Platform settlement reports and gateway payouts are not accounting documents. Amazon settlement reports combine sales proceeds, FBA fees, advertising costs, reimbursements and loan repayments in a single net figure. Shopify payouts mix multiple gateways, each settling on different cycles. Bookkeeping built from these documents produces inaccurate accounts and unreliable VAT returns. We reconcile settlement data back to gross trading figures for accurate accounts.
An Amazon settlement report is a single document combining gross sales (revenue), FBA fulfilment fees (expense), referral fees (expense), advertising costs (expense), reimbursements (revenue adjustment) and any loan repayments (financing). Treating the net figure as revenue, or treating fee categories as a single line, produces inaccurate accounts and a VAT return that does not reconcile to actual sales.
Amazon settles approximately every two weeks; Shopify Payments, PayPal and Stripe each have different settlement schedules. Monthly accounts need to accrue revenue and costs to the correct period regardless of when funds arrive in the bank. Settlement-based bookkeeping that matches bank deposits to accounting periods produces timing mismatches.
Returns processed through Amazon or Shopify appear as negative adjustments in subsequent settlement periods. Correctly matching returns to the original sale period, and accounting for FBA return fees, is necessary for accurate revenue recognition and VAT returns.
Product sellers need to recognise cost of goods sold in the period the goods are sold, not when stock is purchased. Settlement-based bookkeeping that records stock purchases as expenses when bought overstates costs in stock-building periods and understates them in draw-down periods.
We reconcile Amazon settlement reports and Shopify payout data back to gross sales, categorise fees correctly as expenses, and produce monthly management accounts showing true trading revenue and margin.
Our reconciled accounts provide the gross sales figures needed for an accurate VAT return, with platform fees and advertising costs correctly treated for input VAT recovery.
We set up or review your COGS recognition methodology so that stock costs are matched to sales in the correct period, giving a reliable profit figure for tax planning and business decisions.
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