E-commerce bookkeeping is not just posting bank deposits. A single payout can include product sales, VAT, delivery charges, discounts, refunds, commissions, and gateway fees.
Accounts to Reconcile
- Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, Noon, or marketplace sales
- Payment gateway payouts
- Cash on delivery collections
- Refunds and chargebacks
- Shipping and fulfilment fees
- Inventory purchases and stock movements
- VAT on taxable sales and expenses
Common Mistakes
- Recording payout deposits as gross sales
- Ignoring refunds and discounts
- Not separating VAT from sales
- Missing gateway fees
- No inventory cost tracking
- Mixing owner purchases with business stock
Monthly Close Process
- Export sales by platform
- Reconcile payouts to bank
- Post refunds and fees separately
- Review VAT tax codes
- Update inventory and cost of sales
- Prepare P&L by channel where possible
Clean e-commerce accounting gives owners better pricing, stock, and tax decisions. It also reduces VAT return errors.
What This Looks Like in Practice
E-commerce accounting breaks when payouts are treated as sales. A single settlement can include revenue, VAT, discounts, refunds, shipping, marketplace fees, gateway fees, and withheld balances.
Records to Keep Before You Decide or File
- Bank statements, card statements, invoices, receipts, and supplier bills
- Payroll, WPS, gratuity, owner-current-account, and loan schedules
- VAT workings, Corporate Tax support, and monthly management reports
- Contracts, purchase orders, delivery notes, and software exports
Review Questions for the Owner
- Do bank balances in the accounts match the real statements?
- Can revenue, expenses, VAT, payroll, and owner payments be reviewed separately?
- Are reports useful for decisions, or only prepared because a deadline is near?
- Is the accounting file clean enough for another accountant to understand quickly?
Mistakes That Make This Expensive
- Posting bank deposits as revenue without checking invoices, VAT, or fees
- Letting owner personal spending sit inside normal business expenses
- Waiting until VAT or Corporate Tax filing to reconcile months of transactions
Practical Next Step
Reconcile by platform first, then by payout. Gross sales, VAT, fees, refunds, and cash deposits should each land in the right account.
Keep a short working paper with the facts, dates, assumptions, and documents used. It makes future filing, review, or handover much easier.