CM2

CM2 is CM1 minus additional variable operating costs, most commonly marketing and customer acquisition spend.

CM2 is where marketing spend usually enters the picture — a business might structure it as CM1 minus performance marketing spend, giving a per-order or per-customer view of profitability after paying to acquire the sale. This makes CM2 one of the more marketing-relevant profitability lines on the P&L, and one worth understanding even if you never touch finance systems directly.

As with CM1, the exact cost structure isn't standardized across companies. Some businesses also track a CM3 or CM4 layer, subtracting fixed overhead or fulfillment infrastructure costs — the naming convention keeps going as far down the P&L as a company finds useful.