Gross 利润率 (%) = (营收 – COGS) ÷ 营收 × 100
This formula look simple. But for platform seller, even the meaning of revenue now becoming complicated.
平台 seller may face several deductions: commission fee, transaction fee, platform support fee, affiliate commission, advertising, vouchers and seller-funded promotions. TikTok 商店 马来西亚, for example, officially lists category-based commission, a 3.78% transaction fee and RM0.54 platform support fee per completed order. Shopee 马来西亚 also imposes commission, a 3.78% transaction fee and platform support fee. (TikTok 商店)
时间 everything stacked together, our actual deductions for certain sales or campaigns can approach 40%.
Seller may record RM100 sales, but perhaps only RM60 finally enter the bank. The remaining RM40 was never available for salaries, inventory replacement or business expansion.
Under IFRS 15, however, whether revenue should be reported gross or net depend on whether the business act as a principal or agent. A principal normally recognises gross revenue and records platform fees separately as expenses. An agent normally recognises only its fee or commission. Therefore, simply changing accounting revenue to the platform settlement amount may not always be technically correct. (IFRS 基础)
But for 中小企业 management, relying only on gross sales can create wrong picture.
A seller may show strong revenue but very weak cash retained. 然后 seller performance look bad, as if we 失败 to maintain margin, while large portion already taken by platform before money reach us.
Perhaps 中小企业 need two separate measurements:
会计 营收 = Gross sales recognised under the applicable accounting treatment
实际 Seller 营收 = GMV – refunds – platform charges – seller-funded promotions
然后 calculate an internal margin:
Seller 利润率 (%) = (实际 Seller 营收 – COGS) ÷ 实际 Seller 营收 × 100
The pressure is not only margin.
中小企业 must download settlement reports, separate many fee types, match every order, reconcile refunds and prepare proper tax records. Too much manpower used just to understand how much we actually earned, when 中小企业 supposed 聚焦 on improving 产品 and increasing sales.
马来西亚’s tax authority confirms that e-commerce business income is taxable, but tax is generally based on taxable business income—not simply the amount displayed as marketplace GMV. Proper records of income and related business expenses still required. (lampiran2.hasil.gov.my)
The issue is not asking platform to operate for free.
The issue is transparency.
Every platform should provide one standard statement clearly separating:
GMV → Refunds → 平台 费用 → 促销 Costs → Net Settlement
Without this, 中小企业 may look successful based on sales figure, while the bank account telling a very different story.
