Essential Cash Flow Management Tips for Amazon FBA Sellers
23 January 2024
Did you know that an astounding 82% of businesses close due to cash flow issues? Cash flow is often overlooked
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If you are still on the hunt for the best accounting software for your business, you aren’t alone. Among online retailers and physical businesses alike, finding the right accounting solution is one of the more difficult tasks. Entrepreneurs with an accounting background have at least some idea about what they are looking for and what will work for their organisation.
But for the average small business owner who thinks that buying a Lamborghini is the only way to make a solid “income statement” �things can get a little challenging.
Moreover, when you read blogs and articles online that are trying to earn a kickback by recommending products, it’s hard to tell whether they are really speaking the truth about a product or whether they are just trying to get you to buy.
Here we have put together a list of the 7 best accounting software for amazon sellers together with some pros and cons of each and all the information you need to get started with these platforms. Completely impartial and has no affiliate kickbacks.
Accounting helps us to understand how our business is performing. It also gives us a clear picture of where money is coming from and where it is going. It helps you track sales, track inventory, manage cash flow, and optimise inventory management. If you are in the UK and are struggling with sales tax, then accounting software can also help with tracking sales tax, calculating VAT, and even compiling your tax returns. These digital accountants will keep historical data and create financial reports for you that you can use to make better and more profitable business decisions.
Whether you are operating as a solopreneur or a global team, the accounting will give you all the data and information you need to grow your business, reduce expenses, increase profits and stay competitive.
As you scale your operations, you will also need to compile financial information so you can share it with stakeholders. This could include HMRC, other government agencies, or investors who are directly or indirectly tied to your business.
In the past accounting used to be done manually through physical ledgers. However, that was a practice better suited for brick-and-mortar businesses. For online retailers or Amazon FBA sellers, it is far more efficient to use software that provides quick integration with Amazon. This can drastically reduce your workload.
Good accounting software for Amazon will give you real-time performance updates about your business. Moreover, once you have synced the accounting software with your Amazon seller account, it will automatically be getting all the information that it needs. Saving you the trouble of having to manually feed this information into your accounting software or carry out manual accounting based on the information that your Amazon seller account gives you.
Accounting software can be broken down into four main types. These are:
For very small businesses a spreadsheet can be used to plot, store and analyze the different kinds of financial information. Nearly all spreadsheet software has the ability to carry out different mathematical calculations. In fact, many have the basic accounting calculations built in so you can use those as they are. Otherwise, you can input the specific calculations that you want and analyze the data accordingly. This is great for simple tasks but it can become messy and difficult to maintain as your operations grow.
The most common solution for SMEs is commercial off-the-shelf software. These are programs designed to store and analyze accounting data. They usually have a simple interface that contains all the different tabs, menus, and headings that you would need to input accounting information.
Through this interface, you can carry out routine tasks such as creating ledgers, creating invoices, setting up accounts, creating statements, managing inventory, creating tax returns, and other standard accounting processes.
Everything that you would otherwise do with pen and paper, you can go through accounting software. More importantly, most of these solutions will also give you the option to connect additional accounts and devices such as a POS system or an Amazon seller account in this case. This way you can do accounting for different businesses through the same software.
In the past, this software was available on CD and was installed locally on a computer. This meant that only people with access to the computer with the software on it could use the application.
These days the accounting software is usually cloud-based. The software is stored virtually on the cloud rather than the hard drive of the computer and you just log in to the software through a browser much like how you log in to your email account.
This reduces the workload on the system, improves security, and also gives you the ability to access the software from any device.
For larger organizations, an ERP platform is often more suitable. This is basically a more robust version of the commercial accounting application. This is ideal for companies that have different software running in each department as it has the capability to bring all those different applications into a single framework.
This way, the entire organization is managed through the main ERP platform which helps to improve efficiency. The only challenge is that these are very technical systems so it does require a good amount of staff training. They are also extremely expensive and generally harder to manage unless you have the capital for them. These are commonly used by very large organizations and even government agencies. The NHS uses an ERP system.
As the name suggests, these are solutions designed for a very specific kind of business. These are not necessarily very big or very complicated solutions, they are just accounting systems that operate differently than others. Some businesses can’t find the kind of solutions they need through standard software so they have a developer design something for them that meets their needs. This could be made from the ground up or it could be a modified version of existing software. These can cost quite a bit of money depending on the scale of the application.
Luckily, good cloud-based accounting software is more than enough for any Amazon seller. The overall accounting requirements for online sellers are relatively straightforward. If you have set up the system properly, and it is in line with your business needs, it should work well for you for many years to come. However, the important thing is that you start off with the right kind.
In the past, you could purchase software along with a license and use that for your accounting. An off-the-shelf system would generally cost between £200-500 and the renewable license would be £50-150. The license would be valid for a year and after purchasing the software you would just have to renew the license annually.
These days most commercial software is available on a subscription basis. Subscriptions are generally around £10-50 per month but you can get long-term plans and save some money. The cost of these systems can vary quite a bit depending on the kind of services you are using.
To get a better idea of the cost of accounting software, and the value that they provide, let’s look at some of the best options in the market today.
Price – Starting at £2 per month.
