E-commerce Accountants
MWA provides specialist ecommerce accounting services designed for ecommerce businesses selling across multiple platforms. As ecommerce accountants in Manchester, we manage your bookkeeping, financial reporting, and tax compliance using cloud accounting software such as Xero, integrating directly with your ecommerce platforms, payment processors, and business bank accounts to capture financial transactions accurately in real time.
Our ecommerce accounting services give you clear visibility over your sales, costs and performance across every channel. By connecting your accounting software with your website and sales platforms, we deliver marketplace-specific profit and loss reporting, balance sheet accuracy and forecasting. This allows you to manage cash flow, monitor inventory, and make informed decisions using real-time financial insights.
Ecommerce accounting is not the same as traditional accounting. Ecommerce businesses often operate across multiple sales platforms, deal with high volumes of transactions, and face varying tax obligations depending on where and how they sell. Working with specialist ecommerce accountants means your financial management is aligned with your business model, rather than being adapted from a generic approach.
Ecommerce accounting should provide financial clarity rather than add to your accounting tasks. With a dedicated accountant who understands ecommerce businesses, you can improve tax efficiency, stay on top of Corporation Tax and VAT compliance, and focus on growth. MWA delivers a full range of accounting services, including bookkeeping services, financial reporting, and tax planning, with a fixed monthly fee and no hidden costs.
Who we work with
We work with ecommerce businesses at every stage, from a new ecommerce business or sole trader through to established limited company structures selling through Amazon, eBay, Shopify, and TikTok shop. Each platform brings different VAT registration requirements, sales tax rules, and operational considerations. Our ecommerce accounting team provides tailored solutions based on how your business operates and where you sell.
Whether you are running a high-volume ecommerce store, managing multiple currencies, or building a passive income through digital products, our dedicated ecommerce accountants provide proactive advice and personalised support tailored to your stage of development and business goals.
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Integrated ecommerce accounting software with your CMS or marketplace storefront to provide real time financial insights.
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Inventory management support and tax guidance to help ecommerce businesses maximise profit.
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A dedicated accountant with a named contact, always available to support your accounting tasks and queries.
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VAT and tax compliance handled in a way that supports tax efficiency for your business model.
Why online businesses
choose MWA?
Online businesses choose MWA because ecommerce accounting is handled differently to traditional accounting. If your ecommerce business works across multiple sales platforms and business models, your financial management needs to reflect how your business actually operates, not a generic retail approach.
Where and how you source your stock directly affects your accounting and tax obligations. Whether you are drop shipping, using Fulfilled by Amazon, working with a 3PL, selling digital downloads, or managing your own warehouse, each model has different implications for your financial records and reporting.
Many ecommerce businesses also need marketplace-specific profit and loss reporting to understand performance across each channel. What sells well on a TikTok Shop live may differ from your website or other ecommerce platforms, and your ecommerce accounting software needs to capture that accurately.
Our dedicated online accountants work with digital businesses to manage this level of financial complexity. With experience across different business models and business stages, we provide ecommerce accounting services that give you clearer financial insights and support better decision-making as your business grows.
Bespoke packages
for e-commerce businesses.
Own Website
(multichannel, including offline sales)
Larger ecommerce businesses with higher volumes of SKUs, selling across multiple sales platforms and potentially offline channels, often with varied stock holding and more complex financial management requirements.
Marketplace Sellers
Ecommerce businesses selling in volume through one or more sales platforms such as Amazon, eBay, or TikTok Shop, often managing high transaction levels alongside stock and fulfilment considerations.
Artisanal Sellers/Digital Download
Online sellers using platforms such as Etsy or Not On The High Street, typically offering bespoke products or digital downloads, including those building a passive income or running a smaller ecommerce business.
Our process for onboarding your ecommerce business
This is our opportunity to learn as much as we can about your ecommerce business and what you need from your accountant. This is usually a virtual meeting or phone call at a time that suits you, although we are happy to meet in person if preferred. We look at your business model, sales platforms, accounting software, and what is currently working well, along with any areas that could be improved.
