Look for repetition, not only large surprises
A small per-unit charge, packaging overage, or refund loss can matter more than a one-time expense when it repeats across thousands of orders. Rank issues by expected annual impact rather than by how unusual each line looks.
Review the common leak zones
- Fees that differ from the current SKU model.
- Storage and aged-inventory costs not allocated to products.
- Advertising spend assigned to the wrong SKU or omitted from profit reports.
- Returns, disposal, removal, and damaged-unit losses.
- Currency conversion spreads and receiving-bank charges.
- Packaging, labeling, and inbound costs left outside landed cost.
Trace three records for the same period
Compare order activity, marketplace transactions, and bank deposits. Then compare system inventory with physical or provider records. Differences between these views often reveal timing issues, missing classifications, or costs that have not reached the SKU model.
Assign an owner and verification date
Every corrective action needs a person, expected financial impact, and date to confirm the result. Otherwise the review produces a list of observations without proving that the leak stopped.