Flash report · August 01 – August 31, 2026 · 5,574 orders
Shopify payouts dated Aug 1–31, 2026vs. $100,000/wk target · product sales + shipping income + package protection
31-day payout window · $501,068 ÷ 31 × 7 · Shopify remitted $380,307 net of fees and refunds
Best month since June. Discounting fell to 23.8% of gross from 31.0% at the mid-August cut as the Jul 29–31 promo washed through.
ShipBob records no shipment after Aug 25, so 1,931 orders (34.6%) carry no fulfillment cost. Adding them back at the $6.78 average puts contribution margin at $110,603 · 22.1% — just under goal.
Secondary metrics
Revenue: $501,068 settled through Shopify payouts in August, a $113,144 weekly run-rate and 13.1% clear of the $100K/wk goal. Margin: discounting normalised to 23.8% of gross (the first-half read was 31.0%), lifting product margin to 44.8% and contribution margin to 24.7% — above the 23% goal for the first time since June.
The caveat: ShipBob holds no shipment dated after Aug 25 — the export was filtered through Sep 2 and returned nothing beyond that date. So 1,931 of the 5,574 payout orders have no fulfillment cost attached. Filling that gap at the observed $6.78 average adds roughly $13,100 and pulls contribution margin to 22.1%, marginally short of goal. Worth checking why fulfillment records stop on Aug 25 — daily volume runs 200–280 shipments and then goes to zero for the rest of the month, including working days.
Acquisition: CAC is $30.38 against $18.45 in the same month last year, and orders are down 31.7% year on year. AOV at $71.50 (up 39.7%) is carrying the revenue line, not volume.
Month in review · August 01 – August 31, 2026 · 5,574 orders
Shopify payouts dated Aug 1–31, 2026Section 1 · Truncated P&L
| Revenue | % of gross | USD |
| Product gross sales | 92.0% | $461,116 |
| Shipping income | 6.2% | $30,933 |
| Package protection | 1.8% | $9,019 |
| Gross sales | 100% | $501,068 |
| Cost of goods & direct costs | ||
| Discounts | 23.8% | −$119,399 |
| Product cost (COGS) | 22.9% | −$114,630 |
| Fulfillment (ShipBob) UNDERSTATED | 4.9% | −$24,710 |
| CC / merchant fees | 2.2% | −$11,241 |
| Returns & refunds PARTIAL | 1.3% | −$6,421 |
| Packaging materials GAP | — | — |
| Bundle SKU costs PARTIAL | — | — |
| Product margin | 44.8% | $224,667 |
| Marketing | ||
| Ad spend (Lifetimely actual) | 20.2% | −$100,966 |
| Contribution margin (goal 23.0%) | 24.7% | $123,701 |
ShipBob has no shipment dated after Aug 25, 2026. The export was filtered on ship date through Sep 2 and returned 5,320 shipments, none later than Aug 25 — so this is a gap in ShipBob's own records, not in the export. Of the 5,574 payout orders, 3,643 (65.4%) have a ShipBob shipment and 1,931 (34.6%) do not, almost all placed Aug 21–29.
At the observed average of $6.78 per fulfilled order, the missing cost is roughly $13,100. That would take fulfillment to $37,808 (7.5% of gross), product margin to $211,569 (42.2%) and contribution margin to $110,603 (22.1%). These orders were paid for by customers and will be fulfilled, so the cost belongs in August — the adjusted figures are the better read.
Operational flag. ShipBob shipped 200–280 orders a day through Aug 25 and then recorded nothing for the remaining working days of the month. That points to the Shopify-to-ShipBob order sync breaking, or fulfillment being paused, rather than a normal backlog. Worth raising with Jared before month-end close.
Jul 29–31 promo — 920 orders, $107,069 gross, 40.9% discount, 30.1% product margin. It is 21.4% of August's gross, down from 62% at the 9-day cut, and is now fully washed through.
