E-commerce Accounting Guides
One clear library for the accounting, VAT and finance questions UK online sellers face as they build and scale.
All guides
18 practical guides, ordered in one browsable collection.
Shopify VAT Registration: When UK Sellers Must Register (And What Happens If You Miss It)
The VAT registration threshold is £90,000, but it's not your calendar year sales that trigger it. It's any rolling 12-month period, which catches more Shopify sellers than almost any other HMRC rule.
Read guide
TikTok Shop and HMRC: What UK Sellers Actually Owe (And When)
TikTok Shop sellers are the fastest-growing category HMRC is paying attention to. The tax rules are not somehow different or delayed. If you earn it, you declare it.
Read guide
A2X vs Link My Books for Amazon FBA: Which One Actually Fixes Your Settlement Reconciliation?
If your Amazon FBA settlement reports are landing in Xero as a single lump sum, your accounts are wrong. A2X and Link My Books both claim to fix this. Here's what each actually does and which one your accountant will prefer.
Read guide
Why Your Shopify Payouts Don't Match Xero (And How to Fix It)
You've checked Shopify. You've checked Xero. The numbers are different. This is not a bug, it's how Shopify Payments is designed to work, and understanding why is the first step to fixing your reconciliation permanently.
Read guide
How to Reconcile Stripe, PayPal, and Klarna in Xero (Without Losing Your Mind)
Three payment gateways means three bank feeds, three sets of fees, three payout schedules, and three ways for your reconciliation to fall apart. Here's how to handle all of them correctly in Xero.
Read guide
The 13-Week E-commerce Cashflow Forecast: How It Works and Why Your Business Needs One
Most e-commerce businesses don't fail because they're unprofitable. They fail because they run out of cash. The 13-week rolling forecast gives you 8–12 weeks of advance notice before any shortfall materialises.
Read guide
Sole Trader vs Limited Company for Amazon FBA: Which Structure Saves More Tax?
Should I incorporate? The honest answer: it depends on your profit, not your revenue, and most Amazon sellers incorporate either too early or too late.
Read guide
Inventory Accounting for E-commerce: How to Calculate True COGS with Landed Costs
Most e-commerce businesses calculate their gross margin wrong. Not because they can't do maths, but because they don't know what their inventory actually costs once freight, duty, and prep are included.
Read guide
Cross-Border E-commerce VAT, IOSS, and International Tax
Selling cross-border from the UK now means navigating IOSS, OSS, Pan-EU FBA local registrations, US sales tax nexus, and the post-Brexit customs apparatus. Each is its own compliance pressure point.
Read guide
The E-commerce Cloud Accounting Stack and API Automation
The right cloud stack is what makes high-volume e-commerce accounting tractable. The wrong stack is the difference between 8 hours of monthly reconciliation and 80.
Read guide
Dropshipping and Print-on-Demand Accounting Frameworks
Dropshipping accounting hinges on the principal vs agent question, which determines whether you record gross revenue or net commission. Get it wrong and the P&L tells the wrong story.
Read guide
Structuring, Transfer Pricing, and International Expansion
Structural decisions around UK Ltd vs US LLC, transfer pricing, and brand SPV isolation define the long-term tax position. Made early, they compound across the business; made late, they trigger expensive restructurings.
Read guide
E-commerce Business Valuations, Exit Planning, and Aggregators
E-commerce exits split into two distinct markets: DTC brand sale at EBITDA multiples and Amazon FBA aggregator deals at SDE multiples. Knowing which market you are in shapes the entire prep.
Read guide
Capital Allowances, R&D, and Tech Tax Reliefs for E-commerce
E-commerce capital and R&D claims are routinely under-optimised. Custom Shopify development, headless rebuilds, warehouse robotics, and bespoke fulfilment tech all support meaningful claims when documented correctly.
Read guide
Advanced Payment Gateway and Multi-Channel Sales Reconciliation
A modern UK e-commerce business runs four to seven payment routes in parallel: Shopify Payments, Stripe, PayPal, Klarna, Amazon settlements, plus gift cards. Reconciling daily sales back to bank deposits is the single biggest source of finance-function pain.
Read guide
Inventory Valuation, COGS, and Supply Chain Accounting
Inventory is the single largest balance-sheet line for most product brands, and the input that most determines gross margin. The accounting choices: landed cost composition, FIFO vs AVCO, write-off triggers, in-transit cut-off, and 3PL reconciliation drive both the tax bill and the margin reported to investors.
Read guide
Specialised Amazon FBA Accounting and Margin Analysis
Amazon is a black box on purpose. The settlement report is a 30-column CSV that mixes revenue, fees, taxes, refunds, and reserves with no obvious mapping to a UK chart of accounts. Building proper FBA accounting is the difference between knowing your Amazon margin and guessing it.
Read guide
E-commerce Cash Flow, Treasury, and Alternative Financing
E-commerce kills profitable brands through cash flow, not P&L losses. Inventory binds cash, payouts lag sales, Q4 spikes consume working capital, and platform reserves grow when the business needs cash most. Treasury discipline is the difference between scaling and folding.
Read guideStop reading. Start fixing.
We handle everything in these guides for online sellers. Tell us about your business and get a fixed quote within 48 hours.