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Michael Pignatelli, CPA
CEO, Unloop

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If you want to establish or change your accounting system, you may have heard of or used two basic accounting methods: the cash and accrual accounting methods. These are the textbook methods that every business can choose from.

But there's another method that some entities use. It's called modified accrual accounting, and it can be an excellent record keeping method if you want to see your business's numbers more clearly.

Let Unloop explain the modified accrual method to you. But before we do, we'll also go over the two primary accounting methods to give you a more thorough understanding.

Cash Basis Accounting

Most starting businesses adopt a cash basis method of accounting. This way of financial recordkeeping recognizes transactions only when the money comes in or goes out, making bookkeeping easy.

What's Great About Cash Basis Accounting?

Here are some reasons why cash basis accounting is fantastic for both traditional and ecommerce businesses.

Straightforward

Accountants and bookkeepers use the double-entry method when recording transactions. But what makes it straightforward is they only use cash as a debit or credit account in each transaction.

Cash Accurate

Since transactions are only recorded when the business spends or receives cash, managers, and small business owners have an accurate view of the movement of cash assets within the business.

Simple Reporting

Bookkeeping and accounting using the cash basis make financial statement reporting simple. In a given period, there will only be a few accounts presented, making it easier to analyze. Reading the simple reports generated from a cash basis accounting method helps in quick decision-making.

Limitations of Cash Basis Accounting

Despite the ease and simplicity of cash basis accounting, it has certain drawbacks.

Challenging for Complex Transactions

When transactions become more complex in real-world events, the cash basis method may have difficulty keeping up. For example, when a business purchases a significant asset on an installment basis, this could affect multiple accounts for an extended period, and official recording may only take place after a long period.

A Narrow View of the Business

Cash basis accounting only sees transactions as they come and go. This limits the view of a manager or a business owner because, in the real world, transactions are incurred or earned earlier or later than usual.

Accrual Basis Accounting

The accrual basis method allows revenue recognition even if it has yet to be received. and recognizes expenses before anything is paid or incurred. As long as the economic event happened, accrual basis accounting will record it. That’s why large businesses with expanded activity and high annual income adopt accrual accounting rather than cash accounting.

What’s Great About the Accrual Accounting Method?

Here's why big businesses use accrual accounting when recording business transactions.

Can Handle Complex Transactions

Accrual accounting lets accountants and bookkeepers record transactions involving multiple accounts. For example, if they are a software company that sold $100 of a single product on the current date and the buyer pays $10 initially while the rest is payable in 90 days, they can record everything on the current date and not after 90 days when the payment is completed.

Business Accurate

Using the accrual method is business accurate because it allows accountants and bookkeepers to record transactions as they happen. This gives managers and owners an accurate view of what's happening in the business in real-time.

Widely Acceptable

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) approves the use of accrual accounting. It is also the type of accounting method that banks and tax authorities require for any business with substantial profit earnings or loan requests.

Limitations of Accrual Basis Accounting Method

As great as the accrual method is, it also has several drawbacks.

It Is Complex

Recording transactions using the accrual method can be complex. Putting them together in a financial statement can be more challenging than with cash basis accounting, as there can be many accounts to balance.

Prone to Fraud and Errors

Unlike the cash basis method, where you can have one debit and credit account in a double-entry transaction, accrual accounting can have multiple and the amounts in each account may vary—which is where errors occur and fraudulent transactions can sneak in.

modified accrual basis is complex and requires skilled accountants

What Is Modified Accrual Accounting?

The modified accrual accounting is a hybrid of the two methods. It uses the best features of cash and accrual basis and adapts depending on the transaction's nature. This is also known as the modified cash basis or hybrid accounting method.

Short-Term

When recording economic events in the short term, primarily if it affects the entity's cash balance, the modified accrual basis adapts the cash method.

These transactions are the ones incurred monthly or daily. Regular business expenses such as utilities and suppliers adopt a cash-based accounting method.

Long-Term

If an economic event affects the business long-term, such as in years, the accrual method is used to record the transaction.

Acquisitions of property or big-ticket equipment are recorded using the accrual method. The transaction is recognized at the date the transaction is made for more accurate recording purposes.

Advantages of Modified Accrual Accounting

A critical advantage of the modified accrual method is balanced reporting. The financial statements of entities using this method will show little shortage or surplus as the more significant expenses are distributed throughout the business's life, and the more minor expenses are justified.

Limitations of Modified Accrual Accounting

It can be the most complex of methods because it uses a combination of cash and accrual basis. Switching between two methods when recording transactions will test any bookkeeper or accountant.

Can Ecommerce Businesses Use Modified Accrual Accounting?

No, they can't. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) don't allow modified accrual accounting.

Government entities generally use the modified accrual method. But private, for-profit entities such as ecommerce marketplace sellers can also use it for internal purposes to improve their vision.

What Can Ecommerce Businesses Do Instead?

You can get experts to decide which method is best for your business, given its current situation. On the other hand, if you started with either a cash or accrual basis, you can let experts continue to use those methods effectively.

Unloop can help you decide what can be done for your business. Book a call or check out our bookkeeping services to find out more.

Modified Accrual Accounting: What Is It and Can You Use It?
Watch Now

If you want to establish or change your accounting system, you may have heard of or used two basic accounting methods: the cash and accrual accounting methods. These are the textbook methods that every business can choose from.

But there's another method that some entities use. It's called modified accrual accounting, and it can be an excellent record keeping method if you want to see your business's numbers more clearly.

Let Unloop explain the modified accrual method to you. But before we do, we'll also go over the two primary accounting methods to give you a more thorough understanding.

Cash Basis Accounting

Most starting businesses adopt a cash basis method of accounting. This way of financial recordkeeping recognizes transactions only when the money comes in or goes out, making bookkeeping easy.

What's Great About Cash Basis Accounting?

Here are some reasons why cash basis accounting is fantastic for both traditional and ecommerce businesses.

Straightforward

Accountants and bookkeepers use the double-entry method when recording transactions. But what makes it straightforward is they only use cash as a debit or credit account in each transaction.

Cash Accurate

Since transactions are only recorded when the business spends or receives cash, managers, and small business owners have an accurate view of the movement of cash assets within the business.

Simple Reporting

Bookkeeping and accounting using the cash basis make financial statement reporting simple. In a given period, there will only be a few accounts presented, making it easier to analyze. Reading the simple reports generated from a cash basis accounting method helps in quick decision-making.

Limitations of Cash Basis Accounting

Despite the ease and simplicity of cash basis accounting, it has certain drawbacks.

Challenging for Complex Transactions

When transactions become more complex in real-world events, the cash basis method may have difficulty keeping up. For example, when a business purchases a significant asset on an installment basis, this could affect multiple accounts for an extended period, and official recording may only take place after a long period.

A Narrow View of the Business

Cash basis accounting only sees transactions as they come and go. This limits the view of a manager or a business owner because, in the real world, transactions are incurred or earned earlier or later than usual.

Accrual Basis Accounting

The accrual basis method allows revenue recognition even if it has yet to be received. and recognizes expenses before anything is paid or incurred. As long as the economic event happened, accrual basis accounting will record it. That’s why large businesses with expanded activity and high annual income adopt accrual accounting rather than cash accounting.

What’s Great About the Accrual Accounting Method?

Here's why big businesses use accrual accounting when recording business transactions.

Can Handle Complex Transactions

Accrual accounting lets accountants and bookkeepers record transactions involving multiple accounts. For example, if they are a software company that sold $100 of a single product on the current date and the buyer pays $10 initially while the rest is payable in 90 days, they can record everything on the current date and not after 90 days when the payment is completed.

Business Accurate

Using the accrual method is business accurate because it allows accountants and bookkeepers to record transactions as they happen. This gives managers and owners an accurate view of what's happening in the business in real-time.

Widely Acceptable

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) approves the use of accrual accounting. It is also the type of accounting method that banks and tax authorities require for any business with substantial profit earnings or loan requests.

Limitations of Accrual Basis Accounting Method

As great as the accrual method is, it also has several drawbacks.

It Is Complex

Recording transactions using the accrual method can be complex. Putting them together in a financial statement can be more challenging than with cash basis accounting, as there can be many accounts to balance.

Prone to Fraud and Errors

Unlike the cash basis method, where you can have one debit and credit account in a double-entry transaction, accrual accounting can have multiple and the amounts in each account may vary—which is where errors occur and fraudulent transactions can sneak in.

modified accrual basis is complex and requires skilled accountants

What Is Modified Accrual Accounting?

The modified accrual accounting is a hybrid of the two methods. It uses the best features of cash and accrual basis and adapts depending on the transaction's nature. This is also known as the modified cash basis or hybrid accounting method.

Short-Term

When recording economic events in the short term, primarily if it affects the entity's cash balance, the modified accrual basis adapts the cash method.

These transactions are the ones incurred monthly or daily. Regular business expenses such as utilities and suppliers adopt a cash-based accounting method.

Long-Term

If an economic event affects the business long-term, such as in years, the accrual method is used to record the transaction.

Acquisitions of property or big-ticket equipment are recorded using the accrual method. The transaction is recognized at the date the transaction is made for more accurate recording purposes.

Advantages of Modified Accrual Accounting

A critical advantage of the modified accrual method is balanced reporting. The financial statements of entities using this method will show little shortage or surplus as the more significant expenses are distributed throughout the business's life, and the more minor expenses are justified.

Limitations of Modified Accrual Accounting

It can be the most complex of methods because it uses a combination of cash and accrual basis. Switching between two methods when recording transactions will test any bookkeeper or accountant.

Can Ecommerce Businesses Use Modified Accrual Accounting?

No, they can't. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) don't allow modified accrual accounting.

Government entities generally use the modified accrual method. But private, for-profit entities such as ecommerce marketplace sellers can also use it for internal purposes to improve their vision.

What Can Ecommerce Businesses Do Instead?

You can get experts to decide which method is best for your business, given its current situation. On the other hand, if you started with either a cash or accrual basis, you can let experts continue to use those methods effectively.

Unloop can help you decide what can be done for your business. Book a call or check out our bookkeeping services to find out more.

