Contribution Margin - BSD

Configure your contribution margin cost model using the BSD — a Google Sheet that maps your sales, marketing, and cost data.

Contribution Margin - Brand Supplied Data (BSD)

Configure how sales sources, marketing spend, cost inputs, fees, and exclusions flow into Daasity's Contribution Margin model.

10 workbook tabs | Channel mapping | Cost allocation | Input verification

LISTEN

Connect Your AI with Daasity

Prefer audio? Listen to Configuring the Daasity Contribution Margin Workbook, then use the page below as your setup reference.

Audio length: 1 minute, 34 seconds

Read the full transcript

[00:00] This is the brief on configuring the Daasity Contribution Margin workbook.

[00:04] Well, this workbook is your absolutely essential tool for routing your sales, marketing, and shared operational costs so you can accurately track and compare true profitability across different retail and digital channels. You can kind of think of it as a financial sorting hat: raw data goes in and precise, trustworthy profitability comes out.

[00:25] First, every single sales source, like Amazon or DTC, has to be individually mapped to a contribution channel. But listen, the system is literally ruthless with exact naming conventions. A single stray space, capitalization error, or punctuation mark won’t just cause a glitch; it will create an entirely separate, incorrect channel.

[00:46] Second, once those sources are mapped, costs must be applied logically. You’ll choose to allocate shared costs by gross sales, if revenue is the driver, or gross units sold, if volume is your driver. Watch out for this easily missed detail, though: payment-processing percentages have to be formatted as decimals. Entering a 3% fee as 3 instead of 0.03 will completely derail the model’s cost accuracy.

[01:08] Finally, even with perfect mapping, bad data can still sneak in. So we use order-tag exclusions to filter out unwanted orders. But you’ve got to be highly skeptical of negative rules, like “not contains.” These broad strokes frequently delete perfectly legitimate expected orders by accident.

[01:26] A meticulously configured workbook transforms chaotic data into a trustworthy model, showing you exactly what your business actually keeps after costs.

Objectives

What you will be able to do

• Explain how each Contribution Margin BSD tab affects the model.

• Map digital, retail, and marketing sources to consistent Contribution Channels.

• Organize Contribution Channels into reporting groups and subgroups.

• Choose allocation metrics and the preferred COGS source for your implementation.

• Add date-bounded COGS, other costs, payment-processing fees, campaign mappings, and order-tag exclusions.

• Verify that the completed workbook is accurate and ready for upload.

• Connect, configure, and create the Contribution Margin BSD spreadsheet in Daasity.

• Resolve common configuration and data problems.

Answer the questions that drive your business

Which digital, retail, and marketing sources should feed each Contribution Channel?

How should Contribution Channels roll up for consistent reporting?

Should each shared cost be allocated by gross sales or gross units sold?

Are the required mappings, costs, dates, fees, and exclusions complete and consistent?

Is the spreadsheet ready to connect and upload to Daasity?

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LEARN

Understand what the connection does

What the Contribution Margin BSD controls

The workbook supplies business rules and cost inputs that Daasity cannot determine from source systems alone. It connects source-level data to the Contribution Channels used in Contribution Margin reporting and specifies how selected costs should be applied.

After the configuration is established, the Contribution Margin pipeline runs automatically each morning. Update the workbook when a source, hierarchy, allocation rule, cost, fee, campaign relationship, or exclusion changes.

1. Map

Connect digital, retail, and marketing sources to Contribution Channels.

2. Organize

Roll each Contribution Channel into a subgroup and group.

3. Configure

Set allocation metrics, COGS preference, costs, fees, and exclusions.

4. Verify

Check row completeness, coverage, naming, and downstream results.

