Accounting and tax for e-commerce brands
Selling more every month, and still not sure you are making money.
If that is the honest answer, the problem is not your store. It is books that were never built for a business where the deposit never matches the sale. Ashmore Books is an Enrolled Agent-led accounting and tax team for Shopify, Amazon, and multi-channel sellers. We fix the books, keep them fixed, and plan the tax around them, so you can finally answer the questions your business keeps asking you.
Sound familiar
You are not bad at this. You are flying blind.
Most online sellers we meet are running a real business on numbers they quietly do not trust. Nobody says it out loud, because admitting it feels like admitting you are not on top of your own company.
You are on top of it. The books just are not.
- Sales are up. The bank balance is not.
- I could not tell you which products actually make money.
- My reports arrive late, and I still cannot use them.
- There is a balance in the books that nobody can explain.
- I think I should be registered in more states. I am not sure.
- I find out about problems a year after they happen.
- Tax season arrives and the books are nowhere near ready.
- I am guessing on the big decisions and hoping I am right.
- My 1099-K says one number. My books say another.
- Tariffs went up, and I do not know what my products really cost now.
Who we work with
Built for sellers past the side-project stage.
If the store is your business and not your hobby, the books have to keep up with it. These are the sellers we work with most.
Amazon FBA sellers
Settlements every two weeks, fees in a dozen categories, inventory spread across states. Books that tie every payout back to the sales behind it and show what the fees really cost.
Shopify and DTC brands
Several payment processors, heavy ad spend, discounts, and gift cards. Revenue recorded at gross, with each channel reconciled back to zero every month.
Multi-channel sellers
Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, Etsy, and TikTok Shop in one file. One set of books that shows profit by channel instead of one blended number.
DTC and wholesale brands
Selling to retailers and to customers at the same time. Receivables, retailer deductions, and chargebacks tracked alongside online sales.
What it is costing you
Bad numbers do not stay quiet. They send you the bill later.
Scaling the wrong product
Advertising spend goes to the bestseller. Nobody checks whether the bestseller still makes money after fees, shipping, returns, and ad cost. Some brands grow their way into a loss.
Tax paid on a number nobody checked
If the profit on the return came from books that never reconciled, you either paid tax you did not owe or signed a return you cannot support. Both are expensive.
Sales tax that shows up years later
A state does not send a warning when you cross its threshold. It sends an assessment later, for tax you never collected from the customer, plus penalties and interest.
Decisions made on a feeling
Hiring, a large order, a new warehouse. Made on instinct because the numbers were not ready in time, and instinct does not show you the cash you will not have in ninety days.
How we help
What changes once we are on it
You know what you actually sold
Every payout from Shopify, Amazon, Stripe, or PayPal is tied back to the orders behind it, fees and all. Revenue stops being whatever the bank happened to deposit.
You know what each product earns
Real cost behind each product, so margin is a number you can price and reorder against instead of a figure you hope is about right.
You know where you stand with the states
Sales by state watched month by month against the thresholds that matter, so registration becomes a decision you make rather than a letter you receive.
You know before you commit
Cash, inventory, and the tax effect looked at before the big order, the hire, or the purchase. The answer arrives while you can still act on it.
Your reports arrive, and you can read them
Monthly financials with plain commentary on what changed and what needs attention. If reading statements is the part that never happens, our Financial Review walks you through them.
The mess gets cleared, not carried forward
Years behind, multiple channels, balances nobody can explain. That is the work we take on rather than turn away. See cleanup and catch-up.
Your tax is planned, not discovered
Entity, owner pay, inventory timing, and asset purchases looked at during the year. See tax planning.
Your return is filed by the team that knows the file
No handover, no explaining your business twice to a preparer who has never seen it. See tax preparation.
We know where to look
What we usually find in an e-commerce file
These are not rare. They are in most stores we review, and most of them were signed off by somebody as reconciled.
You will see the full list for your own file, in writing, before you decide anything.
- Deposits booked as revenue, so sales and fees are both wrong
- A clearing account that has never gone back to zero
- Refunds and chargebacks landing in the wrong month
- Sales tax collected sitting inside revenue
- Marketplace tax the platform already paid, counted again as income
- Inventory expensed on purchase, so gross margin means nothing
- Duplicate deposits entered on top of the bank feed
- Owner spending mixed into cost of goods
- Sales into states nobody has ever tracked
- Freight, duties, and tariffs left out of product cost
- 1099-K totals never tied back to the books
Why sellers choose Ashmore Books
Why us and not the next firm on the list
We take the files others turn away
Multi-channel, multi-year, balances nobody can explain. The messy file is not the exception we avoid. It is the work we are known for.
Reconciled is not the same as correct
Matching the bank is the easy part. We check whether the entries behind the match actually make sense, which is how books pass a reconciliation and still mislead you.
Enrolled Agent led
An Enrolled Agent is licensed federally, tested specifically on tax, and can represent you before the IRS. The books are kept by people who know how the return will use them.
