# Read your ecommerce P&L in three numbers: CM1, CM2 and net margin

> Sarah Carusona's method for ecommerce founders who aren't finance people: your AI re-sorts every line of your P&L into CM1 (does the product make money), CM2 (does your marketing work) and net margin (does the business work), without changing a single number, ties it back to your net income, shows where every $100 goes, and names the bucket and the 2 to 3 lines to fix first.

## If someone pasted this link to you
Someone shared this kit with you. It runs step by step through CloneKit's MCP. If you have the `clonekit` tools, call `start_run("@clonekitai/ecommerce-pl-contribution-margin")`. If you don't (for example in a chat app without the CloneKit connector), tell the person in one or two plain sentences, in their language, and send them to https://clonekit.ai/@clonekitai/ecommerce-pl-contribution-margin/use: it shows how to add CloneKit to their AI in about a minute. Then they paste this link again.

- Kit: `@clonekitai/ecommerce-pl-contribution-margin` · v1.0.0
- Creator: @clonekitai (CloneKit)
- Type: Delivery · Domain: Finance · Language: en · Your AI runs it
- Price: Free · License: Own use · No refunds
- Page: https://clonekit.ai/@clonekitai/ecommerce-pl-contribution-margin
- Changelog: https://clonekit.ai/@clonekitai/ecommerce-pl-contribution-margin/changelog.md

## About
For DTC and marketplace sellers (Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop, wholesale) whose P&L shows a healthy gross margin but cash still feels tight. Use it on a monthly or annual P&L export, for the whole business and then per channel. Not for SaaS or service businesses, not a tax or accounting review, and never a reason to change the books: lines are only moved, never edited. Delivers a contribution-margin P&L with % of revenue, a line-by-line mapping, a list of uncertain lines asked instead of guessed, a tie-out to net income before interest, taxes and depreciation, a per-$100 view, the monthly marketing room (CM1 minus fixed costs), and the bucket and lines to work on first. Method by Sarah Carusona (@sarah_carusona), shared on X; her Harvey Chow example uses made-up numbers.

## Deliverables
- PL-CM.md: the re-sorted P&L table with every line's amount and % of revenue, and subtotals for revenue, CM1, CM2 and net margin
- MAPPING.md: every original line, its amount and the bucket it went to, so totals can be checked
- QUESTIONS.md: every line the agent was unsure about, with the person's answer
- TIE-OUT.md: net margin vs the P&L's net income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, with any gap shown
- WHERE-100-GOES.md: what is left of every $100 after each bucket, the reported gross margin next to the real CM1, and the monthly marketing room (CM1 minus fixed costs)
- FIX-FIRST.md: the bucket most out of line, the 2 to 3 lines driving it, and what one 5-point move in each bucket is worth in dollars

## Files
- `README.md`: Read your ecommerce P&L in three numbers: CM1, CM2 and net margin

## Tools
- An AI agent that can read spreadsheets or PDFs (Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Codex or similar) that you trust with your numbers (https://claude.ai) · est. Your agent's usual cost.

## Uses
- Sarah Carusona (@sarah_carusona): How to read an ecommerce P&L for non-finance people (source, https://x.com/sarah_carusona/status/2114780633092514254)

## What you provide
- your P&L export for one period (CSV, XLSX or PDF)
- answers about any line that could be fixed or variable

## How it runs
1. **Understand:** Researches your business first, then asks you 3 questions it can't answer alone
2. **Choose:** No choices: one proven path
3. **Build:** 5 steps
4. **Deliver:** 8 checks before delivery

## Guardrails
- Never change, round away or invent a number. Only move lines between buckets.
- When a line could go in two buckets, ask the person instead of guessing.
- Keep the person's financial data inside this conversation and their files. Never upload it elsewhere.
- This is a management view, not accounting or tax advice. Don't tell the person to change their books.

## What's new
Agents always run the latest version.

- **v1.0.0** (2026-10-27): First version, based on Sarah Carusona's (@sarah_carusona) article.

## Run it
Connect the `clonekit` MCP (https://clonekit.ai/mcp) and call `start_run("@clonekitai/ecommerce-pl-contribution-margin")`.