Read more

Disclaimer: Please note this article is not financial advice. The purpose of our blog is purely educational, so please consult a professional accountant or financial advisor before making any financial decision.

If you told an Amazon seller back in 2012 that ecommerce sales will reach the one-trillion-dollar mark in ten years, they would probably laugh at you. Before the pandemic, it was unthinkable that ecommerce transactions would skyrocket to unbelievable levels. Despite how easy it is to order any product you can think of online, people still prefer to walk around the mall and shop.

Now that we are years into the so-called "New Normal," ecommerce platforms such as Amazon have taken a greater role in the economy and our lifestyles. Initially, it snowballed to unprecedented levels due to the health restrictions imposed on brick-and-mortar shops, which made business as usual nearly impossible. 

Thus, entrepreneurs had to find creative ways to move their products. As soon as they closed down their physical stores, small business owners opened up virtual stores on Amazon. The rest, as they say, is history.

If you wish to survive the extremely competitive world of ecommerce in 2023, you should consider bookkeeping services for Amazon sellers. In this article, let us convince you why hiring bookkeepers is not only a mere luxury for those who can afford them but an essential and indispensable key to ecommerce success.

Why the Future Is Bright for Amazon FBA Sellers

bookkeeping services for amazon sellers - Closeup of AmazonSeller app on phone

There will always be skeptics, and it isn't a bad thing. So before you jump on the bandwagon, you have to ensure that it isn't just a fad that will be gone within a year. When it comes to investing your money to buy initial inventory and hire employees, assurance of long-term growth becomes especially important. Is Amazon selling here to stay? Find out!

Amazon Surpasses Traditional Retailers

Big-box stores like Walmart and Target always come to mind when shopping. Whether you are shopping for grocery items, furniture, or appliances, the go-to place for almost everything you need is a big-box store. As a result, physical retailers enjoy a steady supply of customers keeping their aisles busy and parking lots full. 

However, in 2020, the Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of Amazon exceeded that of Walmart. Amazon achieved a 41% GMV growth, while Walmart grew by 10%. These numbers translate to the volume of sales made within a year. As you may surmise, Amazon continues picking up momentum, and today might be a good time to jump in.

Amazon Continues to Enjoy Market Supremacy

When asked about ecommerce, which company comes to mind? If Amazon isn't the first thing you thought about, you might be living in a cave! Truly, Amazon has taken over the ecommerce market. Moreover, projections for Amazon promise a favorable outlook for the company and ecommerce in general. For instance, analysts predicted that Amazon would take 50% of the ecommerce market share.

How does this translate for Amazon sellers like you? So if you want to increase your products’ visibility, be smart and put them up on display on Amazon. The more people go to Amazon, the higher the chances of translating traffic into actual sales.

Mobile E-commerce Steadily Gains Ground

Are you reading this article on a mobile device like a smartphone, perhaps? There's a high chance that you are! Indeed, smartphones have become inseparable from us. We have been doing most of our daily activities with the help of our smartphones. For instance, you can have a meal delivered right to your home’s doorstep through a mobile app.

Taking advantage of this shift to mobile use, ecommerce platforms like Amazon optimize their websites and apps to work seamlessly with mobile devices. As a result, mobile commerce has been projected to enjoy a 21-percent growth jump in 2021. You can gain from this projected growth by having your products accessible on mobile devices through the Amazon app.

Social Commerce Generates Interest and Traffic

Have you ever found yourself scrolling endlessly on your newsfeed? Who hasn't? Consuming all sorts of content on social media platforms is addicting. Entrepreneurs took advantage of this precious real estate by purchasing ad spaces and building a marketing strategy tailored for social commerce.

With a well-managed and engaging social media page, you can convert traffic on your page to sales on your Amazon store. You can even tap influencers and micro-influencers to generate interest in your products. As long as social media remains popular, you can always use it to promote your products and increase your brand's visibility on the Amazon marketplace.

What Can Amazon Accounting Services for Amazon Sellers Do for Your Small Business?

bookkeeping services for amazon sellers - Courier carrying Amazon package over his shoulder

Thanks to your hard work and a touch of luck, you’ve managed to grow your business, receiving thousands of orders each day. But, can you keep up? 

Scaling up your business means adding new members to what used to be a one-person team. Unless you have eight tentacles, you cannot manage your inventory, pack the parcels, ship them out, keep your books in check, and handle customer service via your Amazon account all at the same time.

That's why you have to hire bookkeeping services to keep your finances in order and steer clear of any financial trouble. In fact, hiring professional bookkeepers is as easy as booking a call here!

Read more to get yourself acquainted with what bookkeepers can do for you and your growing business!

Track Your Cash Inflows and Outflows

How much do Amazon sellers make? To answer that question, you need to have a system in place that keeps track of the number of goods sold and how much money is going in and leaving your business. New business owners can get away with collecting receipts and encoding them manually on their self-made spreadsheets. However, manual entry will be time-consuming and prone to costly errors when you need to scale up your operations. 

So if you want to keep an eye on your cash inflow and outflow, better hire an Amazon accountant or bookkeeping services to do all the work for you. No matter how busy it gets during your day-to-day business operations, you can always rely on your bookkeeper to take into account every single penny that goes in and out of your business.

Keep Your Taxes in Order

We know how easy it is to lose receipts and skip accounting for your daily income and expenses. While you don't have to worry about the police knocking on your door because of lost receipts and unaccounted money, you still have to do your due diligence concerning money matters. When tax season comes, your negligence might result in penalties from government auditors.

If your schedule has become too tight, leaving you with absolutely no time to spare for tax accounting, you should consider hiring a team of professional bookkeepers to settle and minimize your taxes for you. While you still have to file your taxes yourself, bookkeepers prepare everything to account for every cent you owe the government.

See the Bigger Picture

Are you a hands-on business owner? Nothing beats being in the trenches of your growing business and attending to every transaction yourself. However, being too involved on the ground may prevent you from seeing the bigger picture. Sometimes, you may need to zoom out to check how your small business is doing.

Professional bookkeepers employ the best bookkeeping software for Amazon sellers to generate summary reports about your business' performance. For example, is your business making money? Which quarter saw growth in Amazon sales? You can answer all these questions and more by glancing at your summary report.

Use Data for Projections

Aside from knowing how much money you are making every day, you should also set targets for the future growth of your business. Of course, you have to meet deadlines as you set to achieve your targets. However, crafting a timetable should be based on past performance and cash flow for it to be realistic and achievable.

Thanks to an experienced and professional bookkeeper who specializes in ecommerce accounting, you can skip the complicated math and request a projections report instantly. You can rely on these projections based on the data gathered from your business's past performance. Some accounting software even takes additional data from current trends observed in the market.

Final Thoughts

Despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic, the year 2023 could be the best time to become an Amazon FBA seller. Your budding Amazon business will benefit from the current trends in ecommerce, such as social commerce and mobile commerce. However, you will need some help in such a risky yet rewarding endeavor.

Amazon bookkeeping and ecommerce accounting can be difficult without the help of professional accounting services. So don't let your Amazon business get caught in the tangle of accounting and sales tax liability web! Instead, ditch your clunky Google Sheet spreadsheets and hire a reliable Amazon seller bookkeeping service today!

Explore the website and check out our bookkeeping services for budding entrepreneurs like you!

Why Bookkeeping Services for Amazon Sellers Is Crucial for Success in 2023
Watch Now

Disclaimer: Please note this article is not financial advice. The purpose of our blog is purely educational, so please consult a professional accountant or financial advisor before making any financial decision.

If you told an Amazon seller back in 2012 that ecommerce sales will reach the one-trillion-dollar mark in ten years, they would probably laugh at you. Before the pandemic, it was unthinkable that ecommerce transactions would skyrocket to unbelievable levels. Despite how easy it is to order any product you can think of online, people still prefer to walk around the mall and shop.

Now that we are years into the so-called "New Normal," ecommerce platforms such as Amazon have taken a greater role in the economy and our lifestyles. Initially, it snowballed to unprecedented levels due to the health restrictions imposed on brick-and-mortar shops, which made business as usual nearly impossible. 

Thus, entrepreneurs had to find creative ways to move their products. As soon as they closed down their physical stores, small business owners opened up virtual stores on Amazon. The rest, as they say, is history.

If you wish to survive the extremely competitive world of ecommerce in 2023, you should consider bookkeeping services for Amazon sellers. In this article, let us convince you why hiring bookkeepers is not only a mere luxury for those who can afford them but an essential and indispensable key to ecommerce success.

Why the Future Is Bright for Amazon FBA Sellers

bookkeeping services for amazon sellers - Closeup of AmazonSeller app on phone

There will always be skeptics, and it isn't a bad thing. So before you jump on the bandwagon, you have to ensure that it isn't just a fad that will be gone within a year. When it comes to investing your money to buy initial inventory and hire employees, assurance of long-term growth becomes especially important. Is Amazon selling here to stay? Find out!

Amazon Surpasses Traditional Retailers

Big-box stores like Walmart and Target always come to mind when shopping. Whether you are shopping for grocery items, furniture, or appliances, the go-to place for almost everything you need is a big-box store. As a result, physical retailers enjoy a steady supply of customers keeping their aisles busy and parking lots full. 

However, in 2020, the Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of Amazon exceeded that of Walmart. Amazon achieved a 41% GMV growth, while Walmart grew by 10%. These numbers translate to the volume of sales made within a year. As you may surmise, Amazon continues picking up momentum, and today might be a good time to jump in.

Amazon Continues to Enjoy Market Supremacy

When asked about ecommerce, which company comes to mind? If Amazon isn't the first thing you thought about, you might be living in a cave! Truly, Amazon has taken over the ecommerce market. Moreover, projections for Amazon promise a favorable outlook for the company and ecommerce in general. For instance, analysts predicted that Amazon would take 50% of the ecommerce market share.

How does this translate for Amazon sellers like you? So if you want to increase your products’ visibility, be smart and put them up on display on Amazon. The more people go to Amazon, the higher the chances of translating traffic into actual sales.

