Multi-channel bookkeeping
Sales from each marketplace and your own store recorded so they match the money that reaches your bank.
- Marketplace and store payouts split out
- Fees, refunds and chargebacks
- Payment provider reconciliations
For online sellers and brands
Ecommerce AccountantsEvery channel. One clear set of books.
Find an accountant for your ecommerce business who understands marketplace payouts, VAT on goods and stock. The Business Review Co. introduces you to an independent accountant, so you can compare their experience with online sellers and their fees before you decide.
Free initial review · No obligation · Find better-value ecommerce accountants
Selling online
Selling online
Sales, fees and stock. Reconciled.
- Multi-channel books
- Marketplace & store payouts
- VAT on goods
- Sales, imports & schemes
- Stock & margins
- Year-end stock & cost of sales
The Business Review Co. helps you find a provider. Your provider agrees and carries out the work.
Support, at the right level
Ecommerce accounting. Built around how you sell.
Online sellers deal with payouts that bundle sales, refunds and fees, goods that cross borders and stock that ties up cash. An independent accountant can set up books that show what you actually made.
VAT & imports
VAT on your sales, your purchases and the goods you bring into the UK.
- VAT registration timing
- Import VAT and postponed accounting
- EU and Northern Ireland sales questions
Stock & year end
Stock records and year-end figures that show your real margins.
- Year-end stock counts and values
- Cost of sales and margins
- Accounts and tax return
Customs classification, duty and VAT registrations in other countries are specialist areas. Ask whether the accountant handles them or works with a customs or VAT adviser.
Review the cost. Understand the value.
Accountant for ecommerce: what drives the fee?
Ecommerce fees often depend more on your number of channels and transactions than on turnover. Compare how each accountant would handle your volume before you compare the price.
Review my support & costsFree initial review. Any saving depends on your current fees and the service you choose.
- Channels & volume
- How many marketplaces, stores and payment providers are covered, and is there a transaction limit?
- VAT & cross-border sales
- Are import VAT, overseas sales and VAT scheme questions included or charged separately?
- Software & integrations
- Does the accountant use connector tools for your channels, and who pays for them?
Marketplace bookkeeping
Marketplace and multi-channel bookkeeping. Matching payouts to sales.
A marketplace payout is rarely the same as your sales. It usually nets off fees, refunds and advertising, and it may cover several days of orders. Recording only the payout hides your real income and your real costs.
Recording sales and fees separately.
Good ecommerce bookkeeping records the full value of each sale, with marketplace fees, refunds and advertising recorded as separate costs. That gives you a true turnover figure to check against the VAT threshold and accurate margins for each channel.
Reconciling every channel.
Each marketplace, your own store and each payment provider is treated like a bank account and reconciled, so differences show up quickly. Many accountants use connector software to bring the data in. Ask which tools they support and who pays for them.
Keeping the right records.
A company must keep records of all money received and spent, with the invoices and receipts behind them. Company records are generally kept for 6 years from the end of the financial year, and VAT records for at least 6 years. Marketplace reports can form part of those records, so agree how they are downloaded and stored.
If your books have fallen behind across several channels, a catch-up may be needed before a regular routine starts. The Business Review Co. can introduce you to an independent accountant who can review the work involved.
VAT on goods
VAT for online sellers. Registration, imports and cross-border sales.
VAT is usually the most involved part of ecommerce accounting. The rules depend on where your goods are, where your customers are and how the goods reach them.
Registration.
You must register for VAT if your taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or if you expect it to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days. Checking turnover from your full sales rather than your net payouts matters here, because payouts can understate it.
Import VAT and postponed VAT accounting.
If you are VAT registered and import goods into Great Britain from outside the UK, you can account for import VAT on your VAT return instead of paying it when the goods arrive. This is called postponed VAT accounting. You declare and recover the import VAT on the same return, using your monthly postponed import VAT statement, and no approval is needed.
Low-value goods sent to UK customers from overseas.
For goods sent from overseas in a consignment worth £135 or less, the seller charges and accounts for VAT at the point of sale, unless it is a business-to-business sale and the customer has given a UK VAT number. The £135 limit applies to the whole consignment, not to each item in it.
Sales to customers in the EU.
Selling to consumers in the EU can bring VAT obligations there. HMRC’s One Stop Shop Union scheme is for distance sales of goods from Northern Ireland to EU consumers, and the Import One Stop Shop covers certain low-value goods sold to consumers in the EU or Northern Ireland. Which scheme, if any, applies depends on where your goods are and where your business is established, so ask whether your accountant covers this or works with a specialist.
