Accounting glossary

What is overhead?

The expenses that exist whether or not you sell anything today: rent, salaries, insurance. Businesses die two ways — bad margins or overhead outrunning gross profit. The P&L shows both; the budget keeps the second one honest.

Example

A shop with $8,000 of monthly overhead and a 40% gross margin needs $20,000 of sales just to break even before profit begins.

That arithmetic is why overhead is worth knowing to the dollar: it sets the number the month has to clear.

In SeroBooks

Budget vs Actual puts a plan beside every overhead account. Budget vs actual

Nearby terms

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