How to set up cost of goods sold in WooCommerce, the native way

Recent versions of WooCommerce include a native Cost of Goods Sold field. It's easy to miss, and most stores never fill it in. That's a shame, because it's the foundation of every profit number you'll ever want.

Why the native field matters

When costs live in WooCommerce itself, they stay with your products. Any tool that reads the field can use them, and removing a plugin doesn't take your cost data with it.

Find the field

1. Open a product in the editor.
2. Look for the Cost of goods field in the General tab, near the prices.
3. If it isn't there, check the features list in your WooCommerce settings and turn Cost of Goods Sold on.

Variable products

Each variation can carry its own cost. Pay special attention where costs really differ, like a larger size that uses more material, because an average cost hides exactly the margins you want to see.

Filling it in without going product by product

For a small catalog, a focused afternoon is enough. For hundreds of products, use a CSV import, or set rules that derive cost from price, such as 40% of the regular price for a category, then correct the exceptions.