Planning tool
Basic Shopify Startup & Monthly Expense Calculator
Enter your monthly profit goal and your per-unit of product (i.e., t-shirt, hat, course) production cost. The calculator recommends a retail price, then works backwards to show the sales you need, the money it takes to run the store each month, and the cash you should have on hand to launch.
Product type
Your two core inputs
Taxes
Adjust assumptions
| Monthly operating budget | Amount |
|---|---|
| Production & packaging (inventory) | |
| Shipping | |
| Payment processing fees | |
| Meta ads | |
| TikTok ads | |
| Tools & apps | |
| Total monthly operating cost | |
| Sales revenue at target volume | |
| Estimated monthly net profit |
| Taxes to set aside | Per month |
|---|---|
| Self-employment tax (Social Security & Medicare, 15.3%) | |
| Federal income tax | |
| State income tax | |
| Total estimated taxes | |
| Profit after taxes (what you actually keep) |
Estimates only. Price formula: (unit cost + packaging + shipping + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − profit% − ads% − processing%), rounded up to a retail-friendly .99. When "Customer pays shipping" is selected, shipping is removed from the formula and treated as a pass-through — customers pay it at checkout and it covers what you owe the carrier. Startup cost = one full month of operating costs, since you pay for inventory, ads, and tools before sales revenue catches up. TikTok budget uses the greater of its share or the platform's daily minimum × ad days. Tax figures are rough planning estimates for a sole proprietor or single-member LLC: self-employment tax on 92.35% of net earnings, plus your selected federal bracket and an approximate flat state rate applied after the SE-tax deduction. Actual taxes depend on total household income, filing status, deductions, and local taxes (some states, like Maryland, add county income tax). Sales tax collected from customers is remitted to the state and isn't a cost here. Not tax advice — confirm with a tax professional.