Mobile E-commerce Steadily Gains Ground

Are you reading this article on a mobile device like a smartphone, perhaps? There's a high chance that you are! Indeed, smartphones have become inseparable from us. We have been doing most of our daily activities with the help of our smartphones. For instance, you can have a meal delivered right to your home’s doorstep through a mobile app.

Taking advantage of this shift to mobile use, ecommerce platforms like Amazon optimize their websites and apps to work seamlessly with mobile devices. As a result, mobile commerce has been projected to enjoy a 21-percent growth jump in 2021. You can gain from this projected growth by having your products accessible on mobile devices through the Amazon app.

Social Commerce Generates Interest and Traffic

Have you ever found yourself scrolling endlessly on your newsfeed? Who hasn't? Consuming all sorts of content on social media platforms is addicting. Entrepreneurs took advantage of this precious real estate by purchasing ad spaces and building a marketing strategy tailored for social commerce.

With a well-managed and engaging social media page, you can convert traffic on your page to sales on your Amazon store. You can even tap influencers and micro-influencers to generate interest in your products. As long as social media remains popular, you can always use it to promote your products and increase your brand's visibility on the Amazon marketplace.

What Can Amazon Accounting Services for Amazon Sellers Do for Your Small Business?

bookkeeping services for amazon sellers - Courier carrying Amazon package over his shoulder

Thanks to your hard work and a touch of luck, you’ve managed to grow your business, receiving thousands of orders each day. But, can you keep up? 

Scaling up your business means adding new members to what used to be a one-person team. Unless you have eight tentacles, you cannot manage your inventory, pack the parcels, ship them out, keep your books in check, and handle customer service via your Amazon account all at the same time.

That's why you have to hire bookkeeping services to keep your finances in order and steer clear of any financial trouble. In fact, hiring professional bookkeepers is as easy as booking a call here!

Read more to get yourself acquainted with what bookkeepers can do for you and your growing business!

Track Your Cash Inflows and Outflows

How much do Amazon sellers make? To answer that question, you need to have a system in place that keeps track of the number of goods sold and how much money is going in and leaving your business. New business owners can get away with collecting receipts and encoding them manually on their self-made spreadsheets. However, manual entry will be time-consuming and prone to costly errors when you need to scale up your operations. 

So if you want to keep an eye on your cash inflow and outflow, better hire an Amazon accountant or bookkeeping services to do all the work for you. No matter how busy it gets during your day-to-day business operations, you can always rely on your bookkeeper to take into account every single penny that goes in and out of your business.

Keep Your Taxes in Order

We know how easy it is to lose receipts and skip accounting for your daily income and expenses. While you don't have to worry about the police knocking on your door because of lost receipts and unaccounted money, you still have to do your due diligence concerning money matters. When tax season comes, your negligence might result in penalties from government auditors.

If your schedule has become too tight, leaving you with absolutely no time to spare for tax accounting, you should consider hiring a team of professional bookkeepers to settle and minimize your taxes for you. While you still have to file your taxes yourself, bookkeepers prepare everything to account for every cent you owe the government.

See the Bigger Picture

Are you a hands-on business owner? Nothing beats being in the trenches of your growing business and attending to every transaction yourself. However, being too involved on the ground may prevent you from seeing the bigger picture. Sometimes, you may need to zoom out to check how your small business is doing.

Professional bookkeepers employ the best bookkeeping software for Amazon sellers to generate summary reports about your business' performance. For example, is your business making money? Which quarter saw growth in Amazon sales? You can answer all these questions and more by glancing at your summary report.

Use Data for Projections

Aside from knowing how much money you are making every day, you should also set targets for the future growth of your business. Of course, you have to meet deadlines as you set to achieve your targets. However, crafting a timetable should be based on past performance and cash flow for it to be realistic and achievable.

Thanks to an experienced and professional bookkeeper who specializes in ecommerce accounting, you can skip the complicated math and request a projections report instantly. You can rely on these projections based on the data gathered from your business's past performance. Some accounting software even takes additional data from current trends observed in the market.

Final Thoughts

Despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic, the year 2023 could be the best time to become an Amazon FBA seller. Your budding Amazon business will benefit from the current trends in ecommerce, such as social commerce and mobile commerce. However, you will need some help in such a risky yet rewarding endeavor.

Amazon bookkeeping and ecommerce accounting can be difficult without the help of professional accounting services. So don't let your Amazon business get caught in the tangle of accounting and sales tax liability web! Instead, ditch your clunky Google Sheet spreadsheets and hire a reliable Amazon seller bookkeeping service today!

Explore the website and check out our bookkeeping services for budding entrepreneurs like you!

Read more

Human resources (HR) and accounting might be two different worlds inside a company, but when you look closely, they are extremely intertwined. Knowing the relationship between the two is the difference between a low to mid-performing company and a successful one. When it comes to running a successful business, it’s no secret that a quality accounting and HR system are keys.

Peachtree’s complete accounting software, named Sage 50cloud (we’ll use Sage/Peachtree interchangeably moving forward), has provided companies with the tools and bookkeeping and accounting insights for over three decades. This program is ideal for small and medium businesses because of its exceptional HR features. Let's dive into why it's one of the best options available!

  1. Peachtree Accounting Software Allows Access to Employee Information

When you search “How to use Peachtree accounting software,” the first answers you will get are about management of accounts payable, account receivable, invoices, and documents related to your company finances. But the Sage software is more than that. With its Core HR feature, it also stores all basic and confidential information about your employees.

Core HR serves as a digital bulletin, so everyone who has access to it is updated about their company. Business policies and organizational charts are easily viewable because they are all stored on Sage/Peachtree.

  1. Sage 50cloud Shows Employee Schedules in One Place

Without the help of an HR team, a company’s schedule will always lean towards accommodating sales and clients, regardless of how exhausting it is for the workforce. Thankfully, through a partnership of the accounting and HR team, you can have a balanced schedule that covers peak hours while ensuring staff wellness. 

Sage 50cloud’s HR feature shows every employee’s schedule in a single place, whether the staff is working in-house, freelance, outsourced, or in a hybrid setup. In case of schedule adjustments to cover business needs, you can update the software quickly with a few clicks. After any change, everybody can have the most updated version of the schedule right away.

  1. Peachtree Accounting Software Enables Convenient Leave Filing

Filing leaves is more than just a scheduling issue. In a manager's eye, a schedule change means an adjustment in the quota or in the goals of other team members. Hence, vacations are both an HR and finance matter.

Thankfully, members of concerned departments can be on the same page as Sage/Peachtree accounting software shows the sales trends and forecasts, as well as everybody’s schedule. 

This way, team members are encouraged to take a leave on non-peak days. When leaves occur on busy days, the HR and accountant can adjust goals guided by data on the software.

  1. Sage/Peachtree Records Employee Rendered Time

The world has evolved, redefining work to more than just the four corners of the office and taking it in coffee shops, at home, and anywhere there is an internet connection. 

What developed with it are the different ways to track employee work time. Biometric attendance machines await office-based workers, while online time recorders are installed on desktops, laptops, and even phones allowing users to complete tasks outside the office.

Integrate these different time tracking apps into the Peachtree system, so all the data is in one place. HR can easily monitor hours rendered, and the accounting team can translate the hours into employees’ salaries.

  1. Peachtree Manages Individual and Team Performance 

The Peachtree software stores both company finances and workforce details. Hence, it is also reliable for seeing individual, team, and company performance. You can utilize these data:

  • Sales: This shows employee productivity.
  • Employee Tenure: The experience that can affect one’s contributions and achievements.
  • Team Managers: Leaders that affect an individual and team's performance.
  • Engagement: An individual and team’s performance can also be defined by how engaged they are in what they do.
  • Incentives and Recognitions: Recognitions and other rewards motivate employees to reach goals.
  • Turnover Rate: High turnover rates can affect workforce morale.
  • New Hires: The learning curve that new hires face regarding company processes and plans affect team production.

You can determine what motivates or demotivates workers by including these indicators that affect each other. You can address the roadblocks and continue best practices to reach company goals.

  1. Sage 50cloud Makes Recruitment Visible

Finally, the Peachtree accounting software also gives you recruitment visibility. HR's role is to check whether the applicant is a perfect fit for the qualifications set by the management team. But, HR also needs to check if the applicant can adjust or can fit the company’s culture. Studies have shown that employees who are enculturated perform better. A mix of excellent skill and adjustment to the company culture works miracles in employee productivity, motivation to reach goals, and the way they care for clients.

Final Thoughts

Peachtree is an enterprise resource planning software that has a lot to offer like advanced budgeting, billing, monitoring of financial transactions, cloud-connected features, and more! But with the six reasons mentioned above, it is clear why Peachtree Accounting is the most human-friendly software. 

So if you are asking, “How much does Peachtree accounting software cost?” and “Is it worth the investment?” Our answer is a resounding yes!If you need a team of experts to do bookkeeping and accounting for you, do not hesitate to give Unloop a call! Our bookkeeping and accounting services are just what your small business needs.

6 Reasons Peachtree Accounting Is Also a Human Resource-Friendly Software
Watch Now

Human resources (HR) and accounting might be two different worlds inside a company, but when you look closely, they are extremely intertwined. Knowing the relationship between the two is the difference between a low to mid-performing company and a successful one. When it comes to running a successful business, it’s no secret that a quality accounting and HR system are keys.

Peachtree’s complete accounting software, named Sage 50cloud (we’ll use Sage/Peachtree interchangeably moving forward), has provided companies with the tools and bookkeeping and accounting insights for over three decades. This program is ideal for small and medium businesses because of its exceptional HR features. Let's dive into why it's one of the best options available!

  1. Peachtree Accounting Software Allows Access to Employee Information

When you search “How to use Peachtree accounting software,” the first answers you will get are about management of accounts payable, account receivable, invoices, and documents related to your company finances. But the Sage software is more than that. With its Core HR feature, it also stores all basic and confidential information about your employees.

Core HR serves as a digital bulletin, so everyone who has access to it is updated about their company. Business policies and organizational charts are easily viewable because they are all stored on Sage/Peachtree.

