STEP 01
Track revenue and cost of sold stock
Start with cash and card sales for the same reporting period. Deduct refunds and the cost of products sold rather than the total value of stock purchased. A carton delivered to a machine today might be sold next month, so purchases are not always the same as cost of goods sold.
STEP 02
Record commissions and payment charges
Record card-processing charges, location commissions, spoilage and other direct costs under their own fields. Apply the commission basis in your actual site agreement; do not assume every location pays the same percentage.
STEP 03
Allocate servicing trips consistently
Include mileage, time and route expenses. When one journey services several machines, document a fair and repeatable allocation method. Otherwise nearby machines can subsidize distant ones invisibly.
STEP 04
Fictional one-machine example
Assume a machine generates $420 of sales in a month. Record $155 cost of goods sold, $14 processing fees, $42 site commission, $4 refunds, $55 allocated route costs and $12 other direct expenses.
Estimated operating contribution is $420 − $155 − $14 − $42 − $4 − $55 − $12 = $138. That is not necessarily net profit: overhead, depreciation, taxes and financing may not be included.
STEP 05
Interpret trends, not one month's number
Compare machine results over several periods, separate cash collections from reported cash sales, and check physical stock where possible. If you assess capital recovery, use actual machine purchase and installation costs. Never treat a calculated payback date as guaranteed.