WHAT E-COMMERCE OWNERS EXPECT FROM THEIR ACCOUNTANT?
Accountants are the backbone of a business; they help in understanding the financial position of the company and make sure your business remains financially healthy. Unfortunately, many ecommerce owners undermine the importance of accountants and start doing bookkeeping and accounting tasks on their own.
Retailers May Miss Out Some Important Things While Handling Books on their Own: Miss out to meet tax deadlines Not able to handle the merchant accounts properly Unable to manage the cash flow and revenue cycle properly
What Makes it Important For a Business to Hire an Accountant? With the growing advancements in technology, it is easier to manage books, record daily transactions, the ins and outs of business cash with the help of accounting software. However, accounting software can’t advise you on financial matters, which on the other hand, an accountant can do for you.
Reasons Why Businesses Need to Hire an Accountant To get help in filing taxes To seek financial guidance from the start To seek strategically business advice as your business grows To generate and manage business financial statements accurately and on time
What E-commerce Owners Expect from  their Accountant?
What E-commerce Owners Expect from their Accountant? 1. Help to best structure the business 2. Manage merchant accounts/ chargebacks efficiently 3. Understand sales tax 4. Help to reserve stocks with the growing sales 5. Cash flow management 6. Help to drive business growth
1.
Accountants can Help Structure the E-commerce Business When someone starts a business, the first thing to consider is the business structure, which includes sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, or corporation. Business founders generally have two questions in mind: How can I reduce my tax liability? How can I protect my personal assets? However, both the questions can easily be answered by a knowledgeable accountant or CPA because business structure affects taxation a lot.
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Accountants can Manage Merchant Accounts Efficiently A merchant account is necessary for every retailer to collect payment from customers whoever pays online. An accountant is the only person who reconcile the numerous transactions monthly from the merchant account statement with complete precision and provides you the accurate statements with exact figures.
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Accountants can Manage ChargebacksÂ
Chargeback is a situation when a customer complains to their credit card company that they shouldn’t have been charged for the particular transaction. The credit card company then reverses the charge, deducting it out of your bank account and giving the amount back to the customer. In such situations, retailers can take advice from their accountant on how to resolve the issue or how to avoid it in the future.
3.
An Accountant Understands Sales Tax Sales tax is extremely complicated for many online retailers. An online business has to deal with hurdles in sales tax: What rates should be charged on an order? Does the business need to deal with sales tax in multiple states? However, if you have an accountant in place, understanding sales tax and its requirements would be a lot easier and quicker.
4.
Accountant can Help in Reserving Stocks with the Growing Sales Understanding profit margins, overhead costs, inventory management and supply and demand is crucial for your business. An accountant can guide you properly regarding all these aspects. He or she will also help you in managing inventory efficiently and save you from potential losses.
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Cash Flow Management by an Accountant An accountant manages your cash flow and helps you to understand your financial position and actual profit margin to make informed business decisions. They help you form the long-term financial strategies to help your business drive growth and profits. How soon your revenue cycle flows back in is also determined through this process.
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Accountants for Driving Business Growth Retailers always wish that their accountant should help them in budget forecasting and help to increase their profits by providing accurate financial statements, which can further help them in taking the right decision for the company’s growth.
CONCLUSION Hiring an accountant is necessary for every e-commerce business as they can help retailers in every aspect related to accounting and advice them on business growth. Thus, retailers prefer outsourced accounting services to achieve set goals, save time, money and efforts. Get in touch with Cogneesol- a leading accounting service provider offering bookkeeping services for retail businesses globally allowing them to stay focused on core business operations and drive more profit.
COGNEESOL INC. 30 Wall Street, 8th Floor New York, NY 10005-2205 +1 646 688 2821 info@cogneesol.com ww.cogneesol.com