  1. Sage 50cloud Shows Employee Schedules in One Place

Without the help of an HR team, a company’s schedule will always lean towards accommodating sales and clients, regardless of how exhausting it is for the workforce. Thankfully, through a partnership of the accounting and HR team, you can have a balanced schedule that covers peak hours while ensuring staff wellness. 

Sage 50cloud’s HR feature shows every employee’s schedule in a single place, whether the staff is working in-house, freelance, outsourced, or in a hybrid setup. In case of schedule adjustments to cover business needs, you can update the software quickly with a few clicks. After any change, everybody can have the most updated version of the schedule right away.

  1. Peachtree Accounting Software Enables Convenient Leave Filing

Filing leaves is more than just a scheduling issue. In a manager's eye, a schedule change means an adjustment in the quota or in the goals of other team members. Hence, vacations are both an HR and finance matter.

Thankfully, members of concerned departments can be on the same page as Sage/Peachtree accounting software shows the sales trends and forecasts, as well as everybody’s schedule. 

This way, team members are encouraged to take a leave on non-peak days. When leaves occur on busy days, the HR and accountant can adjust goals guided by data on the software.

  1. Sage/Peachtree Records Employee Rendered Time

The world has evolved, redefining work to more than just the four corners of the office and taking it in coffee shops, at home, and anywhere there is an internet connection. 

What developed with it are the different ways to track employee work time. Biometric attendance machines await office-based workers, while online time recorders are installed on desktops, laptops, and even phones allowing users to complete tasks outside the office.

Integrate these different time tracking apps into the Peachtree system, so all the data is in one place. HR can easily monitor hours rendered, and the accounting team can translate the hours into employees’ salaries.

  1. Peachtree Manages Individual and Team Performance 

The Peachtree software stores both company finances and workforce details. Hence, it is also reliable for seeing individual, team, and company performance. You can utilize these data:

  • Sales: This shows employee productivity.
  • Employee Tenure: The experience that can affect one’s contributions and achievements.
  • Team Managers: Leaders that affect an individual and team's performance.
  • Engagement: An individual and team’s performance can also be defined by how engaged they are in what they do.
  • Incentives and Recognitions: Recognitions and other rewards motivate employees to reach goals.
  • Turnover Rate: High turnover rates can affect workforce morale.
  • New Hires: The learning curve that new hires face regarding company processes and plans affect team production.

You can determine what motivates or demotivates workers by including these indicators that affect each other. You can address the roadblocks and continue best practices to reach company goals.

  1. Sage 50cloud Makes Recruitment Visible

Finally, the Peachtree accounting software also gives you recruitment visibility. HR's role is to check whether the applicant is a perfect fit for the qualifications set by the management team. But, HR also needs to check if the applicant can adjust or can fit the company’s culture. Studies have shown that employees who are enculturated perform better. A mix of excellent skill and adjustment to the company culture works miracles in employee productivity, motivation to reach goals, and the way they care for clients.

Final Thoughts

Peachtree is an enterprise resource planning software that has a lot to offer like advanced budgeting, billing, monitoring of financial transactions, cloud-connected features, and more! But with the six reasons mentioned above, it is clear why Peachtree Accounting is the most human-friendly software. 

So if you are asking, “How much does Peachtree accounting software cost?” and “Is it worth the investment?” Our answer is a resounding yes!If you need a team of experts to do bookkeeping and accounting for you, do not hesitate to give Unloop a call! Our bookkeeping and accounting services are just what your small business needs.

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Maintaining your company's finances is one of the hardest things about running a business. You have to keep many records in doing so, and most startup business owners only know how to keep their books clean. But is bookkeeping the same as accounting?

Here's the difference between bookkeeping and accounting, the different types of bookkeeping and accounting, and how they can help your business.

Is Bookkeeping and Accounting the Same Thing?

Since they both involve caring for a company's finances, many mistake bookkeeping and accounting to be the same. However, they are vastly different. Bookkeeping is collecting and filing a business entity's financial transactions, while accounting is evaluating financial information for that entity or organization.

While both deal with records, bookkeeping and accounting are completely different tasks. Knowing the difference between bookkeeping and accounting will allow you to properly section your business’s financial records and provide reliable references when you need to make a decision.

If you’re running a business and struggling with your own bookkeeping and accounting, then it’s probably because you’re lacking a few steps to do those tasks properly. Here are the tasks that make up bookkeeping and accounting and how doing them can benefit your business. 

Types of Accounting

Depending on your company's financial situation, you can perform accounting in two ways: cash-basis or accrual.

Cash-Basis

Cash-basis accounting is a type of accounting that bases the company's financial situation on its immediate transactions. In cash-basis accounting, you record how much money goes directly into your business and how much you spend on expenses, and figure out your net profit from there.

When accounting on a cash basis, you don't include delayed payments as part of your company's cash flow, making this method more limited than accrual accounting.

Accrual Accounting

Accrual accounting, on the other hand, is a type of accounting that accounts for all assets and liabilities of a company. In this type of accounting, sales that have not been fulfilled yet are also included in the cash flow while also keeping track of expenses that have not yet been fulfilled. 

With accrual accounting, you are given the whole picture of your company's financial situation. And with fulfilled and unfulfilled payments included in your company's financial data, you can make long-term plans for your financial transactions and better understand your company's overall financial health.

Here are a few examples of accruals.

Accrued Revenues

Accrued revenue is the money companies are expected to receive even before payment. Once revenue has been earned, a company’s accounting considers it the company’s money.

Deferred Revenues

Deferred revenue is the money a company receives for goods or services even before they have fulfilled their client’s demands. When a business makes deferred revenues, the amount is usually postponed from being included in a company’s revenue until the client’s demands have been met.

Accrued Income

Accrued income is profit earned before payment. Unlike accrued revenue, accrued income is a company’s net profit. Accounting for accrued income does not include expenses attached to the sale of the goods or services that provided the income.

Accrued Expenses

Accrued expenses, on the other hand, is the amount of money a company owes. When companies make loans or make purchases with long-term payment schedules, the company logs these expenses regardless of whether or not they fit the same accounting period.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable is the amount of money a company expects to be paid. What makes accounts receivable different from accrued income is that invoices have already been sent for the money in accounts receivable, giving the company a concrete timeframe of when they expect to get the money.

Accounts Payable

Accounts payable is the amount of money a company owes to other people or businesses when they make purchases from them (in the form of goods or services).

Accounting Tasks

Since bookkeeping and accounting are not the same, here are some tasks accountants do that are not part of a bookkeeper's day.

Financial Statements

One of an accountant's biggest responsibilities is to make financial statements. Financial statements provide the company with an overview of its finances, which help its owners to make important decisions.

Some financial statements are:

  • Income statement
  • Balance sheet
  • Statement of financial position
  • Statement of change in equity
  • Cash flow statement

Forecasting

From the financial data, accountants then make forecasts of a company's projected financial position. Financial forecasts are valuable to business owners since it gives them a bigger idea of their company's financial standing, both in the present and moving forward.

Tax Returns

It is every business owner's legal obligation to pay their taxes, but not every business owner knows the ins and outs of tax policy. For this, you need the valuable expertise of accountants.

An accountant will be in charge of your tax preparation, tax filings, and eventually, your tax returns, so you can worry less about your business's standing with the government and focus more on growing your business.

Types of Bookkeeping

Even though bookkeeping is much simpler than accounting, there are still two ways to do it: single-entry and double-entry bookkeeping.

Single-Entry Bookkeeping

In the simplest sense, bookkeeping for startups can just mean jotting down expenses and evening them out at the end of the week with your sales. This type of bookkeeping is called single-entry bookkeeping, which tracks only how much money goes in and out of your company without diving into the specifics.

While acceptable for small business owners, single-entry bookkeeping can leave much room for error, especially in financial reports. For example, since it lacks data, single-entry bookkeeping cannot produce a balance sheet. You'll also have difficulty doing your taxes since the IRS does not allow single-entry bookkeeping to be used as a record for tax returns.

Double-Entry Bookkeeping

Double-entry bookkeeping is much more complicated, but it will be able to give you much more accurate financial reports. In double-entry bookkeeping, transactions are entered twice, once each for different accounting tools: debit and credit.

For example, if you make a loan, single-entry bookkeeping will label it as income. However, the interest attached to that loan will also become an expense. On the other hand, if you enter a loan in double-entry bookkeeping, the system will label it as a debit, which is a liability more than an asset.

Double-entry bookkeeping can provide you with much more accurate financial reports and, since it logs debit and credit, can also provide your company with a balance sheet.

Bookkeeping Tasks

Bookkeeping is a daily job; you must leave no financial transactions unrecorded. Otherwise, it could damage the integrity of your company's finances. Here are some bookkeeping tasks and how often you should do them.

Weekly Bookkeeping Tasks

Record Transactions

At the end of the week, you should log your company's transactions—any sales, expenses, and invoices—so you have a steady record coming into the next week. You can do this on a journal or spreadsheet, although it would be advisable to have your records on a computer rather than exposed in a ledger.

Label Transactions

Of course, it's not enough to count the money that goes in and out of the company; you'll have to label them, too. Marking which transactions are which can add context to your financial records, making it easier to double-check your financial records in hindsight.

File and Go Digital

Once you've logged your company's financial records for the week, you should file them properly. Most companies have storage rooms just for financial records since they pile up so quickly.

You should also consider going digital with your records since physical copies are easy to tamper with and could get destroyed. Once your financial records are damaged, lots of trouble could follow. This task is easier for ecommerce companies that usually get digital receipts.

Monthly Bookkeeping Tasks

Reconcile Accounts

Reconciling accounts is one good way of maintaining your company's financial integrity. Reconciling your accounts can fish out any inconsistencies in your company's accounting, which could single out any attempts of fraud or theft within a company.

Prepare and Follow Up Invoices

Once your business expands, it's normal not to have all payments land in your account at once. Sometimes you'll have to follow up. Every month, you must review your company's receivables and prepare payment invoices according to schedule. Other times, you'll have to follow up on customers so they pay your business.

