> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Average Order Value (ex-VAT), BigCommerce > Average Order Value excluding VAT for BigCommerce stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. **Metrics type:** [Key Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Ecommerce Platform](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > **Average order value with VAT removed**, the merchant's net per-order revenue before tax. Most ecommerce dashboards default to AOV inc-VAT (matches the customer's view of price). **B2B-heavy stores prefer ex-VAT** because their accounting and forecasting is denominated in net revenue, and because their B2B customers reclaim VAT (so the inc-VAT AOV overstates the customer's effective spend). The card answers "what did we earn per order, net of tax?" | | | | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **What it counts** | Sum of order subtotals excluding all tax components, divided by order count. Computed across the current 30-day period. Excludes refunds and cancellations. Uses BC's `subtotal_ex_tax` field where available; falls back to `total_inc_tax - total_tax` otherwise. | | **Sample type** | Backend API data from BigCommerce orders, refreshed on the standard data refresh. | | **Why ex-VAT AOV matters** | (1) **B2B accounting view**: B2B businesses report revenue net of tax because they remit collected VAT to the tax authority. The ex-VAT AOV is the figure that flows to the P\&L. (2) **Cross-border comparison**: stores with mixed UK + EU + US shoppers face different VAT rates by jurisdiction; ex-VAT AOV normalises the comparison. (3) **Margin planning**: COGS and ad-spend are typically ex-VAT; AOV ex-VAT enables clean margin math without needing to back out tax each time. (4) **EU compliance**: many EU merchants standardise on ex-VAT for management reporting per local accounting practice. | | **Reading the value** | (1) Compare against `aov` (inc-VAT version) to see the tax wedge magnitude. (2) Trend movement parallels `aov_trend` (the inc-VAT trend); changes in tax mix can cause minor divergence. (3) For UK + EU stores with 20% VAT, the ex-VAT figure is roughly 0.83x the inc-VAT figure. (4) For US-only stores, the two should be effectively identical since US sales tax is typically not part of the order subtotal in BC's data. | | **Currency** | currency (£/€/\$/etc., automatically detected from store settings). | | **Time window** | `30D vsP`. | | **Alert trigger** | inherits `aov_trend` (BAD ≤ -5%). | | **Sentiment key** | `aov_trend`. | | **Roles** | owner, finance, b2b | ## Calculation ``` aov_ex_vat = SUM(orders.subtotal_ex_tax) ÷ COUNT(orders) WHERE order_date IN [today - 30d, today) AND payment_status IN ('paid', 'captured', 'completed') ``` If `subtotal_ex_tax` is not directly available, compute as `total_inc_tax - total_tax - shipping_inc_tax + shipping_ex_tax` per order, then divide by order count. ## Worked example A UK-based BigCommerce home-and-garden store, AOV reading on Wednesday 15 May 26. | Metric | Current period | Previous period | Notes | | ------------------- | -------------: | --------------: | ------------------------------------ | | AOV (inc-VAT) | £261.09 | £243.27 | The customer-facing figure | | Total tax per order | £43.51 | £40.55 | Average VAT @ 20% on net | | **AOV (ex-VAT)** | **£217.58** | **£202.72** | **Net revenue per order** | | Tax wedge | 16.7% | 16.7% | Standard UK VAT-inclusive arithmetic | | AOV ex-VAT change | +7.3% | - | Matches the inc-VAT trend | What the ex-VAT reading is telling us: 1. **The merchant's net AOV is £217.58.** This is the figure that flows to the P\&L and matters for margin math. **At a 50% gross margin assumption, contribution per order is £108.79** before fulfilment, ad-spend, and overhead. Compare this directly against per-order CAC (typically £15-£40) to compute true contribution per order. 2. **The tax wedge is consistent at 16.7%.** This indicates the merchant's customer mix is stable across geographies (no recent shift between UK + EU + non-EU shipping). A divergence in the tax wedge across periods would signal a customer-mix change worth investigating. 3. **Why the ex-VAT and inc-VAT trends are identical at +7.3%.** When tax rates and customer mix are stable, the two AOVs move in lockstep. Divergence between the two trends signals either: (a) a tax-rate change in a major jurisdiction, (b) a customer-mix shift between taxable and zero-rated regions, (c) a product-mix shift between standard-rate and reduced-rate categories. 4. **Use cases for ex-VAT AOV:** * **Margin reporting**: feeds directly into P\&L without requiring tax-back-out. * **B2B reporting**: matches B2B customer experience (they reclaim VAT). * **Cross-border comparison**: normalises across jurisdictions with different tax rates. * **Investor decks**: most ecommerce KPI benchmarks are quoted ex-VAT for international comparability. 5. **Cross-reference cards:** * `aov` (inc-VAT): customer-facing AOV. * `aov_trend`: percentage change. * `bc_aov_discount`: AOV with vs without discount. * `bc_aov_by_country`: geography decomposition. * `total_revenue`: revenue companion. The diagnostic flow: 1. **Read ex-VAT AOV.