How to Track Book Profits With a Simple Spreadsheet

A simple book inventory spreadsheet needs one row per book and columns for ISBN, title, source, purchase date, cost, list date, list price, sale date, sale price, Amazon fees, fulfillment cost, and net profit. Add formula columns for ROI and days to sell, and you can see exactly which books, sources, and seasons make you money, with no software subscription.

Why Track Book Profits in a Spreadsheet?

Amazon's Seller Central shows what you sold and what fees you paid, but it does not know what you paid for each book. Without that, you cannot tell whether a $40 sale earned you $25 or $5. A spreadsheet fills that gap for free and gives you complete control over what you track.

It also teaches you the business. Building the formulas yourself makes fee math, ROI, and sell-through second nature, and those skills carry over if you later move to paid tools. Our overview of inventory and accounting software for book sellers explains when that move makes sense. For the full tool stack, see the tools and apps hub.

The Core Columns Every Book Spreadsheet Needs

Use Google Sheets, Excel, or any spreadsheet app. Put one book per row. These columns cover what most sellers need:

You can add columns for sales rank at purchase, buyback quote, or scouting app estimate if you want to check how well your buy rules predict results.

The Formulas to Use

Here are simple formulas, written for row 2 in a typical spreadsheet. Adjust the letters if your layout differs.

Amazon fees (column M)

As of 2026, the referral fee on books is 15% of the total sales price and the variable closing fee is $1.80 per unit sold. Check the current figures on Amazon's fee page and update your formula if they change.

=IF(L2="","",L2*0.15+1.8)

Better yet, put the referral rate and closing fee in their own settings cells and reference them, so a fee change only needs one edit. Our breakdown of Amazon fees for selling books covers each fee in detail. If you prefer exact numbers, copy the actual fees from your Seller Central transaction view instead of using a formula.

Net profit (column O)

=IF(L2="","",L2-M2-N2-F2)

This is sale price minus Amazon fees, minus fulfillment cost, minus your purchase cost. Plan fees (the Professional plan's monthly fee, or the Individual plan's per-item fee) can be tracked in a separate monthly expenses tab, or added per row if you are on the Individual plan.

ROI (column P)

=IF(OR(O2="",F2=0),"",O2/F2)

Format as a percentage. ROI shows how hard your money worked. A book bought for $2 that nets $10 has a 500% ROI; a book bought for $20 that nets $10 has 50%. Both earned $10, but they tie up very different amounts of cash. Our guide to calculating textbook profit and ROI explains why both numbers matter.

Days to sell (column Q)

=IF(K2="","",K2-I2)

Format as a number. For unsold books, you can add a column showing days listed so far: =IF(K2="",TODAY()-I2,""). This flags inventory approaching FBA aged-inventory surcharges, which start around 181 days.

Building a Summary Tab

Once your inventory tab is filling up, create a second tab that summarizes it. A few useful formulas:

• Total profit this month: SUMIFS on net profit where sale date falls within the month.
• Books sold this month: COUNTIFS on sale date within the month.
• Average profit per sale: total profit divided by books sold.
• Profit by source: SUMIFS on net profit grouped by the source column. A pivot table works well here.
• Sell-through rate: books sold divided by books listed over a period.
• Inventory value at cost: SUMIFS on cost where sale date is blank. Useful at year-end.

For more on which numbers to watch, see our guide to key metrics for a book reselling business.

Handling Lots, Bag Sales, and Bulk Buys

When you buy books by the bag or box, you need a way to assign cost to each book. Pick a method and use it consistently:

1. Even split: divide total lot cost by the number of books you keep. Simple and common.
2. Weighted split: assign more cost to higher-value books. More precise, more work.

Record a lot ID in the Source or Notes column so you can trace every book back to the original receipt. Ask a tax professional which approach fits your situation, and see our guide to bookkeeping for book sellers for how this ties into cost of goods sold.

A Weekly Spreadsheet Routine

A spreadsheet only works if you keep it current. A routine that takes a few minutes per session:

1. After each sourcing trip: add a row for every book bought with cost, source, and date. Photograph receipts and save them in a dated folder.
2. When listing: add SKU, condition, channel, list date, and list price.
3. Weekly: pull your Seller Central orders report and fill in sale dates and prices. Copy actual fees from transaction details if you want exact numbers.
4. Monthly: review the summary tab, check aging inventory, and record plan fees and supplies in an expenses tab.
5. Quarterly: compare your results with your scouting rules and adjust. Our guide to scouting triggers and buy rules shows how to use this data.

Optional Tabs Worth Adding

• Expenses: plan fees, supplies, software, and mileage, for a true monthly profit picture and taxes. Our guide to textbook reselling taxes explains which records matter.
• Returns and reimbursements: track refunds, returned units, and FBA reimbursements so your profit reflects reality.
• Sourcing log: date, location, time spent, books scanned, books bought, and total cost per trip.
• Settings: fee rates and default costs referenced by your formulas.

Tips to Keep Your Spreadsheet Accurate

• Use unique SKUs. If you own three copies of the same ISBN, each copy needs its own row and SKU.
• Freeze the header row and use data validation dropdowns for Condition, Channel, and Source to avoid typos.
• Do not overwrite formulas. Protect formula columns or color-code them.
• Back it up. Cloud spreadsheets save automatically; still export a copy periodically.
• Separate business and personal money. A dedicated account makes reconciliation far easier.

When to Move Beyond a Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet is enough for many sellers listing a few dozen to a couple hundred books a month. Signs you may be outgrowing it:

• Weekly data entry takes longer than an hour.
• Several people are listing books and editing the same sheet.
• You keep finding missing costs or mismatched sales.
• You need integrated reporting for repricing floors or accounting.

At that point, compare listing and profit-tracking tools against clear criteria, as covered in our software guide. Your spreadsheet history remains valuable, since it shows what your buy rules should be. For where tracking fits in the full workflow, see our pillar on ISBN scanner apps and the tool stack and the main guide to selling textbooks on Amazon. If you are weighing a structured training program, our explainer on the Book Profits free training describes what the free session covers.

Bottom Line

A book inventory spreadsheet is the cheapest, most flexible way to see your real profit. One row per copy, columns from cost to sale, and three formulas, net profit, ROI, and days to sell, give you everything you need to judge your sourcing and buy rules. Record costs when you buy, update sales weekly, review the summary monthly, and switch to software only when the spreadsheet starts slowing you down.