Pay Bills

Of course, no business comes without any expenses. Since most bills come monthly, you'll have to close these accounts at a monthly period as well. Settle your bills regularly, so your company doesn't fall into debt.

Evaluate Finances

Once the dust has settled, it's important you take a look at your company's financial situation to make decisions moving forward. If you had made plans beforehand, take the most recent accounting into consideration and adjust your company's goals accordingly.

Leave Financial Management to Unloop

Having a rough time accounting for your company's finances is completely understandable. After all, as a business owner, you've got so much more on your mind—like the company itself. Spending all your efforts on just one part of the business would be a waste of time.
So leave the accounting to us; we offer all types of accounting services, such as bookkeeping, accounts payable, forecasting, payroll, and tax. Book a call now, and see how Unloop can keep your business on the right track!

Accounting FAQs: Is Bookkeeping the Same As Accounting?
Watch Now

Maintaining your company's finances is one of the hardest things about running a business. You have to keep many records in doing so, and most startup business owners only know how to keep their books clean. But is bookkeeping the same as accounting?

Here's the difference between bookkeeping and accounting, the different types of bookkeeping and accounting, and how they can help your business.

Is Bookkeeping and Accounting the Same Thing?

Since they both involve caring for a company's finances, many mistake bookkeeping and accounting to be the same. However, they are vastly different. Bookkeeping is collecting and filing a business entity's financial transactions, while accounting is evaluating financial information for that entity or organization.

While both deal with records, bookkeeping and accounting are completely different tasks. Knowing the difference between bookkeeping and accounting will allow you to properly section your business’s financial records and provide reliable references when you need to make a decision.

If you’re running a business and struggling with your own bookkeeping and accounting, then it’s probably because you’re lacking a few steps to do those tasks properly. Here are the tasks that make up bookkeeping and accounting and how doing them can benefit your business. 

Types of Accounting

Depending on your company's financial situation, you can perform accounting in two ways: cash-basis or accrual.

Cash-Basis

Cash-basis accounting is a type of accounting that bases the company's financial situation on its immediate transactions. In cash-basis accounting, you record how much money goes directly into your business and how much you spend on expenses, and figure out your net profit from there.

When accounting on a cash basis, you don't include delayed payments as part of your company's cash flow, making this method more limited than accrual accounting.

Accrual Accounting

Accrual accounting, on the other hand, is a type of accounting that accounts for all assets and liabilities of a company. In this type of accounting, sales that have not been fulfilled yet are also included in the cash flow while also keeping track of expenses that have not yet been fulfilled. 

With accrual accounting, you are given the whole picture of your company's financial situation. And with fulfilled and unfulfilled payments included in your company's financial data, you can make long-term plans for your financial transactions and better understand your company's overall financial health.

Here are a few examples of accruals.

Accrued Revenues

Accrued revenue is the money companies are expected to receive even before payment. Once revenue has been earned, a company’s accounting considers it the company’s money.

Deferred Revenues

Deferred revenue is the money a company receives for goods or services even before they have fulfilled their client’s demands. When a business makes deferred revenues, the amount is usually postponed from being included in a company’s revenue until the client’s demands have been met.

Accrued Income

Accrued income is profit earned before payment. Unlike accrued revenue, accrued income is a company’s net profit. Accounting for accrued income does not include expenses attached to the sale of the goods or services that provided the income.

Accrued Expenses

Accrued expenses, on the other hand, is the amount of money a company owes. When companies make loans or make purchases with long-term payment schedules, the company logs these expenses regardless of whether or not they fit the same accounting period.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable is the amount of money a company expects to be paid. What makes accounts receivable different from accrued income is that invoices have already been sent for the money in accounts receivable, giving the company a concrete timeframe of when they expect to get the money.

Accounts Payable

Accounts payable is the amount of money a company owes to other people or businesses when they make purchases from them (in the form of goods or services).

Accounting Tasks

Since bookkeeping and accounting are not the same, here are some tasks accountants do that are not part of a bookkeeper's day.

Financial Statements

One of an accountant's biggest responsibilities is to make financial statements. Financial statements provide the company with an overview of its finances, which help its owners to make important decisions.

Some financial statements are:

  • Income statement
  • Balance sheet
  • Statement of financial position
  • Statement of change in equity
  • Cash flow statement

Forecasting

From the financial data, accountants then make forecasts of a company's projected financial position. Financial forecasts are valuable to business owners since it gives them a bigger idea of their company's financial standing, both in the present and moving forward.

Tax Returns

It is every business owner's legal obligation to pay their taxes, but not every business owner knows the ins and outs of tax policy. For this, you need the valuable expertise of accountants.

An accountant will be in charge of your tax preparation, tax filings, and eventually, your tax returns, so you can worry less about your business's standing with the government and focus more on growing your business.

Types of Bookkeeping

Even though bookkeeping is much simpler than accounting, there are still two ways to do it: single-entry and double-entry bookkeeping.

Single-Entry Bookkeeping

In the simplest sense, bookkeeping for startups can just mean jotting down expenses and evening them out at the end of the week with your sales. This type of bookkeeping is called single-entry bookkeeping, which tracks only how much money goes in and out of your company without diving into the specifics.

While acceptable for small business owners, single-entry bookkeeping can leave much room for error, especially in financial reports. For example, since it lacks data, single-entry bookkeeping cannot produce a balance sheet. You'll also have difficulty doing your taxes since the IRS does not allow single-entry bookkeeping to be used as a record for tax returns.

Double-Entry Bookkeeping

Double-entry bookkeeping is much more complicated, but it will be able to give you much more accurate financial reports. In double-entry bookkeeping, transactions are entered twice, once each for different accounting tools: debit and credit.

For example, if you make a loan, single-entry bookkeeping will label it as income. However, the interest attached to that loan will also become an expense. On the other hand, if you enter a loan in double-entry bookkeeping, the system will label it as a debit, which is a liability more than an asset.

Double-entry bookkeeping can provide you with much more accurate financial reports and, since it logs debit and credit, can also provide your company with a balance sheet.

Bookkeeping Tasks

Bookkeeping is a daily job; you must leave no financial transactions unrecorded. Otherwise, it could damage the integrity of your company's finances. Here are some bookkeeping tasks and how often you should do them.

Weekly Bookkeeping Tasks

Record Transactions

At the end of the week, you should log your company's transactions—any sales, expenses, and invoices—so you have a steady record coming into the next week. You can do this on a journal or spreadsheet, although it would be advisable to have your records on a computer rather than exposed in a ledger.

Label Transactions

Of course, it's not enough to count the money that goes in and out of the company; you'll have to label them, too. Marking which transactions are which can add context to your financial records, making it easier to double-check your financial records in hindsight.

File and Go Digital

Once you've logged your company's financial records for the week, you should file them properly. Most companies have storage rooms just for financial records since they pile up so quickly.

You should also consider going digital with your records since physical copies are easy to tamper with and could get destroyed. Once your financial records are damaged, lots of trouble could follow. This task is easier for ecommerce companies that usually get digital receipts.

Monthly Bookkeeping Tasks

Reconcile Accounts

Reconciling accounts is one good way of maintaining your company's financial integrity. Reconciling your accounts can fish out any inconsistencies in your company's accounting, which could single out any attempts of fraud or theft within a company.

Prepare and Follow Up Invoices

Once your business expands, it's normal not to have all payments land in your account at once. Sometimes you'll have to follow up. Every month, you must review your company's receivables and prepare payment invoices according to schedule. Other times, you'll have to follow up on customers so they pay your business.

Pay Bills

Of course, no business comes without any expenses. Since most bills come monthly, you'll have to close these accounts at a monthly period as well. Settle your bills regularly, so your company doesn't fall into debt.

Evaluate Finances

Once the dust has settled, it's important you take a look at your company's financial situation to make decisions moving forward. If you had made plans beforehand, take the most recent accounting into consideration and adjust your company's goals accordingly.

Leave Financial Management to Unloop

Having a rough time accounting for your company's finances is completely understandable. After all, as a business owner, you've got so much more on your mind—like the company itself. Spending all your efforts on just one part of the business would be a waste of time.
So leave the accounting to us; we offer all types of accounting services, such as bookkeeping, accounts payable, forecasting, payroll, and tax. Book a call now, and see how Unloop can keep your business on the right track!

Read more

Are you stuck in a bookkeeping pinch and don't have access to a computer or a laptop? That's a tough situation you’ve got there. As a business owner, you don't always have the luxury of sitting at your desk all day working on accounting tasks. There are other business matters to address, which may sometimes require you to be out of the office.

You can always appoint a bookkeeping and accounting team to manage financial matters. Still, staying on top of what's happening is necessary. So, is there anything you can do about it? Yes, there is! If you're using QuickBooks online, you can use the mobile app to accomplish essential bookkeeping duties.

Let us give you a quick overview of the convenience of mobile bookkeeping with QuickBooks.

Mobile Bookkeeping and Accounting Basics: 8 Convenient Features of the QuickBooks App

Mobile devices are used for almost anything nowadays. Most people bring their smartphones around with them, whether they’re for locating areas or for completing quick transactions. Conducting business on your smartphone is no exception. It's a fast and convenient way to get things done.

This is why bookkeeping mobile apps must function correctly. It can be complicated, but a smooth mobile platform makes a significant difference. Here are eight convenient features of the QuickBooks mobile app that you'll appreciate.

bookkeeping in quickbooks online - partial shot of laptop and mobile phone with quickbooks app icon on its screen

Your Business on a Page: Mobile-Friendly Surface

The dashboard, menu, and other pages of the QuickBooks Online mobile app differ from the desktop version. They are designed to fit the restricted screen space of mobile devices perfectly.

The orientation is vertical rather than landscape for quick scrolling. Text is as concise as possible to avoid clutter. The page elements are also interactive, allowing you to expand the details when necessary.

You can view a lot of vital business data at a glance. Examples are:

  • Profit summary
  • Expenses summary
  • Balance of your bank accounts
  • Balance sheets
  • Financial snapshots of invested equity, liabilities, debts, and assets
  • Monthly profit and loss

Is this your first time using the mobile app? Don't worry. It is more user-friendly than other accounting or bookkeeping software. Should you experience a learning curve, seek the help of a professional bookkeeping team.

