---
title: Cost and Profit Show Zero or Outdated on Existing Orders
description: Old orders show zero or outdated profit? Recalculate them with the Orders recalculation tool (Pro) or fix single orders on the free version.
url: "https://wpfactory.com/docs/cog-not-applied-existing-orders/"
updated: "2026-09-27"
category: Troubleshooting
tags:
  - Cost of Goods
---

# Cost and Profit Show Zero or Outdated on Existing Orders

If orders placed before you entered or changed product costs show zero or outdated profit in [Cost of Goods: Product Cost & Profit Calculator for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/cost-of-goods-for-woocommerce/), recalculate them. Go to **WPFactory > Cost of Goods** (also reachable at **WooCommerce > Settings > Cost of Goods**) > **Tools** and run the **Orders recalculation tool**.

## Symptoms

- Orders placed before you installed Cost of Goods, or before you filled in costs, show a cost and profit of 0.
- You changed a product cost, but older orders still use the old cost.
- WooCommerce Analytics and the admin orders list still show old figures after an update.

## Why it happens

Cost of Goods saves each product's cost on the order line when the order is created. Later changes to a product cost do not touch orders that already exist, and orders created before a cost was set keep an empty cost. This protects your history, but it means past orders must be recalculated on purpose.

## Causes and fixes

1. **The orders need a recalculation (Pro).** Open the **Tools** sub-tab and find the **Orders recalculation tool** group:
   - **Recalculate orders** recalculates cost and profit for all orders. Its companion option **Override item costs on recalculation** is on by default and replaces the saved line costs with the current product costs. Turn it off if you only want the totals recalculated from the costs already saved on each order.
   - **Recalculate no cost orders** only fills in orders that have no costs yet.
   - **Date** (**After** and **Before**, plus **Date type**: Date created, Date modified, Date completed or Date paid) limits the run to a period.

   Tick the option you need and click **Save changes** to start it. When the run covers at least the **Minimum amount** of orders set under **Advanced > Background processing** (default 100), it runs in the background and, with **Send email** on (the default), emails you when it is done. If large runs stop early, set **PHP memory limit** in the same Tools group.
2. **You are on the free version.** The recalculation tool is Pro, but you can fix individual orders:
   - Open the order and edit each line's cost in the order edit screen. **Orders > Admin Order Edit > Item costs** is enabled by default.
   - Set **Orders > Admin Order Edit > "Recalculate" button** to **Fill in empty item costs with the default costs** (or **Fill in all item costs with the default costs**), then click WooCommerce's **Recalculate** button on the order.
   - Or turn on **Advanced > Order item costs > Auto fill empty order items costs on order update** and update the order.
3. **New orders also show zero.** Check **Orders > Calculations > Delay calculations**. If order statuses are selected there, all values stay at zero until the order reaches one of them. Leave it empty to calculate right away. See [Profit Calculation Issues in WooCommerce Cost of Goods](https://wpfactory.com/docs/profit-calculation-issue/).
4. **Orders come from a POS, the REST API or another plugin.** These orders may be created in a way that skips the cost calculation. See [Cost and Profit Missing on Orders From POS, API or Other Plugins](https://wpfactory.com/docs/cost-of-goods-missing-on-pos-api-orders/).
5. **Analytics still shows the old numbers.** WooCommerce caches Analytics data. After a recalculation, clear it at **WooCommerce > Status > Tools**, as the plugin's own Analytics sub-tab suggests.

## How to confirm it is fixed

1. Open one of the old orders in the admin and check the **Cost of Goods** meta box: cost and profit should now be filled in.
2. If you use the orders list columns, the **Cost** and **Profit** columns should show the new values.
3. In WooCommerce Analytics, clear the cache and reload the report for the same period.

## FAQ

### Does changing a product cost update past orders automatically?

No. Past orders keep the cost saved when they were placed. Recalculate them with the tool above, or edit the order line costs.

### Will a recalculation overwrite costs I typed into orders by hand?

Yes, if **Override item costs on recalculation** is on (the default). Turn it off before running the tool to keep the costs saved on each order.

## Still stuck?

Send us an example order number and the costs you expected. Our team answers every ticket on the [Cost of Goods support forum](https://wpfactory.com/support/item/cost-of-goods-for-woocommerce/).

### Get more from Cost of Goods

Editing order line costs is free. [Cost of Goods: Product Cost & Profit Calculator for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/cost-of-goods-for-woocommerce/) Pro adds the orders recalculation tool, so you can bring years of orders up to date in one run. [Get Cost of Goods Pro](https://wpfactory.com/item/cost-of-goods-for-woocommerce/).

Related articles

- [Show Order Cost and Profit in Admin New Order Emails](https://wpfactory.com/docs/enhance-order-emails/)
- [Add Payment Gateway Costs to Order Profit](https://wpfactory.com/docs/manage-payment-gateways/)
- [Show Product Cost and Profit with Shortcodes](https://wpfactory.com/docs/product-shortcodes-cost/)
- [Configure Order Cost and Profit Calculations](https://wpfactory.com/docs/configure-cost-profit/)
- [Add Cost and Profit Columns to the Admin Orders List](https://wpfactory.com/docs/customize-orders-columns/)

 

[![Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): Cost & Profit Calculator for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/wp-content/uploads/Cost-of-Goods-for-WooCommerce.webp)](https://wpfactory.com/item/cost-of-goods-for-woocommerce/)