Bookkeeping & General Ledger
Clean, current books maintained on your cloud accounting platform — so you always know exactly where your business stands, without the admin.
Bookkeeping for e-commerce
Bookkeeping for E-commerce Businesses in Canada
Bookkeeping for online sellers — platform fees, payouts, inventory, multi-channel sales and sales-tax complexity — reconciled so your numbers match reality.
Discuss Your Books Take the Health Check
E-commerce bookkeeping looks simple and rarely is. The platforms don’t pay you what your customers paid — they net out fees, refunds and holds — so if your books record the payout as revenue, your sales and margins are wrong from the start. Add multiple channels, inventory, and sales tax that varies by province, and it’s easy to end up with numbers nobody trusts.
Avora keeps online sellers’ books accurate: gross sales and platform fees recorded correctly (not just the net payout), each channel reconciled to the bank, product costs recorded so your margins are real, and refunds and chargebacks handled so revenue isn’t overstated. Sales-tax records are kept organised and reconciled — and where the rules get genuinely complex across provinces, we’ll keep the bookkeeping straight and point you to confirm the filing specifics with your accountant.
If your Shopify or Amazon numbers have never quite matched your bank, that’s exactly the kind of thing we sort out — often as part of a cleanup — and then keep clean every month.
What to keep an eye on
Bookkeeping considerations for e-commerce
Platform payouts and fees
Shopify, Amazon, Stripe, PayPal and others don't pay you what customers paid — they net out fees, refunds and holds. Recording gross sales and fees correctly (not just the payout) is essential, and it's where most e-commerce books go wrong.
Multiple sales channels
Selling across several platforms means several data sources to bring together. We reconcile each channel's sales and payouts to your books so nothing is double-counted or missed.
Inventory and cost of goods
Knowing your true margin means recording the cost of the products you sell, not just the revenue. How detailed this needs to be depends on your business.
Sales tax
Sales-tax obligations for online sellers can be genuinely complex and depend on where you and your customers are. GST/HST and provincial taxes (PST/QST/RST) can apply differently. We keep the records organised; the specifics of what you must charge and file are best confirmed with your accountant or the relevant authority.
Refunds, chargebacks and reconciliation
Refunds and chargebacks have to be recorded so revenue isn't overstated, and every payout reconciled to what actually hit the bank.
Sound familiar?
Common problems we help with
- Recording payouts instead of gross sales and fees
- Sales across channels that don't reconcile
- No clear view of true margin after fees and product cost
- Sales-tax uncertainty across provinces
- Refunds and chargebacks overstating revenue
How we help
Services that fit
Bank & Credit Card Reconciliations
Every account reconciled and tied out to the statement — so your balances are trustworthy and your reporting holds up to scrutiny.
GST/HST Return Preparation
Organised GST/HST records, reconciled to your books and prepared for filing — so your returns are accurate and on time, every period.
Bookkeeping Cleanup & Catch-Up
Behind on your books or unsure they're right? We bring months of backlog current, fix what's wrong, and reconcile every account — then keep you current going forward.
Common questions
Good to know
I sell on Shopify and Amazon. Can you reconcile both?
Yes — we reconcile each channel's sales, fees and payouts to your books so your numbers are complete and nothing is double-counted. Most multi-channel books need this and don't have it.
My payouts don't match my sales. Is that a problem?
It's normal — platforms net out fees, refunds and holds before paying you. The problem is only if the books record the payout as revenue. We record gross sales and fees correctly so your margins are real.
Do you handle sales tax for online sellers?
We keep your sales-tax records organised and reconciled. Online sales-tax rules can be complex and vary by province and situation, so what you're required to charge and file is best confirmed with your accountant or the relevant tax authority. See GST/HST bookkeeping.
Other business types
Contractors & Trades · Consultants · Professional Services · Marketing & Creative Agencies · All business bookkeeping
Bookkeeping for your e-commerce business
Tell us where your books stand and we'll suggest a sensible next step — no pressure, no obligation.