Workbook tabs at a glance

Tab	Purpose	Use it when
Digital Sales Source Mapping	Maps each digital store and sales channel to a Contribution Channel and controls whether it is included.	You have digital commerce or marketplace sales sources.
Retail Sales Source Mapping	Maps each retail source to a Contribution Channel and controls whether it is included.	You have retail or wholesale sales sources represented in the workbook.
Marketing Sources to Contribution Channel	Assigns each marketing source to the Contribution Channel that should receive its spend.	You need marketing costs aligned to channel-level contribution.
Channel Hierarchy	Rolls Contribution Channels into Channel SubGroups and Channel Groups.	You want consistent channel reporting and comparisons.
Merchant Settings	Defines allocation metrics for marketing spend, other costs, and top-line COGS, plus the preferred COGS source.	You need to define how shared costs are distributed.
UMS Campaign Name to Product ID	Maps a campaign name to a product ID.	A campaign should be associated with a specific product.
Top-Line COGS	Supplies a COGS value for a defined date range.	Your implementation uses custom top-line COGS inputs.
Other Costs	Adds named costs for a defined date range.	An applicable cost is not supplied through another source.
Payment Processing	Assigns a payment-processing percentage fee to a Contribution Channel.	A channel has an applicable processing rate.
Order Tag Exclusion	Defines order-tag matching rules for orders that should be excluded.	Tagged orders should not enter the Contribution Margin model.

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DO

Connect and verify your AI tool

What you need to get started

The current Contribution Margin guidance treats the source-mapping and marketing-mapping tabs as essential because they connect incoming data to the model. Cost tabs are optional inputs that improve accuracy when the same costs are not already available from another source.

Essential mappings

• Digital Sales Source Mapping: maps digital stores and channels.

• Retail Sales Source Mapping: maps retail and distributor sources.

• Marketing Sources to Contribution Channel: maps marketing spend to the correct Contribution Channel.

• Channel Hierarchy: gives every used Contribution Channel its intended subgroup and group.

Optional inputs that improve accuracy

• Top-Line COGS: supplies aggregate COGS when your implementation is not using SKU Cost BSD or another connected custom source.

• Payment Processing: adds processing rates when they are not already represented.

• Other Costs: adds applicable 3PL, fulfillment, platform, and similar operational costs that are not captured elsewhere.

• UMS Campaign Name to Product ID: is recommended when a campaign promotes one product and its spend should be attributed directly.

• Order Tag Exclusion: is used only when tagged orders should be excluded from the model.

Not every optional tab must contain data. Complete only the inputs that apply to your implementation, and leave an unused input area blank rather than entering placeholder data.

Confirm the single-row Merchant Settings choices before submission because they control allocation and COGS behavior across channels.

Protect the workbook structure. Do not add, delete, rename, or reorder columns. Complete every field required for a populated row, and use the workbook's supported values or dropdowns. A malformed row can prevent BSD data from refreshing correctly.

Contribution Margin BSD Example

Example Contribution Margin BSD Workbook

Use the example workbook below to see how a completed Contribution Margin Brand Supplied Data (BSD) file is structured across all 10 workbook tabs. It includes sample sales and marketing source mappings, channel hierarchy, merchant settings, cost inputs, payment processing fees, and exclusion rules.

Use this workbook as a reference for structure and configuration as you complete your own BSD file. The values shown are examples only. Replace them with the sales sources, channels, costs, fees, and settings that apply to your brand.

Example of the Contribution Margin BSD Document.xlsx

27KB

Open

Use this completion order

1

Map sales sources

Review the digital and retail source rows, decide which sources belong in Contribution Margin, and assign each included source to a Contribution Channel.

2

Map marketing sources

Assign each applicable marketing source to the same Contribution Channel naming system.

3

Build the channel hierarchy

Add one hierarchy row for every Contribution Channel used in the mapping tabs.

4

Set merchant-level choices

Choose the allocation metric for each supported cost type and confirm the preferred COGS option.

5

Add applicable costs and product mappings.

Complete the campaign, top-line COGS, other-cost, and payment-processing tabs that apply.

6

Add exclusions carefully

Define only the order-tag rules you intend to exclude, then test the effect.

7

Verify the workbook

Check every populated row, date range, value, mapping, and exclusion before upload.

8

Create and sync the Google Sheet

In Daasity, add a new Google Sheet from Brand Supplied Data, share it with Daasity, select the worksheet, configure its destination and column mapping, and create the connection.

9

Verify the refreshed results

After the next pipeline refresh, confirm the expected sources and costs before using the analysis.

Make the configuration choices

Define useful channel boundaries

A Contribution Channel should group activity that you intend to evaluate together. Use names consistently across digital sales, retail sales, marketing sources, payment-processing rates, and the channel hierarchy.

