E-commerce

Multi-platform revenue tracking, COGS calculation, and sales tax nexus management for online sellers.

The Industry

Platform fees eat into every sale. Shopify charges monthly fees plus transaction costs. Amazon takes referral fees, FBA fees, storage fees, and sometimes long-term storage fees on inventory that sits too long. Etsy bills listing fees and transaction fees. Payment processors take their cut. By the time money hits your bank account, 25-40% of the gross sale is gone to various platforms and processors. Your revenue isn’t what customers paid - it’s what’s left after all those deductions.

Sales tax nexus gets complicated fast. Sell on Amazon and you might trigger nexus in states where their warehouses store your FBA inventory. Shopify sales create nexus based on where customers are located and how much you sell in each state. Some platforms collect and remit sales tax for you. Others don’t. Tracking where you have obligations, what’s already been collected, and what you need to file yourself becomes a full-time job without proper systems.

Who This Covers

Shopify store owners, Amazon FBA sellers, Etsy shops, dropshipping operations, subscription box businesses. Any e-commerce business managing inventory, platform fees, and multi-state sales tax obligations.

Core Challenges

Platform fee reconciliation across multiple sales channels. COGS tracking when inventory sits at third-party warehouses. Sales tax nexus in multiple states. Advertising spend on Facebook, Google, or Amazon that needs allocation by product. Returns and refunds that reduce revenue. Payment processor fees that vary by transaction type.

What We Handle

Platform integrations pull sales data directly into QuickBooks. Revenue gets recorded net of fees so your P&L shows what you actually kept, not gross sales. COGS tracking accounts for product costs, shipping to Amazon warehouses, and FBA fees. You can see real profit margins by product after all costs. Sales tax management across multiple states - we track where you have nexus, handle filings in each jurisdiction, and reconcile what platforms collected versus what you owe.

Inventory tracking for FBA sellers shows what’s at Amazon warehouses, what’s in transit, and what you have on hand. Advertising spend gets allocated so you know customer acquisition cost by product or channel. Tax preparation captures inventory write-downs, platform fees as cost of goods sold, and home office deductions for sellers running businesses from home.

Revenue and Cost Tracking

Multi-platform integration with Shopify, Amazon, Etsy showing net revenue after fees. COGS calculation including product costs, shipping, and fulfillment fees. Advertising spend allocation by product or channel. Returns and refunds processed correctly reducing revenue and adjusting inventory.

Sales Tax and Inventory

Sales tax nexus tracking across states where you’re selling. Filing in multiple jurisdictions with proper reconciliation of platform-collected tax. Inventory management for FBA showing units at warehouses and in transit. Tax prep capturing e-commerce specific deductions and proper inventory accounting methods.

What Goes Wrong

Recording gross sales instead of net revenue inflates income. You sold $100,000 but Amazon kept $32,000 in fees. Your actual revenue was $68,000. Books showing $100,000 make you think you’re more profitable than reality and create tax problems when you pay on income you never received. COGS gets understated because sellers forget to include FBA fees or shipping to warehouses. A product with $8 landed cost and $5 in Amazon fees has $13 total COGS, not $8. Price based on the wrong number and margins disappear.

Sales tax nexus gets ignored until states send notices demanding back taxes. Economic nexus thresholds mean you might owe in 15 states you’ve never visited. Not tracking this creates liability that compounds with penalties and interest. Inventory sitting at FBA warehouses for nine months starts incurring long-term storage fees but nobody notices until the bill hits. Product profitability analysis based on incomplete cost data leads to stocking items that lose money.

Revenue and Profitability Distorted

Gross sales recorded instead of net after platform fees. COGS missing FBA fees, shipping costs, or storage fees. Advertising spend not allocated by product. Profit margins that look good on paper but don’t account for all actual costs involved in each sale.

Sales Tax Exposure

Nexus in states you’re not filing in. Economic nexus thresholds crossed without awareness. Platform-collected tax not reconciled to what you actually owe. States sending notices for back taxes with penalties accumulating while you figure out how to respond.

What Changes

Revenue recorded net of all platform fees showing what you actually kept. COGS includes product costs plus all fulfillment fees. Product profitability analysis shows real margins after accounting for platform fees, advertising, and returns. You know which products make money and which don’t once all costs are properly allocated.

Sales tax handled across all states where you have nexus. Filings done on time in each jurisdiction. Nexus monitoring so you know when you cross thresholds requiring registration. Inventory tracked accurately showing what’s where and flagging slow-moving items before storage fees pile up. Tax returns prepared with proper inventory accounting and e-commerce deductions captured.

Accurate Product Economics

Know real margins by product after all fees and costs. Stop selling items that look profitable but lose money. Advertising spend allocated showing true customer acquisition cost. Pricing decisions based on complete cost data not partial information.

Sales Tax Compliance and Inventory Control

Multi-state sales tax managed without constant worry about missed filings. Nexus tracking preventing surprise notices from states. Inventory visibility showing slow movers before storage fees accumulate. Clean books supporting smart decisions about what to stock and what to discontinue.

The Valley's Trusted Accounting Firm