L, who pays for whom, and an acquisition health score out of 100
  • A daily margin sheet with returns set aside each day and checked against the month
• Landed cost allocator: Work out landed cost per unit for each product in a shipment. Paste your order lines and freight and duty invoices to see true margin.
  • Landed cost per unit for each product, with each layer shown
  • The basis used for each lump cost, and why
  • Margin per unit, and products below your floor
  • A checklist of costs that often arrive late
• Product cost sorter: Sort your store's cost lines into COGS or expense, see which rule decided each, and get gross margin before and after, scored out of 100.
  • A table of each line, its bucket, the rule used and a confidence mark
  • The lines in the wrong place and what to do about each
  • Gross margin before and after the fixes
  • Questions where the rule depends on your setup, and a score out of 100
• Store profit and loss builder: Share your sales and costs. Get a four-bucket P&L with targets and the line to fix first.
  • A P&L in dollars, percent of revenue and per order
  • A gross-to-net revenue bridge
  • The contribution margin you need for your profit target
  • Which lines moved and by how many points, and the bucket to fix first
• New and returning customer profit analyst: Share monthly profit and loss lines, tagged orders and a shared-cost rule. Compare new and returning customer profit with a planning score.
  • A first-time customer P&L with its profit contribution
  • A returning customer P&L with its profit contribution
  • Who is subsidising whom, and the monthly trend
  • A score out of 100 for acquisition health
• Daily contribution margin tracker: Track daily contribution margin for your online store. Give it sales, costs and ad spend. You get a daily sheet with returns counted as expected.
  • A daily contribution margin sheet or dashboard layout
  • A returns accrual rule with the month-end check
  • A ranked list of metrics to show, with contribution margin at the top
• me.md builder: Answer a few questions, or let your AI use what it remembers. Get one private file that tells any AI who you are.
  • One me.md file with up to ten dated sections
  • A list of facts taken from memory, for you to check
  • A short note of what it removed for privacy
  • The two next steps, to save it and set it up

Tasks you can use it for

• Your profit report looks fine but cash is tight, and you do not trust the margin it shows.
• You import stock in shipments and cannot say what freight and duty add to each product.
• You want to know whether your first orders pay for themselves or only your repeat buyers make money.

Limits to check before starting

• You sell one product and have no import costs: a simple P&L in a spreadsheet, or your bookkeeper, will do.
• You only want to know what freight and duty add to each product: use the Landed cost allocator.
• You only want to see what first-time buyers cost against returning ones: use the New and returning customer profit analyst.
• You have only a few orders a month: the new versus returning split is not worth reading below a few hundred. Use the Store profit and loss builder.

Best way to use this role

Give it one clear outcome, the actual files and a definition of done. Keep the work in one AI project so it can reuse checked context and earlier files.

• Download the handoff pack. It is a zip with HANDOFF.md and every skill file this workflow uses.
• Give the folder to Claude, in Claude Code or as files in a Claude Project, and say "Follow HANDOFF.md". Your AI needs to read and save files.
• Gather your invoices and exports first. Say how you sell, such as own stock, dropship or 3PL, and who pays shipping.
• Say what profit you aim for, so the P&L can work back to the margin you need.
• If you are there, it waits when it needs an answer only you know. If you are not, it writes MISSING and carries on.
• Check each number against your books before you rely on the next step.

Read it as data

Read the complete role setup as JSON. Connect your AI to the AI Blocks MCP library and read aiblocks://roles/build-a-monthly-p-and-l-and-know-your-real-margin for its role instructions and pinned sources.

This is a prepared AI role. No task has run. Your AI carries out authorized work using its available tools and reports the actual deliverables and checks.