E-commerce Accounting Made Simple: How Account8 Can Help Your Online Business

Running an e-commerce business is exciting, but keeping on top of your bookkeeping and accounts can quickly become complicated.

Whether you sell through Amazon, Shopify, eBay, Etsy or your own website, e-commerce businesses have accounting requirements that are very different from those of a traditional business.

Sales can come through multiple platforms, payment providers can deduct fees before paying you, refunds and returns need to be accounted for, and VAT can become increasingly complex as your business grows.

That’s where Account8 can help.

We specialise in e-commerce accounting and e-commerce bookkeeping, helping online businesses keep their accounts accurate, stay on top of their finances and understand what is really happening in their business.

Why do e-commerce businesses need specialist bookkeeping?

E-commerce bookkeeping isn’t simply a case of matching money received into the bank to sales invoices.

For example, an Amazon seller may receive a single settlement into their bank account that includes hundreds of individual transactions. That settlement may already have had Amazon fees, refunds, adjustments and other charges deducted.

Similarly, a Shopify business may receive payments through Shopify Payments, PayPal, Klarna or Stripe, with each provider having its own fees and payment schedules.

This means your bank statement doesn’t necessarily tell you how much you actually sold.

To produce accurate accounts, you need to understand what sits behind each payment.

An e-commerce accountant needs to be able to reconcile the complete journey:

E-commerce platform → Payment provider → Fees & refunds → Bank account → Accounting software

At Account8, we understand how these different pieces fit together.

Account8: Specialist E-commerce Accountants

At Account8, e-commerce is a specialist area for us.

We work with online sellers to provide practical e-commerce bookkeeping and accounting services designed around the way their businesses operate.

We can help with:

• E-commerce bookkeeping
• Payment provider reconciliations
• Recording sales and refunds
• Marketplace and payment fees
• VAT bookkeeping and returns
• Supplier and expense bookkeeping
• Import VAT considerations
• Management accounts
• Payroll
• Annual accounts
• Corporation Tax
• Business Advice

Whether you’re a new online seller or an established e-commerce business processing thousands of orders, our aim is the same: to keep your accounts accurate and give you a clear picture of your finances.

E-commerce Bookkeeping Using Link My Books

Technology is an important part of modern e-commerce accounting.

One of the tools we use at Account8 is Link My Books, which helps us streamline the process of bringing e-commerce sales data into accounting software such as Xero.

For businesses with a high volume of transactions, manually entering individual e-commerce sales would be incredibly time-consuming and increases the opportunity for errors.

Link My Books helps automate this process by bringing together information such as:

• Sales
• VAT
• Refunds
• Discounts
• Marketplace fees
• Payment processing fees
• Payouts

This gives us a much more efficient way of recording e-commerce activity and reconciling it against your accounting records.

Why is this important?

The sales your online store makes and the amount paid into your bank account will likely be very different once payment fees, refunds and other deductions have been taken into account.

Without proper e-commerce reconciliation, it can be difficult to understand why the numbers don’t match.

Using Link My Books as part of our bookkeeping process helps us trace the transactions through the different systems and ensure that the figures in your accounts make sense.

That means less manual bookkeeping for you and greater confidence in the accuracy of your accounts.

Amazon Accountant Services

If you’re an Amazon seller, you will already know that Amazon accounting can be complicated.

Amazon settlements can contain a large number of individual transactions, with fees, refunds, reimbursements and other adjustments included.

This makes Amazon bookkeeping very different from traditional bookkeeping.

As an Amazon accountant, Account8 can help you make sense of your Amazon transactions and ensure that your sales, fees and payments are properly reflected in your accounts.

We can help you understand:

• How much you’ve actually sold
• How much you’re paying in Amazon fees
• How much VAT is involved
• What has actually been paid into your bank
• What your expenses are
• How profitable your business really is

This can be particularly important as your Amazon business grows.

Higher sales don’t necessarily mean higher profits, and having accurate accounts allows you to make decisions based on the numbers rather than simply looking at your Amazon turnover.

Shopify Accountant & Shopify Bookkeeping

Shopify businesses have their own accounting challenges.

Your Shopify store may be connected to several payment providers, apps and other systems, while transactions can include discounts, refunds, shipping charges and payment processing fees.

As a Shopify accountant, we can help bring all of this information together so that your bookkeeping accurately reflects your business activity.

Whether you sell directly through Shopify or operate a multi-channel e-commerce business, we can help establish a bookkeeping process that works for you.

Multi-Channel E-commerce Accounting

Many successful e-commerce businesses don’t rely on just one sales channel.

You might sell through:

Amazon + Shopify + eBay + Etsy + your own website

Each platform can generate its own reports, fees, refunds and payment settlements.

Trying to manage all of this manually can quickly become overwhelming.

Our e-commerce bookkeeping service can bring these different sales channels together within your accounting system, giving you a much clearer overall view of your business.

This also means you don’t have to spend hours downloading reports and trying to work out why your sales figures don’t match your bank account.

E-commerce VAT and Accounting

VAT can be another significant challenge for e-commerce businesses.

As your sales grow, you may need to consider VAT registration and the correct VAT treatment of different types of sales and transactions.

Selling through marketplaces or internationally can introduce additional considerations.

Accurate bookkeeping is essential because your VAT returns are only as reliable as the underlying records.

At Account8, we can help ensure that your e-commerce transactions are properly recorded and that your bookkeeping provides the information required to prepare accurate VAT returns.

Let Account8 Take Care of Your E-commerce Bookkeeping

As an e-commerce business owner, your time is better spent growing your business than trying to reconcile hundreds or thousands of transactions.

By outsourcing your bookkeeping to Account8, you can have confidence that your accounts are being looked after by people who understand e-commerce.

We combine specialist e-commerce accounting knowledge with cloud accounting technology, including Link My Books, to create an efficient bookkeeping process for your business.

The result is simple:

Accurate accounts. Less admin. Better financial visibility.

Why Choose Account8 as Your E-commerce Accountant?

E-commerce businesses need an accountant who understands more than just basic bookkeeping.

At Account8, we understand the challenges that come with online selling, including multiple sales channels, payment providers, platform fees, refunds, VAT and high transaction volumes.

We use technology to make the bookkeeping process more efficient, while providing the personal support you’d expect from a specialist accountant.

Whether you’re looking for an Amazon accountant, Shopify accountant, or a specialist to manage your wider e-commerce bookkeeping, Account8 can help.

Our goal isn’t simply to keep your accounts up to date.

It’s to give you accurate financial information that helps you understand your business and make better decisions.