Retail and e-commerce accounting has its own traps. Between inventory, cost of goods sold, marketplace fees, and sales tax across multiple states, the books are more complicated than a typical service business — and the margins are thin enough that errors hurt. For Kaysville retailers and online sellers, outsourcing to a CPA who understands this is less a convenience than a safeguard.
## What Makes Retail and E-Commerce Books Harder
**Inventory and COGS.** Your profit depends on tracking inventory and cost of goods sold accurately — get this wrong and your reported margins are fiction.
**Multi-channel sales.** Selling across a website, Amazon, and in-store means reconciling payouts, fees, and refunds from several systems into one clean set of books.
**Sales tax nexus.** Online sales can create tax obligations in states you’ve never set foot in. Tracking and filing across jurisdictions is where many sellers fall behind.
**Platform fees and chargebacks.** Marketplace and processor fees quietly erode margin and have to be recorded correctly to see true profitability.
## What Outsourced Accounting Handles for You
– Inventory and COGS tracking tied to real margin reporting
– Reconciling Shopify, Amazon, Stripe, and bank payouts into clean books
– Multi-state sales tax tracking and filing
– Monthly financials that show profitability by channel
– Tax planning that accounts for inventory and e-commerce specifics
## FAQs
**Do I need a specialized accountant for e-commerce?**
You need one who understands inventory, COGS, and multi-state sales tax — areas a generalist often mishandles.
**Can you reconcile Shopify and Amazon payouts?**
Yes. We reconcile marketplace and processor payouts, fees, and refunds into clean books that show true profitability by channel.
**How do you handle sales tax across states?**
We track your nexus, register where required, and file in each jurisdiction — sales tax filing starts at $150/month.
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**Missy Dennis, CPA** | Partner, FJ & Associates, PLLC — Kaysville, UT. Licensed CPA with 20+ years in public accounting.
