Looking for accounting software Ecommerce business

[phonebook123]

Hi,

I run an ecommerce business (Ebay, Amazon, Shopify, Fruugo, etc.) and I am looking for an accounting software. At the moment I am a small business just under the VAT threshold. Soon planning to register for VAT and form a Limited company.

These are the features I was thinking about having:
- Integration with Ebay/Amazon/Shopify/…
- Forecast inventory: Predicting how fast my stock will run out based on past selling performance
- Not only general accounting, but also analytical accounting and management accounting


Are these features farfetched and unnecessary? Yes, at this moment I am small, but I want the fundaments and internal information systems to be strong. Why?
1. There will be no issues when expanding as the information systems are strong
2. It will help me decide on how, when and how to expand as I can decide that through management accounting
3. It gives me financial reports and based on that I can see which products are performing well, which aren’t, what the profit margin of each is, how long my stock has been sitting, how long it will take to sell the stock, financial predictions, etc.

The 4 ‘best’ accounting softwares I have seen so far are: Sage One, Kashflow, Quickbooks and Xero.

Budget range wise I would say I am willing to get something that costs me more if the software is really good.

So my question is what do you recommend? What did you decide to go with?

I would appreciate some advice, thank you!

 

[Scalloway]

Quickbooks is the only online one that I have experience of. An organisation I am involved with chose it because of its stock control features.

 

[Alan]

I think you will find Sage One and Kashflow, whilst sufficient (I use Kashflow) will fall down on integration to your shops and also on the inventory forecasting.

Not based on any deep usage, and there are always ways round things.

 

[GraemeL]

Fully understand what you are wishing for, but I think you are being unrealistic about what is possible for a small business.

If you are trading through several channels, you will first need software that can collate the data from each and consolidate it into one database (Plus a lot more stuff) , so you can work on re-order levels etc. That in itself is a big ask and there are not many order management packages that can do it. (I use Linnworks)

Linking an accounting package to the order management package is the next challenge.

 

[Jason Edge]

We use Xero and has some great API support. It links direct to our website, creates invoices and collates customer info, payment etc

 

[phonebook123]

Sorry for the late reply.

Quickbooks is the only online one that I have experience of. An organisation I am involved with chose it because of its stock control features.

I looked into Quickbooks and read some reviews online, however it said that it is heavily US based?

Fully understand what you are wishing for, but I think you are being unrealistic about what is possible for a small business.

If you are trading through several channels, you will first need software that can collate the data from each and consolidate it into one database (Plus a lot more stuff) , so you can work on re-order levels etc. That in itself is a big ask and there are not many order management packages that can do it. (I use Linnworks)

Linking an accounting package to the order management package is the next challenge.

I was thinking the same thing, it is too much to be in 1 package. I wished somewhere deep down, since we are in 2017, that something like this would be available in the mass market.

At the moment I use Linnworks as well and have connected all the platforms so all the stock info is in there.

Have you managed to link an accounting software with Linnworks? There are apps in Linnworks that connect to QB/Xero/... but I am not sure about the depth of the connection? Or would you have to connect them both manually? Or do you use Linnworks and the accounting package separate for the moment?

We use Xero and has some great API support. It links direct to our website, creates invoices and collates customer info, payment etc

I was thinking about Xero as well. I looked into it deeper and it seemed 'better' than the rest, however this is just based on me reading their features and some reviews online. Do you only sell on your website or also on marketplaces (Ebay, Amazon, etc.)?

 

[Scalloway]

I looked into Quickbooks and read some reviews online, however it said that it is heavily US based?

It is a US product. However it has been available in the UK for many years and I have heard no complaints, either online or from users, about it not suiting UK businesses.

 

[GraemeL]

At the moment I use Linnworks as well and have connected all the platforms so all the stock info is in there. Have you managed to link an accounting software with Linnworks? There are apps in Linnworks that connect to QB/Xero/... but I am not sure about the depth of the connection? Or would you have to connect them both manually? Or do you use Linnworks and the accounting package separate for the moment?

I use Linnworks for customer invoicing, through both our own site and Amazon. (You need to think VERY carefully how you invoice customers if you integrate an accounts system.) Then export Processed Orders from Linnworks as a csv, do a little bit of modification and then import into ClearBooks (not Quickbooks). However, I only import full invoice values into ClearBooks, not a line by line transaction, so carrying out your desire of "It gives me financial reports and based on that I can see which products are performing well, which aren’t, what the profit margin of each is, how long my stock has been sitting, how long it will take to sell the stock, financial predictions, etc" would not be possible for me.

I won't be changing to any greater degree of integration - no need as I don't have to spend much time each month on import/exports. And it would just need one small thing to go 'wrong' in Linnworks and it would be automatically fed into Clearbooks. Correcting something like that is always a headache.

I am pretty sure you can get a system to do what you want, for example https://www.lakeview.co.uk/ , which is fabulous (I have used in the past on a +£4m business) but just not affordable for small business.

Graeme

 

[Jason Edge]

Sorry for the late reply.



I looked into Quickbooks and read some reviews online, however it said that it is heavily US based?



I was thinking the same thing, it is too much to be in 1 package. I wished somewhere deep down, since we are in 2017, that something like this would be available in the mass market.

At the moment I use Linnworks as well and have connected all the platforms so all the stock info is in there.

Have you managed to link an accounting software with Linnworks? There are apps in Linnworks that connect to QB/Xero/... but I am not sure about the depth of the connection? Or would you have to connect them both manually? Or do you use Linnworks and the accounting package separate for the moment?



I was thinking about Xero as well. I looked into it deeper and it seemed 'better' than the rest, however this is just based on me reading their features and some reviews online. Do you only sell on your website or also on marketplaces (Ebay, Amazon, etc.)?

We only sell via our own website so not sure how well it might integrate with either of those platforms

 

[columbo]

Anybody use this?

https://www.oneup.com/

 

[Scalloway]

Anybody use this?

https://www.oneup.com/

It doesn't seem to cover VAT so it will only be of use for non registered businesses.

 

[columbo]

when you say OneUp doesn't cover VAT - you mean you't call add VAT to invoices?

 

[Scalloway]

As a US product it does not list VAT among its features. You probably could bodge it to show VAT on your invoices but it might not have the facility to do all the VAT accounting and submissions for you, unlike UK software.

 

[GraemeL]

If it doesnt deal with UK VAT then do NOT deal with it!
G

 

[Bruce.D]

We are using freeagent with customized api.

 

[GillespieBS]

You fit the sweet spot for Brightpearl. It was designed specifically for Amazon, Ebay, Shopify, Magento sellers and has realtime inventory controls built in and accounting function. It is a UK product.

Although I love Xero, Kashflow etc these are not designed for eCommerce and 3rd party integrations are usually not reliable enough in my opinion.

When you want to inventory controls etc you will have to bump your budget up a bit I'm afraid however worth it when you scale up.