What should be taken into account when calculating COGS?

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When assessing the efficiency of traffic acquisition channels within the unit economics model, we often face the need to correctly calculate the margin from the attracted user flow. This indicator helps us to find out the margin received from each buyer (paying user) and each attracted user. To correctly assess the marginality of the attracted customer flow, we need to correctly calculate COGS. When we subtract COGS from revenue, we get the "Gross Profit" indicator (or "Gross Revenue"), which will later be needed to calculate the income per user.

What is COGS?
The English abbreviation from the norway mobile database abbreviation of the indicator “Cost Of Goods Sold” and reflects the cost of goods sold or services rendered.

The cost price includes both fixed and variable costs. The decision whether to include fixed costs associated with production (provision of services) in COGS or not depends on the cost accounting method adopted in the company. But this is no longer the responsibility of the marketing department. In an ideal world, accurate COGS data is provided by the finance department or accounting.

How to avoid mistakes when taking into account expenses in COGS?
For marketing purposes, in order to avoid confusion and ultimately calculate the gross profit correctly (to assess the effectiveness of marketing activities), it is advisable to be guided by the answer to the question when assigning costs to COGS: "Would the company have incurred the costs included in COGS if it had not provided this product or service to the client?"

If the answer is yes, then do not include these costs in COGS, they should be attributed to the fixed costs of the enterprise, and if the answer is no, these costs would not exist - then you are dealing with COGS.