Our ecommerce accounting experts will then prepare a proposal based on your accounting requirements. In some cases, we can provide a quote straight away, but often we take time to review your transaction volumes, sales platforms, and existing accounting processes. This allows us to outline the right accounting services, software, and level of support for your business. We aim to turn proposals around within 24 hours.
Once the proposal is agreed, we begin onboarding your ecommerce business and introduce you to your dedicated accountant and wider ecommerce accounting team. We work with you, your internal team, or developers to integrate your accounting software with your ecommerce platforms and business bank account, making your ecommerce accounting as efficient as possible.
You will have a named account manager and access to dedicated ecommerce accountants who are available to support your day-to-day queries. We provide ongoing support and proactive advice, helping you manage your financial records, tax compliance, and financial management in line with your business needs.
"extremely friendly, approachable, and give clear advice. The team are highly efficient and go the extra mile for me and those that work with me. Whenever I have a query Richard is always on the end of the line to assist. I would highly recommend MWA to any other company looking for a reliable accountancy practice..."
Alex, Managing Director, UK Expert Medical
"...inputs and response times are fantastic ... advice has been timely, professional and commercial both in dealings with us and other professional advisers... it’s unusual to find an accountant in practice who speaks in plain English and is so commercially-minded, which is exactly what we have in MWA.”
Andy Scott, Chairman, REL Capital
"...great service from MWA Accounting every time, really pleased we switched across to them and they've really helped us out as a company over the last couple of years, always offering great advice, would certainly recommend."
Josh Ainsley, Managing Director, Ainsley Signs
FAQs
When selling across multiple sales platforms, ecommerce businesses need to track performance separately for each channel. Marketplace fees, commissions, and fulfilment costs can have a direct impact on your margins compared to your own website.
We recommend structuring your ecommerce accounting so your accounting software produces separate profit and loss reports for each platform. This gives you clearer financial reporting, helps with financial analysis, and allows you to make better decisions around pricing, marketing, and stock.
The initial cost of building your ecommerce website, or any major redevelopment, is usually treated as a capital asset and recorded on the balance sheet. Tax relief is then applied through capital allowances over the relevant accounting period.
Ongoing costs such as hosting, maintenance, and updates are treated as expenses and recorded in your profit and loss account. These are typically fully deductible in the year they are incurred and form part of your overall financial management and tax planning.
For ecommerce businesses selling B2C, margins should be calculated using sales figures net of VAT. Direct costs will usually include purchase costs, carriage, fulfilment fees, and marketplace commissions.
You should also consider broader costs such as staff, production labour, packaging, and website-related costs. Accurately tracking these within your ecommerce accounting software helps you understand true profitability, manage cash flow, and improve pricing strategies.
Digital sales into the EU are subject to specific VAT rules. Each country has its own VAT rate, and marketplaces such as Not On The High Street may calculate and charge this at checkout.
As the seller, you remain responsible for VAT registration, reporting, and payments in the relevant countries. If your EU sales exceed €10,000 per year, or you choose to register voluntarily, you can use the non-union OSS scheme to report all EU VAT through a single return.
If your customer is a VAT-registered business, VAT is generally not charged, subject to the correct documentation.
For more information, read our blog to understanding VAT for UK ecommerce businesses selling in the EU.
Sales to customers outside the UK and EU are usually treated as outside the scope of UK VAT. However, these sales still form part of your financial records and should be included in your ecommerce accounting and VAT reporting as net figures.
If your total EU sales are below €10,000 per year, VAT is typically based on where your stock is located at the point of sale. Once you exceed this threshold, you must apply the VAT rules of the customer’s country.
Many ecommerce businesses choose to register for the EU OSS scheme, which allows you to report and pay VAT across multiple countries through a single return. Managing this correctly is a key part of ecommerce accounting and tax compliance when selling internationally.
Contact MWA Accounting
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