Question	Use it to decide
Should these sources share costs and reporting?	Whether they belong in the same Contribution Channel.
Will the business act differently on the results?	Whether the sources need separate Contribution Channels.
How should leaders compare channels?	The Channel SubGroup and Channel Group structure.
Does the marketing source support one channel or product?	The correct channel mapping and whether a campaign-to-product mapping is appropriate.

Choose an allocation metric

Option	Use when	Consider
gross_sales	The cost is better represented by revenue value.	Higher-priced activity receives a larger share of the allocated cost.
gross_units_sold	The cost is better represented by unit volume.	Each sold unit contributes to the allocation regardless of price.

Use the same business rationale consistently across reporting periods. A change to an allocation metric can change the distribution of cost and make period-over-period comparisons harder to interpret.

Choose the preferred COGS source

Keep from_source when the implementation is intended to use source-provided COGS. Use custom only when custom COGS is the approved configuration for the merchant. Confirm this choice before changing it because it can materially affect Gross Margin and every downstream contribution measure.

Do not change a setting simply to make a result look more plausible. Verify the governing cost source, business rule, and date coverage first.

Field reference

Open each section below for the fields and checks on that workbook tab.

Digital Sales Source Mapping (Essential)

Review each source row already present in the workbook. Preserve source identifiers and make decisions in the inclusion and Contribution Channel fields.

Example Digital Sales Source Mapping sheet with Store Name, Shop ID, Sales Channel, Include, and Contribution Channel columns

Example digital source mapping. The screenshot shows included and excluded digital channels rolling into Amazon or DTC.

Field	How to use it	Check
Store Name	The store label associated with the source data.	Do not replace a source label without Daasity guidance.
Shop ID	The source-system identifier for the shop.	Preserve the exact value supplied in the workbook.
Sales Channel	The source sales channel within the store.	Review every populated source row, including less common channels.
Include	Controls whether the source row is included in Contribution Margin.	Use the accepted value format already used in your workbook. A source marked FALSE does not appear in Contribution Margin output.
Contribution Channel	The reporting channel that receives the source's sales and applicable costs.	Match the name exactly to a row in Channel Hierarchy.

One source, one intended destination. Similar source names can still represent different businesses or channels. Review the Store Name, Shop ID, and Sales Channel together before assigning the Contribution Channel.

Use FALSE for a test store or inactive source that should not affect margin data.

Retail Sales Source Mapping (Essential)

Example Retail Sales Source Mapping sheet with Retail Source, Include, and Contribution Channel columns

Example retail and distributor sources assigned to the Retail Contribution Channel.

Field	How to use it	Check
Retail Source	The retail or wholesale source represented by the row.	Preserve the source name supplied in the workbook.
Include	Controls whether the retail source is included.	Use the accepted value format already used in your workbook.
Contribution Channel	The reporting channel that receives the source's sales and applicable costs.	Match the name exactly to a row in Channel Hierarchy.

Marketing Sources to Contribution Channel (Essential)

Current-page example of marketing source mappings with Marketing Source and Contribution Channel columns

Current-page example of marketing-source mapping.

Field	How to use it	Check
Marketing Source	The marketing source value used in Daasity data.	Use the exact source value; do not normalize spelling or capitalization unless directed.
Contribution Channel	The Contribution Channel that should receive the source's marketing spend.	Use a channel name that also appears in Channel Hierarchy.

Map all applicable marketing sources, including identifiers that may look like account IDs rather than display names.

Channel Hierarchy (Essential)

The hierarchy creates consistent reporting levels. Every Contribution Channel used elsewhere in the workbook should have one intended hierarchy path.

Field	How to use it
Contribution Channel	The most specific reporting channel used in source and cost mappings.
Channel SubGroup	The middle reporting level that combines related Contribution Channels.
Channel Group	The broadest reporting level.

Amazon 3P grouped under the Amazon subgroup and Digital channel group

Contribution Channel	Channel SubGroup	Channel Group
Amazon 3P	Amazon	Digital

Use exact names. A difference in spacing, punctuation, or capitalization can create a separate value instead of the intended rollup.

Merchant Settings (Optional)

This tab contains one merchant-level configuration row. Use the workbook dropdowns rather than typing unsupported values.