Adding a Personal Touch: Customizable Receipts

If you're in the mood for changing how your loans, sales receipts, invoices, and estimates appear, the QuickBooks Online mobile app allows you to customize them. You may change the logo and colour of an invoice or add attachments, notes, or photos for reference. You can also make them fit your branding personality.

Connected Banking: Syncing Transactions

Know what happens with your bank accounts using the mobile syncing feature in a matter of minutes. Connect securely with your bank and use smart matching to automatically record any transactions you or your company make. You may also view profit and loss, pay bills, and categorize the details you want to see.

What if syncing is taking too long to update? In that case, consider adding your transactions manually. It will only require a couple of clicks; nothing you can't accomplish!

Quick Receipts: Seamless Snapshots

It is essential to keep and attach receipts to their corresponding bills. If you're out of the office and need to record certain expenses, simply take a quick snapshot of the receipt and upload it using the QuickBooks Online mobile app. This helps you monitor and organize your company expenses with ease.

QuickBooks Online will then upload and sync them to the main website.

Financial Data Protection: App Security Lock Options

Your financial accounting information is highly confidential. You must ensure that you're the only one with access to make changes to the app. The QuickBooks Online mobile app offers different locking methods to control user access. Choose between using a PIN, touch ID, or the fingerprint method to sign in. Enabling third-party password manager support is another option.

Invoice Chaser: Automated Invoice Reminder

Sometimes, customers forget about invoice due dates. Thus, you need to track and remind them to do so to avoid any bookkeeping or accounting issues. But how can you manage when you already have a full plate? Manually tracking and reminding them will take too much time and effort.

The QuickBooks Online mobile app has a feature called automated invoice reminders. It allows you to enable polite reminders for overdue or soon-to-be invoices. These reminders are sent a few days prior to or after their due date. You can also personalize the message to embody your branding personality.

Attachment Reader: Flexible File Support

Some mobile devices don't support specific file formats. You still have to install an app that can open them. But with mobile bookkeeping in QuickBooks, you can open various file types included in attachments. It could be a pdf, doc, or another accounting file type.

The mobile app also supports multi-currency and negative prices and rates.

Quick Banking: Easy Banking Actions

You can perform more banking actions using the QuickBooks Online mobile app. Aside from syncing, you can access bank, credit card, and transaction feeds, which you can modify and refresh on demand. If you need to work on multiple transactions simultaneously, that is also possible with the app.

Other banking actions include adding a new bank account, reconciling transactions from connected bank accounts, viewing card balances, and easy swiping to accept bank transactions.

bank accounts recording expenses - magnifying glass zooming in on quickbooks online logo on a browser

Why You Should Use QuickBooks Online for Accounting and Bookkeeping

No bookkeeping software is doing it like QuickBooks. It is often preferable compared to other bookkeeping and accounting tools. That said, it could be better and will only work for some businesses out there.

Still considering using QuickBooks Online? Here are reasons that might resonate with you.

Logically Unbreakable Security

Did you know that QuickBooks Online uses a 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer encryption? That alone is enough to demonstrate how secure their system is. It will require massive calculations and virtually thousands of years to break it! That's how secure this encryption method is.

QuickBooks also uses a cloud-based accounting system. Your data is stored in the cloud, enabling access anytime and anywhere on the Internet. It's easy to control who can view and modify confidential financial data about your business. Your data is also updated in real time and comes with a backup.

Flexible Pricing

QuickBooks has something to offer for businesses with tight budgets. They have flexible pricing plans, a reason they're popular among small companies. The prices range from $7.50 per month to $90 per month, depending on your chosen plan. Each plan also offers a free setup, so you can start connecting bank accounts and cards.

Seamless Integration

QuickBooks is just one of many tools you can use for bookkeeping and accounting tasks. Juggling them can be confusing and overwhelming, so why not manage them all in one place? That's where QuickBooks's integration feature comes in. Connect your Amazon, Shopify, or other ecommerce platforms to it for easy transactions and inventory management.

Customized Files

While QuickBooks offers ready-to-use templates for generating invoices, business plans, stats, and spreadsheets, it also makes room for customization. Feel free to change the look and feel of your documents to make them stand out even more or match your branding.

Take Your Business With You

Keeping up with bookkeeping and accounting while you're out and about for other business matters may seem like a pipe dream. But QuickBooks brings this dream to a reality with their mobile app. You can now pay bills, record expenses, ask for invoices, view transactions and activity, generate reports, and secure your financial data anytime and anywhere.

Sit back and relax, knowing your business finances are in good shape and that you can always fix them without a computer or laptop.

Need a Helping Hand to Navigate QuickBooks? Try Unloop's Bookkeeping Business Services

The more your business grows, the harder it is to handle bookkeeping. This is especially true for small companies with little to zero experience in professional bookkeeping with QuickBooks. In that case, why not consider working with Unloop?


Our bookkeeping services specialize in ecommerce and inventory businesses. We’ll set up your stack, which includes QuickBooks for bookkeeping. We’ll also prepare your financial statements and work with your CPA or other CPA firms to help keep your taxes in check. Book a discovery call with us and talk to an expert for free!

8 Convenient Features of Mobile Bookkeeping With QuickBooks
Watch Now

Are you stuck in a bookkeeping pinch and don't have access to a computer or a laptop? That's a tough situation you’ve got there. As a business owner, you don't always have the luxury of sitting at your desk all day working on accounting tasks. There are other business matters to address, which may sometimes require you to be out of the office.

You can always appoint a bookkeeping and accounting team to manage financial matters. Still, staying on top of what's happening is necessary. So, is there anything you can do about it? Yes, there is! If you're using QuickBooks online, you can use the mobile app to accomplish essential bookkeeping duties.

Let us give you a quick overview of the convenience of mobile bookkeeping with QuickBooks.

Mobile Bookkeeping and Accounting Basics: 8 Convenient Features of the QuickBooks App

Mobile devices are used for almost anything nowadays. Most people bring their smartphones around with them, whether they’re for locating areas or for completing quick transactions. Conducting business on your smartphone is no exception. It's a fast and convenient way to get things done.

This is why bookkeeping mobile apps must function correctly. It can be complicated, but a smooth mobile platform makes a significant difference. Here are eight convenient features of the QuickBooks mobile app that you'll appreciate.

bookkeeping in quickbooks online - partial shot of laptop and mobile phone with quickbooks app icon on its screen

Your Business on a Page: Mobile-Friendly Surface

The dashboard, menu, and other pages of the QuickBooks Online mobile app differ from the desktop version. They are designed to fit the restricted screen space of mobile devices perfectly.

The orientation is vertical rather than landscape for quick scrolling. Text is as concise as possible to avoid clutter. The page elements are also interactive, allowing you to expand the details when necessary.

You can view a lot of vital business data at a glance. Examples are:

  • Profit summary
  • Expenses summary
  • Balance of your bank accounts
  • Balance sheets
  • Financial snapshots of invested equity, liabilities, debts, and assets
  • Monthly profit and loss

Is this your first time using the mobile app? Don't worry. It is more user-friendly than other accounting or bookkeeping software. Should you experience a learning curve, seek the help of a professional bookkeeping team.

Adding a Personal Touch: Customizable Receipts

If you're in the mood for changing how your loans, sales receipts, invoices, and estimates appear, the QuickBooks Online mobile app allows you to customize them. You may change the logo and colour of an invoice or add attachments, notes, or photos for reference. You can also make them fit your branding personality.

Connected Banking: Syncing Transactions

Know what happens with your bank accounts using the mobile syncing feature in a matter of minutes. Connect securely with your bank and use smart matching to automatically record any transactions you or your company make. You may also view profit and loss, pay bills, and categorize the details you want to see.

What if syncing is taking too long to update? In that case, consider adding your transactions manually. It will only require a couple of clicks; nothing you can't accomplish!

Quick Receipts: Seamless Snapshots

It is essential to keep and attach receipts to their corresponding bills. If you're out of the office and need to record certain expenses, simply take a quick snapshot of the receipt and upload it using the QuickBooks Online mobile app. This helps you monitor and organize your company expenses with ease.

QuickBooks Online will then upload and sync them to the main website.

Financial Data Protection: App Security Lock Options

Your financial accounting information is highly confidential. You must ensure that you're the only one with access to make changes to the app. The QuickBooks Online mobile app offers different locking methods to control user access. Choose between using a PIN, touch ID, or the fingerprint method to sign in. Enabling third-party password manager support is another option.

Invoice Chaser: Automated Invoice Reminder

Sometimes, customers forget about invoice due dates. Thus, you need to track and remind them to do so to avoid any bookkeeping or accounting issues. But how can you manage when you already have a full plate? Manually tracking and reminding them will take too much time and effort.

The QuickBooks Online mobile app has a feature called automated invoice reminders. It allows you to enable polite reminders for overdue or soon-to-be invoices. These reminders are sent a few days prior to or after their due date. You can also personalize the message to embody your branding personality.

Attachment Reader: Flexible File Support

Some mobile devices don't support specific file formats. You still have to install an app that can open them. But with mobile bookkeeping in QuickBooks, you can open various file types included in attachments. It could be a pdf, doc, or another accounting file type.

The mobile app also supports multi-currency and negative prices and rates.

Quick Banking: Easy Banking Actions

You can perform more banking actions using the QuickBooks Online mobile app. Aside from syncing, you can access bank, credit card, and transaction feeds, which you can modify and refresh on demand. If you need to work on multiple transactions simultaneously, that is also possible with the app.

Other banking actions include adding a new bank account, reconciling transactions from connected bank accounts, viewing card balances, and easy swiping to accept bank transactions.

bank accounts recording expenses - magnifying glass zooming in on quickbooks online logo on a browser

Why You Should Use QuickBooks Online for Accounting and Bookkeeping

No bookkeeping software is doing it like QuickBooks. It is often preferable compared to other bookkeeping and accounting tools. That said, it could be better and will only work for some businesses out there.

