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What are selling expenses?

Any cost or expenses that is incurred to sell or promote a product or service is considered a “selling expense”. Selling expenses are a key category of operating expenses, which means they are subtracted from gross profit to calculate operating profit.

Selling expenses are typically categorized as period expenses, which means that they are recognized on the income statement in the period that the expense is incurred.

Some different types of selling expenses include marketing, advertising, sales commissions, compensation for sales team, shipping product to the customer, social media, tradeshows, and promotional materials.


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