E-Commerce Accounting Services
Accounting outsourcing for online retailers selling across marketplaces and their own storefront, including settlement reconciliation, fees, refunds, inventory/COGS records and channel reporting.
What tends to make E-Commerce accounting different
E-commerce accounting services need to connect the gross sales reported by each storefront or marketplace to the net settlement that reaches the bank. Platform fees, refunds, chargebacks, reserves, payment-processor charges and timing differences can make a payout look like revenue when it is only the net cash received. We reconcile available channel and processor reports to the existing accounting records, keep fees and returns visible, and maintain inventory and cost-of-goods-sold records using the client’s approved method. Sales can be organised by destination state for review by the client’s tax adviser; tax registration decisions and filings remain with the client or its appointed tax professional.
The parts of the workflow that can be delegated
The right scope depends on your systems, team and review process. These are practical areas where additional capacity can be useful without taking control away from your team.
Multi-channel reconciliation across Shopify, Amazon, and other marketplaces
Inventory and cost of goods sold (COGS) tracking for accurate margins
Sales data organised by destination state for tax-adviser review
Marketplace fees, refunds, and chargebacks broken out as separate line items
True net revenue reporting per sales channel
QuickBooks and Xero integration with common e-commerce platforms
Four Things That Go Wrong in E-Commerce Books
Not because anyone was careless. Because each one is a convention a generalist bookkeeper has no particular reason to know, and the accounts look reasonable while it is wrong.
The payout is not the revenue
Marketplaces and payment processors settle net: gross sales less fees, refunds, chargebacks, reserves and sometimes advertising, in one deposit that lands days after the sales it covers. Treating that net deposit as revenue can understate both gross revenue and the related fees, refunds or other settlement activity, leaving the profit-and-loss statement difficult to interpret. Each settlement should be decomposed to its components against the platform report for the period.
Inventory that only exists at year end
Where cost of goods sold is calculated once a year from a physical count, monthly margin is fiction — every month carries a full-price inventory purchase as if it were cost, and the true position appears in a single year-end adjustment. Maintaining COGS as sales post is what makes a monthly gross margin mean anything, and it is the number most e-commerce decisions actually rest on.
Nexus accumulating in states nobody is watching
Selling into a state accrues obligation on transaction and revenue triggers, per state, with no single national threshold to watch. Because nothing notifies you, the first sign is often a notice covering periods already closed. Recording sales by destination state keeps the position visible; whether and when to register is a decision for your CPA.
Channel-blind reporting
A blended gross margin across marketplace, own storefront and wholesale hides that one of them is losing money. The fee structures differ enough — marketplace commission against payment processing against wholesale terms — that the blended number rarely describes any of the three. Recording revenue and its associated fees by channel is a setup decision that makes the difference visible.
What We Would Put Right First
Before anything is optimised, these have to be true. Most of them are setup decisions that are cheap now and expensive to retrofit.
- Every settlement decomposed to gross sales, fees, refunds, chargebacks and reserves against the platform report
- Inventory and COGS maintained as sales post rather than reconstructed at year end
- Sales recorded by destination state so multi-state exposure is visible
- Revenue and its own fees recorded per channel, not blended
- Merchant account and bank reconciled, including timing between sale and payout
Explore the workflows that connect to this one
Frequently Asked Questions
What do e-commerce accounting services include?
The scope can include reconciling gross sales, marketplace fees, refunds, chargebacks, reserves and net payouts to available platform and payment-processor reports, then tying settlements to the bank and existing accounting records.
Do you handle inventory and cost of goods sold (COGS) accounting?
Inventory and COGS records can be maintained using the method and source information approved for the engagement. Margin reporting depends on current inventory records, purchase costs, returns and the agreed costing method.
Can you organise sales data for a tax adviser to review?
Sales data can be organized by destination state for review by the client’s tax adviser. Tax registration decisions, tax advice and filings remain with the client or its appointed tax professional.
Do you account for marketplace fees and chargebacks separately?
Marketplace fees, refunds, chargebacks and reserves can be classified separately where the source reports support that detail, so channel reporting distinguishes gross sales from net settlement amounts.
What platforms do you support?
QuickBooks or Xero can remain the accounting record. Available storefront and payment-processor reports can support reconciliation; platform configuration, connector implementation and software migration are outside this service scope.
What records are useful for marketplace settlement reconciliation?
Useful inputs include settlement statements, gross-sales reports, fee and refund detail, chargeback and reserve activity, payment-processor reports and the bank statement. The reconciliation should show how the available platform activity ties to the net payout and the existing accounting record.
How should payout timing differences and reserves be tracked?
Separate sales and fee activity from the cash settlement date, then document timing differences, rolling reserves, withheld funds and chargebacks using the available platform reports. Items that do not resolve to a clear source should remain open for review instead of being treated automatically as revenue or expense.
Can you maintain accounting across Shopify and marketplace sales channels?
Yes, if the channels, payment processors, reporting periods and accounting files are identified in the scope. Each settlement source should remain traceable to its source report, with common fees, refunds, reserves and payout timing differences classified consistently where the underlying records support it.
What inventory information is needed to maintain COGS records?
The required inputs depend on the agreed costing method, but may include inventory records, purchase costs, freight or other approved costs, returns, write-offs and stock adjustments. The business or its appointed accountant approves the method and the source information used; missing inputs should be flagged rather than replaced with an assumption.
How do you handle settlement differences that cannot be matched to the source reports?
Document the affected channel, settlement period, reported amount, bank receipt, fees or adjustments visible in the records and the remaining difference. The business or its payment-platform specialist resolves missing source data or disputed transactions; the accounting process should not force the reconciliation to zero without support.
Talk to Us About E-Commerce Accounting
A free consultation, and a call that costs nothing. Tell us how e-commerce work is handled today and where the recurring load is landing on the wrong people.
Need support with E-Commerce accounting?
Tell us how the work is handled today and where additional capacity would make the biggest difference.