Still considering using QuickBooks Online? Here are reasons that might resonate with you.

Logically Unbreakable Security

Did you know that QuickBooks Online uses a 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer encryption? That alone is enough to demonstrate how secure their system is. It will require massive calculations and virtually thousands of years to break it! That's how secure this encryption method is.

QuickBooks also uses a cloud-based accounting system. Your data is stored in the cloud, enabling access anytime and anywhere on the Internet. It's easy to control who can view and modify confidential financial data about your business. Your data is also updated in real time and comes with a backup.

Flexible Pricing

QuickBooks has something to offer for businesses with tight budgets. They have flexible pricing plans, a reason they're popular among small companies. The prices range from $7.50 per month to $90 per month, depending on your chosen plan. Each plan also offers a free setup, so you can start connecting bank accounts and cards.

Seamless Integration

QuickBooks is just one of many tools you can use for bookkeeping and accounting tasks. Juggling them can be confusing and overwhelming, so why not manage them all in one place? That's where QuickBooks's integration feature comes in. Connect your Amazon, Shopify, or other ecommerce platforms to it for easy transactions and inventory management.

Customized Files

While QuickBooks offers ready-to-use templates for generating invoices, business plans, stats, and spreadsheets, it also makes room for customization. Feel free to change the look and feel of your documents to make them stand out even more or match your branding.

Take Your Business With You

Keeping up with bookkeeping and accounting while you're out and about for other business matters may seem like a pipe dream. But QuickBooks brings this dream to a reality with their mobile app. You can now pay bills, record expenses, ask for invoices, view transactions and activity, generate reports, and secure your financial data anytime and anywhere.

Sit back and relax, knowing your business finances are in good shape and that you can always fix them without a computer or laptop.

Need a Helping Hand to Navigate QuickBooks? Try Unloop's Bookkeeping Business Services

The more your business grows, the harder it is to handle bookkeeping. This is especially true for small companies with little to zero experience in professional bookkeeping with QuickBooks. In that case, why not consider working with Unloop?


Our bookkeeping services specialize in ecommerce and inventory businesses. We’ll set up your stack, which includes QuickBooks for bookkeeping. We’ll also prepare your financial statements and work with your CPA or other CPA firms to help keep your taxes in check. Book a discovery call with us and talk to an expert for free!

Read more

Accounts payable is a powerful leverage. It helps businesses purchase goods and sell them for profit without upfront cash outlay.

Using accounts payable helps small businesses grow fast. It allows companies to cover demand surges and boost production using suppliers' resources. These credit purchases free up liquid assets, enabling firms to allocate more to other business activities such as investing or financing. 

But purchasing on credit challenges your money management skills. With every accounts payable transaction comes a promise to pay within a short timeframe. So to maintain goodwill and grow your business, you must know the challenges that come with it. 

Unloop knows those challenges. Let us break it down and give you tips on how to set up an efficient accounts payable system that can run on autopilot.

Common Credit Challenges Small Businesses Face

Managing accounts payable is one of the pain points of businesses. Whatever industry you're in, and no matter what size, as long as you purchase raw materials or merchandise on credit, you'll face these issues.

Invoicing Challenges

Whenever businesses send bills using the paper method, they face different challenges. Invoices can stack up on the file cabinets and get lost in the mix. Your staff will need to request another one from the supplier, which may result in duplicates that lead to issues in the accounts payable process down the road.

One solution to invoice challenges is having a good accounts payable software with an excellent invoice filing system. It will make invoice tracking easier.

Payment Discrepancies

A direct result of duplicate invoices is duplicate payments. If several people manage accounts payable bills, tracking payments becomes a challenge, leading to unnecessary cash outlay.

Aside from duplicate payments, incorrect and missing payments also happen. These payment discrepancies may seem insignificant in small doses, but they pile up over time and cause huge losses.

Improved accounts payable processes help reduce these payment issues. A system that you or an appointed staff manages makes accurate payments a norm in the business.

Unapproved Vendor Payments

In some cases, your staff have to pay impromptu bills. So they skip a few steps in the process, especially if it's time-sensitive. This action can fly under the radar and cause issues in the accounting and finance departments.

Unapproved payments can extend beyond vendors. If left unchecked, it can lead to other unauthorized expenses that can cost the business significantly in the long run.

You or your management staff can curb this from happening if you automate accounts payable and set up a centralized approval system.

Slow Processing Bills

Both traditional and ecommerce businesses need to be efficient. So in managing accounts payable, fast processing is vital for more timely supplier payments.

A slow accounts payable process results in a cash flow bottleneck. Your suppliers may postpone important transactions because of delays in expected cash inflow. This hold-up is detrimental to your supplier's business and to yours. They can impose a penalty when you're overdue, or you can lose your supplier completely.

Getting accounts payable automation software brings efficiency to the processing of your bill. It removes the manual paperwork process and connects accounts in a single place, allowing instant cash transfers.

accounting software for accounts payable - Invoices mailed using a smartphone

Factors To Look For When Choosing an Accounts Payable Software

You need software to address the common accounts payable challenges. But software must serve your needs, such as convenience and security. So when you're shopping for AP software, consider the following features.

Bulk Approval

The best accounts payable software lets you approve multiple bill payments at once. With bulk payment approvals, you or your manager can pay all selected invoices with a click of a button. This feature saves time, especially when your business operates with many credit purchases and pays many suppliers.

Wide Range of Payment Methods

For quick and timely payments, accounts payable software must be flexible. It has to accept a wide range of payment methods. This gives you more options to pay in case one isn't working out. You meet deadlines, and you maintain credibility.

Having a wide range of payment methods is helpful for international payments. It's perfect if you source suppliers outside the country. Plus, if the software can accommodate a range of payment methods, it may also receive the same from your buyers.

User-Friendly Interface

Part of what makes good AP software is having an easy-to-use interface. One way to tell is by exploring the software's dashboard—it must look simple and clean, with the essential details readily available.

Accessibility

Your AP automation software should be cloud-based. This feature makes it available to any laptop or desktop device worldwide. As long as you have an internet connection, you and your staff can manage your accounts payable instantly.

Accessibility also means being mobile-friendly. So choose an AP software that has a responsive interface. That way, you can have an equivalent mobile application as user-friendly as the one on desktop devices.

Integration-Ready

Accounts payable software must integrate into various application programming interfaces (API). You must be able to buff up your AP software by adding nifty features that make AP management easier.

Another excellent integration feature is if your accounts payable automation software can integrate into QuickBooks Online (QBO). If your accounts payable automatically sync to your accounting software's journals, that will carry significant weight off your workload.

Recommended Accounts Payable Software: Bill

Bill is our recommended software for ecommerce business owners selling in online marketplaces. We love it for the following reasons.

Ease of Documentation

Filing and documenting invoices is easier with Bill. You can make invoice exchanges by sending emails to your colleagues and suppliers. You can also store invoices in the software using your email.

Whether you have a physical or an electronic invoice, Bill makes it easy. You can use your smartphone to take a picture of a physical document. If you have an electronic one, you can upload it online.

What's excellent about Bill is the invoice automation feature. It uses AI assist that scans your document and inputs all the comprehensible details of your invoice.

Secure Collaborations

Bill allows multiple users to access the account. The software can handle various collaborations between owners, bookkeepers, and business staff. This makes it convenient for everyone to work on accounts payable discrepancies and payments.

To avoid unauthorized payments, approved administrators can choose the access level of Bill account users. You and your managers can restrict or allow certain functions, thereby preventing fraud or mismanagement.

Bank and Payment Reconciliations

Upon setting up your bank account, Bill uses ACH payment methods for faster transactions. Whenever there is debit and credit, the software syncs to your bank and updates the balance.

The software lets your vendors sync their bank accounts to Bill. This helps make more efficient payment processing because both the business and your vendor's bank account are connected to a platform.

Payment Tracking

The accounts payable software allows you to track payments in real time. You'll know the payment status and whether it's delayed, received, or cashed.

This feature is handy if you're used to using ACH or electronic fund transfers as modes of payment. You can estimate when the payment will clear and credit your supplier's bank account, letting you pay on time.

accounts payable software for small business - A businessperson look at an an invoice from a laptop screen

Recommended Accounting Software: QuickBooks Online

If you're using Bill as your AP automation software, we recommend combining it with QBO. It's an excellent accounting software for accounts payable. The two make a powerful combination that makes a robust accounts payable and accounting system. The data entry of complex AP transactions sync to your accounting books as it should, which makes for accurate financial reporting.

Fully Automate Your Accounts Payable

Having Bill and QBO for your business is having the right tools for an excellent accounts payable process. They both have features that partially automate processes such as invoice info entry and transaction sync. But this will take effort to run.

Why not fully automate your accounts payable (and accounting) process with the help of experts? They can do most of the work to give you the following benefits.

Timely Payments: Bookkeepers will determine how much you owe and when it is due so they can set it up for you.

One-Click Approval: Every due payment will be shown to you or your manager, ready for approval. Once approved, they start the payment process.

Best Exchange Rates: When making overseas payments, professionals can use the most cost-efficient forex rates to your business's advantage.

Maximize Your Accounts Payable Software for Small Businesses With Unloop

When it comes to accounts payable software, small businesses will benefit from Unloop. We are a team of bookkeepers and accountants with skills and experience in accounts payable management. We specialize in ecommerce businesses and have been using Bill and QBO to run ecommerce accounting systems efficiently.If you decide to get Bill and QBO, or if you already have a specific software in mind, you can trust that we'll maximize these tools to your business’s advantage. Book a call with us or check out our accounts payable services now.

Accounts Payable Software: Small Business Credit Challenges and the Tool That Fixes Them
Watch Now

Accounts payable is a powerful leverage. It helps businesses purchase goods and sell them for profit without upfront cash outlay.

Using accounts payable helps small businesses grow fast. It allows companies to cover demand surges and boost production using suppliers' resources. These credit purchases free up liquid assets, enabling firms to allocate more to other business activities such as investing or financing. 

