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Why don't my profit numbers change after I update my costs?

Your new costs may not have reached your orders yet, your profit may use your break-even ROAS, or the number you check may leave that cost out.

Check these causes one by one

Work through the causes below. Most of them link to the article that explains them in full.

1. You changed the cost in Shopify only

TrueROAS does not copy costs from Shopify by itself. It only copies them when you click Import Costs from Shopify in Cost Manager, so import again after you change a Cost per item in Shopify. See How do I import product costs from Shopify or a spreadsheet?.

2. The update of your recent orders did not finish

When you change a default cost or a cost in the product table, TrueROAS updates the costs on your orders of the last 90 days, starting about 5 seconds after your last change. Leaving Cost Manager before the final message stops the update. How it works is explained under When past orders are updated in How do I add my product costs in Cost Manager?.

Changing your break-even ROAS or your choice under Count your costs from does not need this update. TrueROAS uses the new setting the next time the Dashboard or the Ads Manager loads.

3. The orders are older than 90 days or have no product list

  • Orders placed more than 90 days ago are not updated, so they keep the costs they already have.
  • Orders that reached TrueROAS without a list of the products bought get your handling fee, shipping cost and processing fee when they come in, but no product cost. The update skips these orders, so a later change of your costs does not reach them.

4. Your profit uses your break-even ROAS

If Count your costs from is set to Break-even ROAS only, every profit number on the Dashboard and in the Ads Manager uses your break-even ROAS instead of your detailed costs, and a notice above the cost cards starts with Not used right now.

With Automatic (recommended), it works the other way round. Your break-even ROAS is only used where your orders have no detailed costs and you have not set a Product Cost percentage, so a new break-even ROAS may not change your profit. See How do I set my break-even ROAS and use it instead of product costs?.

5. Your orders use a different cost than the one you changed

  • A variant's own cost is used instead of the product's cost. After an import from Shopify, each variant of a product with several variants that has a Cost per item in Shopify gets a cost of its own, so a cost you type on the product's row changes nothing for those variants. Click the plus sign next to the product and change the cost on each variant's row, or change the cost in Shopify and import again. See How do I add my product costs in Cost Manager?.
  • A cost from a file is only used for orders whose product matches its Product ID, as explained in How do I import product costs from Shopify or a spreadsheet?.

6. The number you look at leaves that cost out

7. The page still shows what it loaded earlier

  • Reload the page after your change. How often the Dashboard and the Ads Manager load new numbers is explained in Why are my newest orders or ad spend not showing yet?.
  • On stores with many orders, usually more than 5,000 a month, the Dashboard keeps the numbers of past days ready so it loads faster. After your orders are updated, these saved days are cleared at the next hourly refresh. Until then, days before today can still show your old costs, while today always uses the new ones.

8. You changed the costs of another store

Cost Manager shows and changes the costs of the store selected in the store list at the top of the left menu. Check the store name there and make the change again on the right store. See How do I switch between my stores?.

Good to know

  • Costs are saved for the whole store, so a change affects the profit everyone on the store sees.
  • Each new order gets the costs that are set when it comes in, so orders placed after your change carry the new costs.
  • There is no button to start the update of your orders by hand, and you cannot choose which orders it updates. See How do I add my product costs in Cost Manager?.
  • For a tour of the whole page, see What is Cost Manager and what can I do there?.