Owning an e-commerce business is both thrilling and stressful. Like all things, there are parts we love and parts we don\u2019t love. There seems to be a common dislike among most business owners, e-commerce or not, and that\u2019s bookkeeping and accounting. However, bookkeeping and accounting are necessities, regardless of how painful. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Yes,\r\nbookkeeping can be categorised into the \u201cdull side\u201d of business. Sadly, it\r\nunavoidable, particularly if you want to see continued success and growth. On\r\nthe other hand, most e-commerce entrepreneurs, dread bookkeeping, because they\r\ndon\u2019t understand or know where to begin. So, we felt that we\u2019d write a\r\nshort-ish blog on bookkeeping for e-commerce, to help you stay focused,\r\norganised. Who knows, you might even start to like numbers. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Often, a lot of\r\nbusiness owners, tend to throw their receipts\/invoices into a box, and them to\r\ntheir accountant just before the tax deadline. Now, yes, this is an option.\r\nHowever, it isn\u2019t recommending, and that\u2019s coming from an accountant. Even if\r\nyou have a great relationship with your accountant, you should still understand\r\nthe basics of bookkeeping. Why, well here\u2019s three reasons:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
1. You\u2019re potentially risking the\r\nsuccess<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n 2. How can you seek investors, (when\/if\r\nthe time comes) if you don\u2019t understand how can you pitch? <\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n 3. Mistakes and unbalanced books can be\r\ndetrimental <\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Besides, the\r\nreasons above, there are many benefits of understanding bookkeeping basics,\r\nwhich we\u2019ll discuss later. Although bookkeeping, is somewhat complex, the\r\nday-to-day and monthly management of your finances isn\u2019t as scary as it seems.\r\nHopefully, at the end of this article, you\u2019ll be able to focus, organise and\r\nmanage your books, which will help avoid those costly mistakes. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Sadly, improper\r\nbookkeeping can have adverse consequences and can be expensive to rectify. For\r\ninstance, if you\u2019re books aren\u2019t up to date or organised, it can result in you\r\nsubmitting an incorrect tax report. Unfortunately, HMRC doesn\u2019t take kindly to\r\ninaccurate tax filings, even if it\u2019s a genuine mistake. However, that genuine\r\nmistake could mean you paying that nice tax rebate back, or additional tax\r\npayment. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n As we\u2019ve said,\r\neven if you do opt for an accountant to manage your books, understanding the\r\nbasics can help your e-commerce business grow. So, yes we understand it\u2019s\r\ntedious, but it\u2019s also necessary. After all, you\u2019ve already done the hard part,\r\nmaking the jump of opening your e-commerce venture. Regardless if you\u2019re a\r\nShopify store, eBay trader\/drop shipper or Amazon seller, it\u2019s your business,\r\nso take ownership (or at least part) of your finances. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n So, in this\r\narticle, we\u2019re going to look at the most misunderstood bookkeeping and\r\naccountancy terms. We will also give you our top three bookkeeping on\r\ne-commerce tips. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n