Net Sales

Net sales is gross sales minus trade allowances, slotting fees, free fill, deductions, returns, and any other off-invoice or post-invoice reductions to revenue. It is the revenue line that hits the P&L.

The gap between gross and net is often dramatic in CPG. A 30% gap is common. A 40%+ gap is concerning but not unusual in highly promotional categories or fast-growing emerging brands paying to build distribution.

The gap matters because it is invisible from outside. A brand quoting "$50M in revenue" is almost always quoting a number closer to gross than to net. The investor question that follows is always "and what's the net?" Founders who can articulate the gap precisely, by line, by customer, signal commercial maturity in a way that few other answers do.

The function that owns net-sales bridge analysis is usually FP&A or Revenue Growth Management. The output is a customer-by-customer waterfall showing every reduction between gross and net, refreshed monthly.

Roles where this matters: Finance, FP&A, Revenue Growth Management, Sales Finance.