===== Why do I have zero marketing and sales (M&S) expenses? =====

Two sources exist for your M&S expenses: marketing and sales personnel (i.e., payroll) and Other Expenses that are allocated to M&S. The only way for the income statement to show zero expenses is for both of these components to be zero. Let's talk about them separately:

- Marketing and Sales Personnel. On the menu, select assumptions/costs/personnel. Then select the Employees tab. Here are some issues that could cause zero M&S personnel expense:

  - You have no M&S employees. Examine the Salary Charged To column entries on this page. Having no employees with their Salary Charged To Marketing and Sales would explain why you have no M&S expenses.
  - You have M&S employees, but they earn zero salaries. Make sure you enter non-zero values in the Initial Base Salary column for the M&S employees listed.
  - You have an M&S category of employee, but a zero count. Make sure you enter non-zero values in the Employee Count columns for these M&S employees.
  - You have M&S employees and a base salary, but you are not planning on paying them. This is also acceptable if that is your plan. It would be reflected as a Percentage Paid of 0% in the Advanced Settings page for each of the M&S employees.
  - You have M&S employees and a base salary, but they are not working. This makes no sense. Make sure that the Percent Time Worked column on the Advanced Settings page for each of the M&S employees is not set to 0%.
  - You have M&S employees and a base salary, but their time is being charged to COGS, not M&S. This is also acceptable if that is your plan, but is very strange (if not in violation of GAAP) for marketing and sales personnel! It would be reflected as a Percent COGS vs. expense of 100% in the Advanced Settings page for each of the M&S employees.

- Expenses. On the menu, select assumptions/costs/other expenses. Scan down the column labeled Calculation Rule. Make sure that some of the non-zero expenses are being allocated to either Billed to M&S or Per M&S Employee. Otherwise, this expense will not appear on the M&S line of the income statement.

{{keywords>income statement, expenses, zero, marketing, sales, M&S}}

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