Description of Software
Xero is one of the biggest and most well-known names in the world when it comes to accounting solutions. The company has been around since 2006 and since then has developed a great reputation. It’s a very popular platform among SMEs and is also very popular amongst Amazon sellers. Currently, nearly 2 million Amazon sellers across the world use Xero. It’s known for its flexibility, functionality, and ease of use.
Does it integrate with Amazon?
Yes. In fact, it also integrates with a lot of other services that you are probably using with your Amazon seller account.
Xero Benefits
Limitations
Link to websites pricing page – https://www.xero.com/uk/pricing-plans/
Price– Starting at £4 per month
Description of Software
Another very popular choice among Amazon sellers. The great thing with Quickbooks is that offers a lot of functionality. For instance, you can manage multiple stores through a single account. You can also get a lot of useful market insights to help you make better decisions in the future. However, it doesn’t specialize in eCommerce so it doesn’t offer many of the specific operations that are important for Amazon sellers much as Xero does.
However, if you just need a generic accounting platform to do basic accounting on, this can be a good option.
Does it integrate with Amazon?
Yes.
Benefits
Limitations
Link to websites pricing page https://quickbooks.intuit.com/uk/pricing/
Price – Starting at £3.30 per month
Description of Software
If you are looking for a budget-friendly option with all the right options then consider giving Freshbooks a shot. This platform was originally designed for freelancers and solopreneurs to help manage expenses and do basic accounting. The infrastructure is designed to be as simple as possible so that even someone with no accounting knowledge can operate the application.
It delivers all the basic accounting services that a small business or individual service provider would need and can easily be used for Amazon.
Does it integrate with Amazon?
Yes.
Benefits
Limitations
Link to websites pricing page– https://www.freshbooks.com/en-gb/pricing
Price – Starting at £16.06 per month
Description of Software
The big benefit of using A2X is that it is deeply connected to Amazon. In fact, A2X is part of the Amazon Marketplace Developer Council which means that it is very up-to-date with changes in the Amazon marketplace, and a lot of features are streamlined to work with other platforms as well. Overall, this is a slightly more expensive option but the fact that you are getting premium quality performance may be worth it for those that are able to use it at that level.
This is a solution that offers some great features but it can be a little overkill for small sellers or sellers that don’t have such complex requirements. This level of functionality can also be a little challenging to get used to so if you aren’t very tech savvy then this might not be the best place to start.
Does it integrate with Amazon?
Yes.
Benefits
Limitations
Link to websites pricing page– https://www.a2xaccounting.com/amazon/pricing
Price– Starting at £9.50 per month
Description of Software
Link My Books acts as a bridge between your Amazon seller account and any other accounting software. Ideally, this should be used with Xero, as it is optimized for that platform but it can handle other platforms as well. The Amazon seller account is notorious for being loaded with more data than one can handle. Since most platforms do not link directly to the Amazon seller account, you can use Link My Books to bridge the gap.
When combined with the capability that Xero offers, this is a fantastic accounting pack that will help you get the most out of the data that Amazon provides.
Does it integrate with Amazon?
Yes.
Benefits
Limitations
Link to websites pricing page– https://linkmybooks.com/pricing
Price– Starting at £21 per month
Description of Software
If you are selling to a purely UK-based audience then Sage can be a fantastic choice to consider. This platform offers excellent functionality but it is better suited to advanced users. You can do all the basic accounting tasks that you would need and you also have the option to do more advanced things. Moreover, there are a lot of integrations that you can do with Sage.
In fact, Sage has a number of its own products that can integrate with the primary accounting platform to give you more functionality. It is a pricey option but you can get started with a month-long free trial.
Does it integrate with Amazon?
Yes.
Benefits
Limitations
Link to websites pricing page– https://www.sage.com/en-gb/sage-business-cloud/accounting/pricing/
Price– Starting at £38.00 per month
Description of Software
Zoho is a very popular platform among Amazon sellers but it has a very niche following. This is large because it is not very beginner friendly. However, those that do use Zoho, swear by it and would not shift to anything else. The main reasons for this are the advanced functionality and limited adaptability to multiple platforms. While the interface is simple, it is unlike any other platform so it is a bit of a surprise for people that are used to things like Sage or Quickbooks.
If you are a power user and want the most advanced functionality, then this is a good option. Alternatively, if you want a solution that is going to be good enough even when you scale up, then this is a great choice.
Does it integrate with Amazon?
Yes.
Benefits
Limitations
Link to websites pricing page– https://www.zoho.com/uk/subscriptions/pricing/
Having looked at, tested, and experienced all these platforms, we would recommend getting yourself a subscription for both Xero and Link My Books. These two platforms work together fluidly and together they have all the features that you would need regardless of how small or large your Amazon business is.
On one hand, you get all the accounting power of Xero and on the other hand, you get all the accurate Online Marketplace settlement data via Link My Books. Moreover, these two platforms merge together extremely well and the overall user experience is seamless. You will be able to see how the information ties into your accounting and you’ll ensure all your tax journals are spot on.
These two platforms give you an excellent starting point and as you scale up it is both easy and affordable to get bigger packages to meet your needs. Both platforms offer excellent support and there is a plethora of information available for both of them so new users will have no problems learning about them.
Both these platforms offer free trials so there is no reason to not give them a try.
Good Luck!
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