Merchant Settings row showing allocation metrics set to gross sales and Preferred COGS set to custom

Example Merchant Settings. In this screenshot, shared costs allocate by gross sales and Preferred COGS is custom.

Field	Supported choices in the workbook	Decision
Allocation Metric For Marketing Spend	gross_sales or gross_units_sold	Choose whether shared marketing spend is allocated in proportion to gross sales or gross units sold.
Allocation Metric for Other Costs	gross_sales or gross_units_sold	Choose whether other costs are allocated in proportion to gross sales or gross units sold.
Allocation Metric for Top-Line COGS	gross_sales or gross_units_sold	Choose whether top-line COGS is allocated in proportion to gross sales or gross units sold.
Preferred COGS	from_source or custom	Choose the COGS source established for your implementation. custom uses the aggregate values entered in Top-Line COGS. from_source uses the source-provided or system-calculated cost available to the model.

Older explanatory copy may refer to the source option as default. The newer workbook dropdown uses from_source; follow the workbook value exactly.

Allocation changes distribution, not the source total. Select the metric that best represents how the shared cost should be distributed across the applicable sales activity.

UMS Campaign Name to Product ID (Optional)

Example UMS campaign name mapped to one product ID

Example direct campaign-to-product attribution.

Field	How to use it
Campaign Name	Enter the campaign name exactly as it appears in the applicable marketing data.
Product ID	Enter the exact product identifier to associate with that campaign.

Use this tab when a campaign promotes a single product and the relationship is known. The mapped campaign's spend is attributed entirely to that product. Without an entry, campaign spend distributes proportionally by gross sales across products in the mapped source. Do not guess a product ID from the campaign name.

Top-Line COGS (Optional)

Example Top-Line COGS sheet with start date, end date, and aggregate COGS values

Example aggregate COGS values with date-bounded coverage.

Field	How to use it	Check
Start Date	The first date covered by the COGS value.	Use YYYY-MM-DD.
End Date	The last date covered by the COGS value.	Use YYYY-MM-DD; confirm it is not before Start Date.
COGS	Enter the approved aggregate COGS amount for the defined period.	Confirm the amount and period against the governing financial source.

This tab captures COGS at an aggregate level, not per SKU. Date-bounded rows allow cost changes to apply prospectively without rewriting historical periods.

Avoid gaps and unintended overlaps. Review adjacent date ranges before adding a new row, especially when the value changes over time.

Other Costs (Optional)

Example Other Costs sheet with date ranges, 3PL, fulfillment, and platform fee line items

Example operational costs entered as time-bounded line items.

Field	How to use it	Check
Start Date	The first date covered by the cost.	Use YYYY-MM-DD.
End Date	The last date covered by the cost.	Use YYYY-MM-DD.
Cost Name	A clear, stable name for the cost.	Use consistent naming for the same cost across periods.
Cost Amount	The approved cost amount for the date range.	Confirm the amount and coverage period against the governing source.

Add only costs that belong in the approved Contribution Margin model and are not already supplied elsewhere. Duplicate inputs can overstate costs.

Current-state note: Trade and trade-promotion-management commitments are entered here as manual line items. The current page identifies a dedicated Trade/TPM tab with direct platform integration as planned future functionality.

Payment Processing (Optional)

Current-page example of payment-processing fees by Contribution Channel

Current-page example of payment-processing rates.

Field	How to use it	Check
Contribution Channel	The channel to which the processing rate applies.	Match the name exactly to Channel Hierarchy.
Percentage Fee	The approved payment-processing percentage for that channel.	Enter it using the percentage convention established in your workbook. Convert 3% to 0.03 and 6% to 0.06.

If rates differ by channel, use a separate row for each applicable Contribution Channel.

Order Tag Exclusion (Optional)

Add an exclusion only when orders matching the specified tag rule should be removed from the Contribution Margin model.

Field	How to use it
Order tags to be excluded	Enter the tag text to evaluate.
Wildcard Logic	Select the matching rule from the workbook dropdown.

Wildcard option	Matching test
exact	The tag matches the entered value exactly.
starts_with	The tag begins with the entered value.
ends_with	The tag ends with the entered value.
contains	The tag contains the entered value.
not_contains	The tag does not contain the entered value.
not_starts_with	The tag does not begin with the entered value.
not_ends_with	The tag does not end with the entered value.

