If you make 100k but reinvest half in marketing, your profit is 50k, but it would be misleading to equate your business to another one that makes 50k and doesn'

If you make 100k but reinvest half in marketing, your profit is 50k, but it would be misleading to equate your business to another one that makes 50k and doesn't reinvest any of it. What you're looking for is gross margin, but even that is hard to pin down exactly since there can be a fuzzy line between whether an expense is required or discretionary.