MarginLens — Profit margin analysis for QuickBooks
Profit margin analysis for QuickBooks by product, customer, and segment — true margins computed straight from your ledger.
Works with QuickBooks Online
The problem
- You know the top-line number but not which customers actually make money.
- Margin erosion hides inside a blended average.
- Pricing and mix decisions are made on gut feel.
How MarginLens fixes it
Profit margin analysis for QuickBooks by product, customer, and segment — true margins computed straight from your ledger.
What you get
Profitability ranked by product, customer, and segment.
Outcome 1The low-margin work that quietly drains the business, surfaced.
Outcome 2Pricing and mix decisions grounded in real contribution.
Outcome 3MarginLens vs a spreadsheet
Margin analysis by customer or product usually means exporting the P&L, allocating costs by hand in a pivot table, and hoping the allocation logic survives to next month. It rarely does.
| Area | Spreadsheet | MarginLens |
|---|---|---|
| Cost allocation | Rebuilt in a pivot each period | Applied consistently from the ledger |
| Granularity | Blended into one company-wide number | By product, customer, and segment |
| Loss-makers | Hidden inside the average | Surfaced explicitly |
| Refresh | Manual rebuild every month | Recomputed as the books change |
| Consistency | Allocation logic drifts over time | Same method applied every period |
Illustrative example
A blended 34% gross margin can hide a segment running at 11% and another at 52%. A spreadsheet buries that in the average; margin analysis by segment shows you exactly which work to reprice or drop — often a five-figure swing in annual contribution.
Hypothetical figures to show the arithmetic, not customer results.
How it connects to QuickBooks
- 1.Connect QuickBooks Online with a secure, read-only authorization. MarginLens never writes to your books.
- 2.MarginLens reads the accounts and transactions it needs and builds its analysis from your live ledger.
- 3.Results stay current as your books change. Disconnect at any time to revoke access.
Frequently asked questions
Does MarginLens work with QuickBooks Online?
Yes. MarginLens connects to QuickBooks Online through a secure, read-only connection and builds its analysis directly from your live ledger. There is nothing to export or re-key.
How long does it take to get started?
Connect QuickBooks Online and MarginLens produces its first results in minutes. Setup does not require an implementation project or a spreadsheet import.
How much does MarginLens cost?
Plans start at $49/mo (Starter: one tool, one company). The $199/mo Suite includes every Tech for CFO tool, and every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.
Is my financial data safe?
MarginLens uses a read-only connection to QuickBooks Online and does not write to your books. Your data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
Is there a free way to try it first?
Yes. The free Gross Margin Analyzer runs MarginLens-style analysis on numbers you enter, no account required, so you can see the value before connecting QuickBooks.
Is MarginLens better than a spreadsheet?
A spreadsheet is flexible, but it has to be rebuilt every period and breaks easily. MarginLens connects to QuickBooks Online and stay current as the books change, which removes the manual rebuild and the formula risk.
Can I keep using my spreadsheet too?
Yes. MarginLens reads from QuickBooks Online and does not change your books, so a spreadsheet for one-off analysis can sit alongside it.
How does MarginLens know my costs by product or customer?
It reads the revenue and cost detail already in QuickBooks Online and applies a consistent allocation, so margins are computed from your real ledger rather than a hand-built pivot.
Can it show which customers lose money?
Yes — profitability is ranked by product, customer, and segment, so low- and negative-margin work stops hiding inside the blended average.
Do I have to re-tag everything in QuickBooks?
No. MarginLens works from the structure already in your books; the cleaner your class/customer tagging, the finer the breakdown, but it works with what you have.
Ready to put MarginLens on your numbers?
Start a 14-day free trial, no credit card required.