Outsourced bookkeeping for ecommerce has a specific job: turning marketplace and payment platform payouts back into the sales, fees, refunds and taxes that make them up. When payouts are recorded as a single deposit, revenue looks lower than it is, fees disappear and margins are impossible to read.
Key takeaways
- Record each payout as gross sales, minus fees, refunds and other deductions, instead of as a single deposit.
- Reconcile every sales channel and payment platform each month, the same way you reconcile a bank account.
- Track inventory and cost of goods sold so gross margin reflects what you actually sold.
- Sales tax collected by marketplaces needs to be recorded correctly, even when the marketplace remits it.
- Reports by channel show which platforms are profitable after fees.
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What makes ecommerce bookkeeping different?
Online sellers are paid through platforms such as Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, PayPal and Stripe. Each one deducts fees, holds reserves, issues refunds and pays out on its own schedule. The bank sees only the net payout. Bookkeeping has to rebuild the detail behind each payout, or the income statement understates sales and hides costs.
What an outsourced bookkeeper handles
- Breaking payouts into gross sales, discounts, shipping income, fees, refunds, chargebacks and reserves.
- Reconciling each platform's balance to its payout reports every month.
- Recording inventory purchases and cost of goods sold, using your inventory system's reports.
- Separating sales tax collected from revenue.
- Matching supplier bills and freight costs to the right periods.
- Preparing a monthly profit report by sales channel.
Many sellers use connector apps that summarize platform data into the accounting system. An outsourced team can work with those apps and check that their totals agree with the platform reports.
Ask us to review how your payouts are recorded
Common problems we see
- Payouts recorded as revenue, so platform fees never appear.
- Refunds and chargebacks missing, which overstates sales.
- Inventory expensed when bought rather than when sold.
- Platform balances never reconciled, so reserves and holds go unnoticed.
The same reconciliation discipline described in monthly bank reconciliation applies to every platform. If you sell in several currencies, also read multi-currency bookkeeping. Our bookkeeping service covers ecommerce clients.
Recording a payout, step by step
Take a single marketplace payout as an example. The platform's settlement report shows the detail behind the deposit. The bookkeeper records:
- Gross product sales for the period, to your sales account.
- Shipping charged to customers, to shipping income.
- Discounts and promotions, as a reduction of sales.
- Refunds and returns, as a reduction of sales.
- Platform selling fees, advertising and fulfillment fees, each to its own expense account.
- Sales tax collected, to a liability or a memo account, depending on who remits it.
- Any reserve held back by the platform, as a balance owed to you.
The total of these lines equals the payout that reached your bank. If it doesn't, something is missing from the report or the entry.
Monthly reports that help sellers
A profit and loss by sales channel shows which platforms make money after fees. A gross margin report shows whether pricing covers product and fulfillment costs. An inventory valuation report, reconciled to the balance sheet, confirms that stock figures are reliable. Together these tell you far more than the bank balance does.
Frequently asked questions
Should I record marketplace payouts as sales?
Record the gross sales and the deductions separately. The payout itself is the net amount that reaches your bank, after fees, refunds and other adjustments.
Do I need to record sales tax a marketplace collects for me?
You should keep a record of it so your sales figures exclude tax and you can answer questions from your tax adviser. How it is reported depends on the rules where you sell.
How often should ecommerce books be updated?
At least monthly, and weekly for high-volume sellers. Frequent updates make it easier to spot missing payouts and unusual fees.
Can an outsourced bookkeeper work with my connector app?
Yes. Connector apps that summarize Shopify, Amazon and other platforms into your accounting system are common. The bookkeeper reviews their output and reconciles the totals to platform reports each month.
Get ecommerce bookkeeping from Oakridge Global
Our bookkeepers work with sellers across the main marketplaces and payment platforms. Schedule a consultation with Oakridge Global to talk through your sales channels.