Vt transaction bookkeeping help

[james3000]

Hi, I will be forming a ltd company and before doing so i'm learning all the basics .I sell on Amazon and ebay and using vt transaction + for bookkeeping .

I have been using it for a few days to practice with test sales,etc and watched a few videos on how to use it . However confused about accounting for purchasing products to resell.

When i buy products to resell , When entering the payment to the manufacturer on vt do i class this as cost of goods .

I thought this was the correct way and gives me the correct figures when using test sales and expenses

However i have seen advice saying to only count costs of goods that were sold at the end of the year which gives me the wrong net balance and then when entering costs of goods the correct net balance but wrong bank balance.

 

[Scalloway]

I am not familiar with the exact terminology of VT Transaction but you must record your expenditure as it happens.

The year end cost of good sold is an item on your profit and loss account. To get cost of goods sold you take your opening stock, add goods purchased in the year then deduct closing stock.

 

[talkinpeace]

VT is like any book keeping programme
you enter your sales as they happen
you enter your purchases as they happen

if buying goods for resale, at the end of the year you put in a stock adjustment to match the sales and purchases into the same year

if that does not make sense I'd suggest paying an accountant to do your year end and tax stuff

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Hi James

I use VT Transaction + and am very familiar with it - can I ask why you've chosen it? It is a good package but I wouldnt say its the best for someone such as yourself selling on Amazon and EBay.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

[QUO

When i buy products to resell , When entering the payment to the manufacturer on vt do i class this as cost of goods .

I

Yes you do - it'll be purchases which is under cost of sales.

Are you going to use the system to record purchase invoices or just record payments made?

[TE="james3000, post: 2604034, member: 256482"]
...i have seen advice saying to only count costs of goods that were sold at the end of the year which gives me the wrong net balance and then when entering costs of goods the correct net balance but wrong bank balance.[/QUOTE]

At the end of any accounting period you have to adjust for the stock you've purchased which isnt sold. Not all businesses do this when they maintain accounting records often the accountant will do this when they prepare the year end accounts and tax return but you can do it. Its easiest done using a journal entry - debit stock on the balance sheet and credit closing stock which in VT is called 'Decrease/(increase) in stocks'.

Adjusting for closing stock wont in any way alter the bank balance.

 

[james3000]

Thanks for all your replies .

Thank you that has made it a lot clearer. Yes i will just be recording payments made .My supplier doesn't send invoices only ones attached to the parcels ,I just just tell them the quantity needed of each item then they give me the price and i pay via bank transfer straight away as it's a trusted supplier .Other stock i buy is from aliexpress etc so also pay straight away .

I'm still trying several accounting software it's just vt seems easiest to use.I can also easily download a csv file from Amazon open it in excel and edit the date format , remove refunds and unneeded columns and import to vt .I haven'tried with paypal s csv yet.

What accounting software would you recommend for ebay and amazon sales .On Amazon i will only be selling to UK customers and ebay very few international .As i have had to start new Ebay and Amazon for the Ltd .My sales will start a little slower but i will be around 3000 items a month .

I have had a look at xero and a2x add on for Amazon sales but can't find many reviews about the add on .

Thanks for your help

 

[kevin.doran]

3000 items a month? I certainly wouldn't be listing them individually in the software. One line come month end to recognise all sales and another for all PayPal fees should do the job.

Same goes for Amazon by the way, all very simple...

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Thanks for all your replies .

Thank you that has made it a lot clearer. Yes i will just be recording payments made .My supplier doesn't send invoices only ones attached to the parcels ,I just just tell them the quantity needed of each item then they give me the price and i pay via bank transfer straight away as it's a trusted supplier .Other stock i buy is from aliexpress etc so also pay straight away .

I'm still trying several accounting software it's just vt seems easiest to use.I can also easily download a csv file from Amazon open it in excel and edit the date format , remove refunds and unneeded columns and import to vt .I haven'tried with paypal s csv yet.

What accounting software would you recommend for ebay and amazon sales .On Amazon i will only be selling to UK customers and ebay very few international .As i have had to start new Ebay and Amazon for the Ltd .My sales will start a little slower but i will be around 3000 items a month .

I have had a look at xero and a2x add on for Amazon sales but can't find many reviews about the add on .

Thanks for your help

If you are only recording payments made (not invoices) just record the payment using the bank payment option.

I look after the accounts and tax for a lot of Ebay sellers and most of them use Accounts Portal - it's a great package and in my opinion much quicker and easier to use than VT if you have a large number of payments to import. The import option in VT is hard work compared to Accounts Portal.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

3000 items a month? I certainly wouldn't be listing them individually in the software. ....

Have to agree with Kevin on that one.

I'd summarise the transactions and enter monthly totals too.

 

[james3000]

Thanks ,That sounds a lot easier . Would i just need to create new bank accounts called Amazon , Paypal .Transfer the payments from each to my current account within the software ,when i withdraw from paypal/amazon.
Then enter the monthly totals for sales and fees from the sales reports into the banks created for Amazon/pp. print and keep a copy on my pc of all the transaction details for my records . .

 

[kevin.doran]

All perfect apart from printing...no need. Save PDF's to some form of cloud storage and you're done. That also negates the need to save directly to your PC (always a bad idea as PC's are prone to failure).

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Thanks ,That sounds a lot easier . Would i just need to create new bank accounts called Amazon , Paypal ... . .

That's how I'd do it.

...
Then enter the monthly totals for sales and fees from the sales reports into the banks created for Amazon/pp. print and keep a copy on my pc of all the transaction details for my records . .

Yes but I'd just keep the monthly CSV files or PDF files I wouldnt print them - no need to print and keep masses of paper records.