** Compare to inc-VAT AOV. 2. **Confirm tax wedge** is stable across periods. 3. **Use ex-VAT for margin and P\&L work**; use inc-VAT for customer-experience and conversion analysis. Rapid-response playbook: | Time horizon | Action | | ------------ | ------------------------------------------------- | | First 1 hour | Read ex-VAT vs inc-VAT. Confirm tax wedge stable. | | First day | Use ex-VAT for margin reporting. | | Periodic | Audit tax wedge for jurisdiction-mix shifts. | ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why merchants reach for it | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | | [`aov`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/average-order-value) | AOV inc-VAT (customer-facing). | | [`bc_aov_discount`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/aov-with-without-discount) | AOV with vs without discount. | | [`bc_aov_by_country`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/aov-by-country) | Geography decomposition. | | [`bc_channel_aov`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/aov-by-channel) | Channel decomposition. | | [`total_revenue`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/total-revenue) | Revenue companion. | | [`total_orders`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/total-orders) | Volume companion. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in BC:** Analytics → Insights → Orders (toggle tax-inclusive vs ex-tax view if available); Reports → Sales Tax Report. **Why our number may differ:** | Reason | Direction | What to do | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------- | | **Tax-field interpretation.** BC has both `subtotal_ex_tax` and `total_tax`; small numerical differences arise on rounding. | ±0.1% | Use the same field. | | **Shipping tax handling.** Some merchants charge shipping with tax included; others ex-tax. | Variable | Confirm shipping tax setting. | | **Multi-tax-jurisdiction orders.** Orders with multiple tax components (e.g., UK + EU OSS) may compute slightly differently. | Marginal | Use BC's authoritative tax breakdown. | **Cross-connector:** `shopify.aov_ex_vat`, `adobe_commerce.aov_ex_vat` for cross-platform parity (when same merchant uses multiple platforms). **Quick rule:** confirm the tax-field source and shipping-tax handling first. ## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Q: We're a US-only store. Should we use ex-VAT or inc-VAT?** US sales tax is typically not part of the order subtotal in BC's data (it's collected as a separate line). The two AOV values will be effectively identical for US-only stores. Stick with inc-VAT (`aov`) as the headline; treat ex-VAT as informational. The distinction matters for UK + EU + multi-jurisdiction merchants. **Q: Why does ex-VAT AOV not have its own alert threshold?** Because the trend behaviour is identical to inc-VAT AOV when tax rates and customer mix are stable. The alert-threshold logic lives on `aov_trend`, which reads the percentage change. The ex-VAT version is a presentation variant for stores that prefer the net view. **Q: Our tax wedge changed from 17% to 14%. What happened?** Likely a customer-mix shift toward lower-tax-rate jurisdictions (e.g., more EU OSS-zero-rated B2B customers, or more US shipping addresses). Investigate via per-country revenue decomposition (`bc_revenue_by_country` or `bc_aov_by_country`). **Q: B2B customers reclaim VAT, does this card account for that?** Indirectly. The ex-VAT AOV shows what the merchant earned net of tax; whether the customer reclaims their input VAT is the customer's tax position, not the merchant's. The merchant's revenue recognition is at ex-VAT regardless. **Q: Our shipping is sometimes inc-VAT and sometimes ex-VAT depending on jurisdiction. How does that affect AOV?** Configurable per profile. Default behaviour: align with the order's tax inclusion setting. A consistent ex-VAT view requires consistent shipping treatment; if your shipping varies, the trend may show small artefacts. Audit the BC shipping tax configuration. **Q: When should I quote ex-VAT to investors and when inc-VAT?** Investors and benchmarks typically use ex-VAT (net revenue) for international comparability. Internal customer-experience metrics use inc-VAT (customer-facing). For a board pack, lead with ex-VAT; for a marketing dashboard, lead with inc-VAT. **Q: GMV vs revenue, which does this card reflect?** Revenue (net of refunds, cancellations, returns). GMV (gross merchandise value) typically includes those and is higher. If you need GMV, sum `subtotal_ex_tax` across all orders including refunded; the difference between this card and GMV is the refund-rate adjustment. **Q: How does this card differ from `aov`?** `aov` is inc-VAT (customer-facing); this card is ex-VAT (merchant accounting). Different audiences, same underlying data. Run both alongside on stores with mixed audiences. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Average Order Value (ex-VAT)* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across BigCommerce and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. 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