E-Commerce Accountants

Specialist E-Commerce Accountants

Managing your accounts when selling online has its own set of challenges. You could sell on multiple platforms such as Ebay, Amazon and through your own website, each with different processing times and transaction fees. You could be taking payments on all these platforms in addition to a Paypal account that also collects money through online sales.

This can often obscure your cash flow visibility with multiple sales channels to check. E-Commerce can also bring a higher return rate, with delivery failure issues and the increased rights of customers to return products under the consumer contracts regulation.

The number of refunds and returns you may be obliged to process working in a busy online store can be time-consuming and complex. Some goods may be returned damaged, which you can not send back to your supplier, and other items may need to be re-sold.

We have different levels of tax for gift cards depending on if they are single or multipurpose and also trading across different countries. We can see how managing your tax affairs for an e-commerce business needs a dedicated specialist who understands the challenges and provides simplified solutions.

E-Commerce Sales Considerations

Here at TFMC, we work with both large and small e-commerce companies that all face complexities in managing their e-commerce sales for accounting purposes.

E-Commerce accounting differs from traditional accounting in various ways:

• Sales Tax Complexity: Sales taxes for e-commerce businesses can be particularly complex due to the nature of online transactions. Traditional businesses usually operate in fixed locations, making it simpler to handle sales tax because they deal with a limited set of tax jurisdictions. In contrast, e-commerce businesses sell to customers all over the world, making them subject to numerous sales tax regulations.
• High Volume of Transactions: E-commerce businesses often handle a larger volume of transactions compared to brick-and-mortar businesses. As such, businesses must process, track, and record these transactions efficiently and accurately, often needing to automate this process due to the sheer volume.
• Inventory Management: E-commerce businesses might dropship, carry their own inventory, or use a fulfilment centre like Amazon. Each method requires a different approach to inventory accounting, tracking, and cost calculation.
• Multichannel Sales: Many e-commerce businesses sell their products across multiple online platforms. Each platform may have different fees, payment terms, and reporting formats, adding another layer of complexity to e-commerce accounting.
• Currency Differences: If an e-commerce business sells globally, it must account for sales, taxes, and income in different currencies. This requires a proper understanding of foreign exchange rates and international tax laws.

Challenges in E-Commerce Accounting

To navigate these challenges, we provide specialist accountants that specialise in e-commerce businesses. We are familiar with the intricacies of e-commerce businesses and understand the specific challenges your business may face online trading.

Our modern accounting tools can integrate with your e-commerce platforms, payment gateways, and banking systems. This will help you gain visibility across all platforms and consolidate all your information into a simple dashboard.

While e-commerce accounting is essential for online business success, several challenges may arise that TFMC can help you overcome:

• Integration of Systems: With sales, payments, and banking happening digitally and across various platforms, we can integrate all these data points into one streamlined accounting system.
• Real-time Accounting: Due to the rapidity and volume of e-commerce transactions, maintaining real-time, accurate financial records can be difficult. We can share data instantly between bank accounts and platforms, providing a clear picture of your finances at any point.
• Navigating Tax Laws: We can help you overcome the complexity of tax laws, particularly sales taxes, across various jurisdictions. This can be a significant challenge. We ensure all our E-commerce businesses comply with tax laws wherever they have customers.
• Maintaining Cash Flow: Due to payment gateway terms, there can be a time lag between making a sale and receiving the cash, making cash flow management crucial for e-commerce businesses. Our software will integrate all this data to give you real-time visibility.
• Determining Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Identifying the most relevant KPIs for e-commerce can be different from traditional businesses. We can help you identify opportunities and also areas where we are losing money online.

E-commerce accounting, while sharing many aspects with traditional accounting, presents its very own challenges due to the digital nature of the business, the volume and speed of transactions, and the global reach of e-commerce.

At TFMC, we have the knowledge, tools, and skills to overcome these challenges and ensure the financial health of your e-commerce business.