August-placed orders — 4,654 orders, $393,999 gross, 19.2% discount, 48.9% product margin. With ad spend prorated to those orders ($95,352), contribution margin is $97,117 · 24.6% — effectively identical to the headline 24.7%. Over a full month the payout basis and the order basis converge, so unlike the mid-month cuts there is no material distortion to correct for here.
Section 2 · Revenue flow
How gross sales becomes contribution margin
Month in review · July 01 – July 31, 2026 · 5,122 orders
Full month · Lifetimely + payout-matchedGross sales rose to $441,267 across 5,122 payout-matched orders — an $45.6K improvement on June — but contribution margin fell from 25.9% to 20.3%, 2.7 pts short of the 23% goal. Discounting was the pressure point at 23.0% of gross, overtaking ad spend as the single largest cost line. On a like-for-like basis (grossing revenue up to the full 5,671-order Lifetimely set) CM reads ≈22.5%. Cash closed the month at $69,573, $30,427 below the floor.
Core metrics
vs. $100,000/wk target · gross sales (product + shipping + protection)
before marketing · 46.1% in June
after COGS, fulfillment, fees, returns & ad spend
≈22.5% on a like-for-like all-orders basis
Secondary metrics
Truncated P&L
| Revenue | % of gross | USD |
| Product gross sales | 91.4% | $403,220 |
| Shipping income | 6.8% | $29,818 |
| Package protection | 1.9% | $8,229 |
| Gross sales | 100% | $441,267 |
| Cost of goods & direct costs | ||
| Discounts | 23.0% | −$101,390 |
| Product cost (COGS) | 21.9% | −$96,477 |
| Fulfillment (ShipBob) UNDERSTATED | 7.8% | −$34,633 |
| CC / merchant fees | 2.3% | −$10,084 |
| Returns PARTIAL | 1.8% | −$8,154 |
| Packaging materials GAP | — | — |
| Bundle SKU costs PARTIAL | — | — |
| Product margin | 43.2% | $190,528 |
| Marketing | ||
| Ad spend (Lifetimely actual) ALL ORDERS | 22.9% | −$100,859 |
| Contribution margin (goal 23.0%) | 20.3% | $89,669 |
Revenue flow
How gross sales becomes contribution margin
Month in review · June 01 – June 30, 2026 · 4,787 orders
Full month · Lifetimely + payout-matchedContribution margin came in at 25.9% — 2.9 pts above the 23% goal — on $395,656 of gross sales across 4,787 orders. The soft spot was liquidity: the month ended at $13,060, well below the $100K cash floor, which is what the weekly Flash Report and Tracker tabs pick up from here. Full-month order set, so the ad-spend basis mismatch that distorts short weekly windows largely washes out.
Core metrics
vs. $100,000/wk target · gross sales (product + shipping + protection)
before marketing
after COGS, fulfillment, fees, returns & ad spend
Secondary metrics
Truncated P&L
| Revenue | % of gross | USD |
| Product gross sales | 90.5% | $358,225 |
| Shipping income | 7.6% | $30,000 |
| Package protection | 1.9% | $7,432 |
| Gross sales | 100% | $395,656 |
| Cost of goods & direct costs | ||
| Discounts | 22.7% | −$89,705 |
| Product cost (COGS) | 19.2% | −$76,143 |
| Fulfillment (ShipBob) | 7.9% | −$31,102 |
| CC / merchant fees | 2.3% | −$9,062 |
| Returns PARTIAL | 1.8% | −$7,159 |
| Packaging materials GAP | — | — |
| Bundle SKU costs PARTIAL | — | — |
| Product margin | 46.1% | $182,486 |
| Marketing | ||
| Ad spend (Lifetimely actual) | 20.2% | −$80,106 |
| Contribution margin (goal 23.0%) | 25.9% | $102,380 |
Revenue flow
How gross sales becomes contribution margin
Other files · key links
Here are a few important links to your key models and reference documents — open any of them whenever you'd like to dig into the detail behind the numbers.
Access. Links open in the shared Google Drive and client portal. If a file won't open, request access from the owner.