Do not remove the example row. The supplied workbook marks the example as a row to preserve. Negative rules such as not_contains can match more orders than expected. Validate the result on a known sample before relying on the model.

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DECIDE

Use, investigate, or stop

Verify and upload the spreadsheet

Use this final readiness gate to decide whether the completed Contribution Margin BSD spreadsheet is accurate, complete, and ready to upload.

Verify before the next refresh

• No columns were added, deleted, renamed, or reordered.

• Every populated row has all required fields completed.

• Workbook dropdowns and supported values were used where provided.

• Every included sales source has an intended Contribution Channel.

• Every Contribution Channel used in a mapping or fee row appears in Channel Hierarchy.

• Channel names match exactly across tabs.

• Date ranges use YYYY-MM-DD, cover the intended period, and have no unintended gaps or overlaps.

• Cost and fee values are supported by the governing financial source and are not duplicated elsewhere.

• Allocation metrics and Preferred COGS reflect the approved merchant configuration.

• Order-tag exclusions were tested against known included and excluded orders.

Upload the Contribution Margin BSD spreadsheet

If all checkboxes above have been completed, the final step is to upload the new Contribution Margin BSD spreadsheet to Daasity.

Daasity Brand Supplied Data page with the Data section selected, Brand Supplied Data open, and the New Google Sheet button in the upper-right corner

Open Data, select Brand Supplied Data, and use New Google Sheet to begin.

1

Open your workspace

Log in to Daasity and navigate to your Daasity workspace.

2

Open Data

In the left-hand navigation, select Data.

3

Open Brand Supplied Data

In the navigation pane, select Brand Supplied Data. This area supports custom spreadsheets in CSV or Excel format.

4

Start a Google Sheet connection

Select New Google Sheet in the upper-right corner of the window.

5

Name the Google Sheet

Enter a clear name for the new Google Sheet connection.

6

Share the file with Daasity

Complete the sharing instructions shown in Step 1 of the setup workflow.

7

Select and sync the worksheet

Select the worksheet you want Daasity to pull in, then select Sync.

8

Configure the destination and columns

Provide the Destination Schema Name, Destination Table Name, and intended Column Mapping.

9

Create the connection

After the required information is complete, the Create button becomes active. Select it to complete the process.

Upload tips

• File format: CSV is generally the most reliable upload format.

• Column headers: Headers must match Daasity's expected template exactly. Check the setup screen for a template download option.

• Historical data: Format date columns consistently, such as YYYY-MM-DD.

Need help? If you receive an error or do not see the Brand Supplied Data option in your workspace, contact Daasity Support at [e-mail] or use the in-app chat. Support can confirm the workflow for your account and provide the correct template.

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RESOLVE

Fix common connection and answer problems

Troubleshoot an unexpected result

What you see	Check first	Then verify
A sales source is missing	Include value and Contribution Channel on the applicable digital or retail mapping tab.	The channel appears exactly once in the intended Channel Hierarchy path.
Marketing cost appears on the wrong channel	Marketing Sources to Contribution Channel.	The marketing source spelling or identifier matches the underlying data.
Margin looks higher than expected	Preferred COGS, top-line COGS coverage, Other Costs, and Payment Processing.	The relevant costs are present, complete, and not outside the analysis date range.
Margin looks lower than expected	Duplicate cost coverage and overlapping date ranges.	The same cost is not supplied by both a source integration and the BSD workbook.
Cost distribution looks wrong	The applicable Merchant Settings allocation metric.	The selected metric reflects the intended business driver.
Orders are unexpectedly missing	Order Tag Exclusion.	Negative wildcard logic is not matching more orders than intended.
BSD refresh reports an error	Incomplete populated rows and manually typed values where a dropdown is required.	The workbook structure and all required fields remain intact.

The result is still unexpected

Capture the affected date range, Contribution Channel, source, product or campaign if applicable, the value you see, the value you expected, and the workbook row that appears relevant.

Then contact Daasity Support with those details so the team can investigate efficiently.

Related guidance

• Follow-up video

• Daasity Metric Glossary