Choosing a VAT scheme.
Under the Flat Rate Scheme you cannot reclaim VAT on purchases, except certain capital assets over £2,000. That matters for a business that buys a lot of stock. An accountant can compare the schemes against your costs.
Stock
Stock and margins. Knowing what you really made.
Stock is often an online seller’s biggest asset. How it is counted and valued affects your profit, your tax and your cash planning.
Stock at the year end.
A company’s accounting records include the stock it holds at the end of its financial year. That usually means a count, or a report from your inventory system, valued the same way each year. Stock held in a marketplace’s fulfilment centre still belongs to you, so it needs counting too.
Cost of sales and margins.
Profit depends on matching the cost of the goods you sold, plus delivery, packaging and marketplace fees, against the sales they produced. An accountant can set up reports that show your margin by product or channel.
Returns and write-offs.
Damaged, lost or slow-moving stock may need to be written down. Agree how returns and write-offs are recorded so your year-end figures can be relied on.
The Business Review Co. can introduce you to an independent accountant who works with online sellers and can explain how they would handle your stock.
How it works
A simple start. A clear agreement.
Start with a free initial review. You choose whether to go ahead after discussing the service and fees with an independent provider.
- 01
Tell us how you sell
List your channels, roughly how many orders you handle and the help you need. No sales reports are needed yet.
- 02
Explore an introduction
We review your enquiry and agree any introduction with you. An independent accountant can then discuss your channels, VAT and stock.
- 03
Agree the scope & fees
Confirm the channels covered, any transaction limits, software costs and catch-up work in writing before you start.
The Business Review Co. is an introduction service. Work is carried out by an independent provider and paid for separately. We may receive an introduction fee. How we are paid.
Guides
Guides to business accounting
- company bookkeeping
What bookkeeping involves for a UK limited company, the records the law expects, how long to keep them and who can do it.
- accounts filing
What a UK limited company's annual accounts contain, who signs them, the filing deadlines and what happens if they are late.
- Company Tax Return deadline
Who files a Company Tax Return with HMRC, filing it with software or on paper, how to read the CT600, deadlines, late penalties, appeals and amendments.
- filing company accounts
How a UK company files accounts at Companies House: filing routes, normal deadlines, first accounts, extra time and what late filing may mean.
- VAT filing and payment dates
When VAT returns and payments are due, how annual accounting changes the date, ways to pay HMRC, refunds and what happens if a deadline is missed.
- the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant
The practical difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant for a UK limited company, where the roles overlap and what to check.
Your questions
Ecommerce accountants: common questions.
The scope, fees and responsibilities to discuss when choosing your provider.
What is an ecommerce accountant?
It is an accountant who works mainly with online sellers. Alongside the usual accounts and tax returns, they reconcile marketplace and store payouts, separate sales from fees and refunds, deal with VAT on goods and imports, and track stock and margins. Many use connector software to bring in data from each sales channel. Ask what experience they have with your platforms.
Where can I find accountants for Amazon sellers in the UK?
Look for an accountant with experience of marketplace sellers, who can reconcile payouts, record fees and refunds separately from sales, handle import VAT and value stock held in fulfilment centres. The Business Review Co. can introduce you to an independent accountant who works with online sellers, so you can compare their experience and fees before choosing.
How much should an accountant cost a small business?
Accountants usually charge a fixed monthly fee for a package, a fixed fee for year-end work or an hourly rate for extra advice. For an online seller, the main cost drivers are the number of channels and payment providers, monthly transaction volume, VAT and import work, stock records, connector software and any catch-up needed. Ask for a written scope that lists each one.
What happens if I’m VAT registered and sell through an online marketplace?
Being VAT registered usually means charging VAT on your taxable sales and reclaiming VAT on business purchases through your returns. Marketplace payouts are net of fees, so your accountant needs the full sales figures as well as the payouts. Some sales have their own rules, such as goods sent from overseas in consignments worth £135 or less, so check how each channel is treated.
For official guidance, see GOV.UK: accounting for import VAT on your VAT return.
Let’s make a start
Let’s get your online sales properly accounted for.
Tell us where you sell, roughly how many orders you handle and what you need help with. We’ll reply about the next step.
For UK online sellers, sole traders and limited companies.
Free initial review · No obligation · No documents needed
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