One team, books and tax
No handover in March to someone seeing your business for the first time. The team that closed your months files your return.
A fixed quote before anything starts
You see the findings and the price first, then decide. No open-ended hourly bill arriving at the end of a cleanup.
A reply within one business day
You should not have to chase your accountant. Questions get answered while the decision is still live.
It stays your file
Work is done inside your own accounting file, with your access intact. Nothing is held on our side and nothing is locked behind us.
We say it plainly
If something is wrong, you hear it in words you can act on, not in accounting language that leaves you nodding along.
How it starts
Find out what is actually wrong before you spend anything.
The Books X-Ray is a read-only review of your file. Nothing is changed, nothing is committed, and you keep the findings whether you hire us or not.
- You give read-only access to the accounting file and sales channels
- We review it and write up what we find, in plain English
- You get a recommended scope and a fixed quote
- You decide. If it is a no, you still keep the findings
Your stack
We work where you already sell.
- Shopify
- Amazon Seller Central
- WooCommerce
- Etsy, eBay, Walmart Marketplace
- Stripe, PayPal, Square
- A2X, Bookkeep
- QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero
- ShipStation and 3PL reports
- Gusto, ADP, Paychex
- Avalara, TaxJar
Pricing
From $80/month, priced on your annual revenue.
Monthly bookkeeping starts at $80/month and is priced on your annual revenue, the same as any other business, even with several channels, processors, and cards. Inventory tracking is quoted separately, and cleanup of past months is a fixed project quote after a free Books X-Ray. You approve the price before work begins. See the full pricing.
Before you ask
The questions sellers ask us first
General information for online sellers, not tax advice for your situation.
My books are years behind and a mess. Is that too far gone?
No. That is the work we are known for. Multi-year, multi-channel files with balances nobody can explain are normal here. The review tells you how far back the problem goes and what it takes to fix, before you commit to anything.
I already have a bookkeeper. What would actually be different?
Most e-commerce books are kept by someone matching deposits to the bank and stopping there. We tie payouts back to the orders behind them, put real cost against each product, and watch the state thresholds, so the reports answer business questions instead of just balancing.
Do I have to move to a new system?
No. We work inside the accounting file you already use, most often QuickBooks Online or Xero, alongside your sales channels and processors. You keep full access throughout and nothing is held on our side.
What if I owe sales tax in states I never registered in?
You would not be the first, and it is better found now than in an assessment letter. We map where your sales sit against each state’s rules, show you the exposure in writing, and talk through the options before anything is filed.
Will the same team prepare my tax return?
Yes. The team that closes your months prepares the return, and the tax side is Enrolled Agent led. Nothing is handed to a preparer in March who has never seen your business.
How do I know what this will cost before I commit?
Monthly bookkeeping is priced on your annual revenue and starts at $80 per month. If the books need cleanup first, the Books X-Ray comes back with written findings, a recommended scope, and a fixed quote for that work. You see the price before any work starts, and you are free to walk away and keep the findings.
You are a remote firm. How does that work in practice?
Everything happens inside your own file, with written updates, scheduled calls, and a reply within one business day. Enrolled Agent status is a federal credential issued by the IRS and valid in every state, so your tax work is covered wherever you operate.
I sell on Amazon and Shopify. Can you handle both in one file?
Yes. Each channel gets its own clearing account and its own revenue and fee lines, so the file shows profit by channel as well as in total. Walmart, Etsy, eBay, and TikTok Shop are handled the same way.
Do I need to buy A2X or another connector?
Not always. At lower order volume, summary entries can be posted straight from payout and settlement reports. At higher volume a connector saves time, and we set up or correct its account mapping so it posts the right thing every day.
My 1099-K does not match my books. Can you sort that out before filing?
Yes. The gross figure on each 1099-K is reconciled to the books, with the difference explained by sales tax, shipping, refunds, and fees, so the return reports the correct income and the gap can be supported if the IRS asks.
Can you get my books ready for a loan, an investor, or a sale?
Yes. Lenders and buyers look for revenue that ties to platform reports, real product costs, and a clean Balance Sheet. We bring the file to that standard and prepare the financials they will ask for.
From the Insights blog
Go deeper on e-commerce books and tax.
Plain-English guides to the problems we see most often in online sellers’ files.
Why Shopify sales never match your bank deposits
Fees, payout timing, refunds, and sales tax explain the gap, and how the books should record it.
Amazon FBA sales tax nexus
What marketplace facilitator laws cover, what they do not, and what inventory in a state means for you.
Recording Amazon settlements in QuickBooks Online
One journal entry per settlement, a clearing account, and the mistakes that overstate sales.
Which products actually make money?
Contribution margin by product and channel, with landed cost, fees, returns, and ad spend.
Stop guessing whether the business is working.
Tell us what you sell, where you sell it, and how far behind the books are. You get a read-only review, written findings, and a fixed quote. You will hear back within one business day.