But purchasing on credit challenges your money management skills. With every accounts payable transaction comes a promise to pay within a short timeframe. So to maintain goodwill and grow your business, you must know the challenges that come with it. 

Unloop knows those challenges. Let us break it down and give you tips on how to set up an efficient accounts payable system that can run on autopilot.

Common Credit Challenges Small Businesses Face

Managing accounts payable is one of the pain points of businesses. Whatever industry you're in, and no matter what size, as long as you purchase raw materials or merchandise on credit, you'll face these issues.

Invoicing Challenges

Whenever businesses send bills using the paper method, they face different challenges. Invoices can stack up on the file cabinets and get lost in the mix. Your staff will need to request another one from the supplier, which may result in duplicates that lead to issues in the accounts payable process down the road.

One solution to invoice challenges is having a good accounts payable software with an excellent invoice filing system. It will make invoice tracking easier.

Payment Discrepancies

A direct result of duplicate invoices is duplicate payments. If several people manage accounts payable bills, tracking payments becomes a challenge, leading to unnecessary cash outlay.

Aside from duplicate payments, incorrect and missing payments also happen. These payment discrepancies may seem insignificant in small doses, but they pile up over time and cause huge losses.

Improved accounts payable processes help reduce these payment issues. A system that you or an appointed staff manages makes accurate payments a norm in the business.

Unapproved Vendor Payments

In some cases, your staff have to pay impromptu bills. So they skip a few steps in the process, especially if it's time-sensitive. This action can fly under the radar and cause issues in the accounting and finance departments.

Unapproved payments can extend beyond vendors. If left unchecked, it can lead to other unauthorized expenses that can cost the business significantly in the long run.

You or your management staff can curb this from happening if you automate accounts payable and set up a centralized approval system.

Slow Processing Bills

Both traditional and ecommerce businesses need to be efficient. So in managing accounts payable, fast processing is vital for more timely supplier payments.

A slow accounts payable process results in a cash flow bottleneck. Your suppliers may postpone important transactions because of delays in expected cash inflow. This hold-up is detrimental to your supplier's business and to yours. They can impose a penalty when you're overdue, or you can lose your supplier completely.

Getting accounts payable automation software brings efficiency to the processing of your bill. It removes the manual paperwork process and connects accounts in a single place, allowing instant cash transfers.

accounting software for accounts payable - Invoices mailed using a smartphone

Factors To Look For When Choosing an Accounts Payable Software

You need software to address the common accounts payable challenges. But software must serve your needs, such as convenience and security. So when you're shopping for AP software, consider the following features.

Bulk Approval

The best accounts payable software lets you approve multiple bill payments at once. With bulk payment approvals, you or your manager can pay all selected invoices with a click of a button. This feature saves time, especially when your business operates with many credit purchases and pays many suppliers.

Wide Range of Payment Methods

For quick and timely payments, accounts payable software must be flexible. It has to accept a wide range of payment methods. This gives you more options to pay in case one isn't working out. You meet deadlines, and you maintain credibility.

Having a wide range of payment methods is helpful for international payments. It's perfect if you source suppliers outside the country. Plus, if the software can accommodate a range of payment methods, it may also receive the same from your buyers.

User-Friendly Interface

Part of what makes good AP software is having an easy-to-use interface. One way to tell is by exploring the software's dashboard—it must look simple and clean, with the essential details readily available.

Accessibility

Your AP automation software should be cloud-based. This feature makes it available to any laptop or desktop device worldwide. As long as you have an internet connection, you and your staff can manage your accounts payable instantly.

Accessibility also means being mobile-friendly. So choose an AP software that has a responsive interface. That way, you can have an equivalent mobile application as user-friendly as the one on desktop devices.

Integration-Ready

Accounts payable software must integrate into various application programming interfaces (API). You must be able to buff up your AP software by adding nifty features that make AP management easier.

Another excellent integration feature is if your accounts payable automation software can integrate into QuickBooks Online (QBO). If your accounts payable automatically sync to your accounting software's journals, that will carry significant weight off your workload.

Recommended Accounts Payable Software: Bill

Bill is our recommended software for ecommerce business owners selling in online marketplaces. We love it for the following reasons.

Ease of Documentation

Filing and documenting invoices is easier with Bill. You can make invoice exchanges by sending emails to your colleagues and suppliers. You can also store invoices in the software using your email.

Whether you have a physical or an electronic invoice, Bill makes it easy. You can use your smartphone to take a picture of a physical document. If you have an electronic one, you can upload it online.

What's excellent about Bill is the invoice automation feature. It uses AI assist that scans your document and inputs all the comprehensible details of your invoice.

Secure Collaborations

Bill allows multiple users to access the account. The software can handle various collaborations between owners, bookkeepers, and business staff. This makes it convenient for everyone to work on accounts payable discrepancies and payments.

To avoid unauthorized payments, approved administrators can choose the access level of Bill account users. You and your managers can restrict or allow certain functions, thereby preventing fraud or mismanagement.

Bank and Payment Reconciliations

Upon setting up your bank account, Bill uses ACH payment methods for faster transactions. Whenever there is debit and credit, the software syncs to your bank and updates the balance.

The software lets your vendors sync their bank accounts to Bill. This helps make more efficient payment processing because both the business and your vendor's bank account are connected to a platform.

Payment Tracking

The accounts payable software allows you to track payments in real time. You'll know the payment status and whether it's delayed, received, or cashed.

This feature is handy if you're used to using ACH or electronic fund transfers as modes of payment. You can estimate when the payment will clear and credit your supplier's bank account, letting you pay on time.

accounts payable software for small business - A businessperson look at an an invoice from a laptop screen

Recommended Accounting Software: QuickBooks Online

If you're using Bill as your AP automation software, we recommend combining it with QBO. It's an excellent accounting software for accounts payable. The two make a powerful combination that makes a robust accounts payable and accounting system. The data entry of complex AP transactions sync to your accounting books as it should, which makes for accurate financial reporting.

Fully Automate Your Accounts Payable

Having Bill and QBO for your business is having the right tools for an excellent accounts payable process. They both have features that partially automate processes such as invoice info entry and transaction sync. But this will take effort to run.

Why not fully automate your accounts payable (and accounting) process with the help of experts? They can do most of the work to give you the following benefits.

Timely Payments: Bookkeepers will determine how much you owe and when it is due so they can set it up for you.

One-Click Approval: Every due payment will be shown to you or your manager, ready for approval. Once approved, they start the payment process.

Best Exchange Rates: When making overseas payments, professionals can use the most cost-efficient forex rates to your business's advantage.

Maximize Your Accounts Payable Software for Small Businesses With Unloop

When it comes to accounts payable software, small businesses will benefit from Unloop. We are a team of bookkeepers and accountants with skills and experience in accounts payable management. We specialize in ecommerce businesses and have been using Bill and QBO to run ecommerce accounting systems efficiently.If you decide to get Bill and QBO, or if you already have a specific software in mind, you can trust that we'll maximize these tools to your business’s advantage. Book a call with us or check out our accounts payable services now.

Read more

Disclaimer: Please note this article is not financial advice. The purpose of our blog is purely educational, so please consult a professional accountant or financial advisor before making any financial decision.

The entire global community has just started to recover from the COVID pandemic. Good thing that companies like Amazon open their doors to more career opportunities for accountants and finance professionals. 

Accounting and finance is not easy work, but it is lucratively rewarding. If you have an accounting background and experience, this article is for you. 

Why is Amazon Accounting Important? 

Accounting is the backbone of Amazon businesses—of any business, as a matter of fact. Having to track and monitor your numbers keeps your online store afloat. 

This is why business with Amazon is so much harder without any solid foundation of accounting in place. You would feel like a lab rat going through a very boring maze. Many times you would just be crashing into a lot of walls. 

Fortunately, Amazon and FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) Sellers diversified accountancy to more job-specific careers to optimize the features Amazon has to offer and increase productivity by 50%.

Take a look below to help you get started with your accounting career: 

A woman working on her charts and graphs on her computer
  • Application Analyst 

A Corporate Report Systems Analyst, loosely termed an Application Analyst, takes an analytical role in designing and implementing technological solutions for Amazon’s global team, Enterprise Reporting Platform. You will be giving effective support for the following systems: 

  1. Blackline 
  2. Essbase 
  3. Oracle Financials General Ledger 
  4. Hyperion Financial and  Account Reconciliation Management
  5. Smart View 
  6. Hyperion

In addition, it is your responsibility to ensure the quality of application controls and meet Amazon’s financial goals. It sounds entirely techy because it has some IT-related work as well. 

For this job, you need to have a degree in Economics, Finance, Business Administration, IT, or any related field. You also need to have excellent communication, technical and problem-solving skills, and prior experience in Account Reconciliation systems and Task Management. 

Amazon Business prefers a hybrid of IT and accounting. So if you are a tech-savvy accounting graduate, give this job a try. 

  • International Tax Analyst 

If you have seen the movie Meet Joe Black, you’ve probably heard the line, “Death and taxes, what an odd pairing.” If you love math (death) and taxes, you’ll also love this job.

Anything to do with international income tax reporting, including improving the tax processes, is your main job responsibility. For this, you need to have up-to-date knowledge of tax regulations and international laws. 

Here is a more comprehensive description of your responsibilities:

  1. Gathering data for various US international, US federal income tax reporting disclosures 
  2. Preparing and reviewing international aspects of Amazon’s worldwide provisions relating to transactions 
  3. Managing junior tax professionals and outside service providers 
  4. Facilitating streamlining and automation of recurring calculations with Amazon’s tax technology

Amazon has job openings for a Senior International Tax Analyst as well. However, the qualifications are quite steep. Aside from having a degree in Finance, Accounting, or Tax Law, you need to pass the CPA or any related licensure examination. 

But if you do have these requirements, you’ll be receiving a hefty payment of $71,550 yearly. Better get started on those international law and taxation books.

  • Accounting Manager in Healthcare

Accounting is not just related to eCommerce or anything to do with numbers. Accounting can also be integrated with healthcare. If you would like to dedicate your skills to facilitating Amazon employees with health and instance, then this is the one for you. 

As long as you have knowledge about local healthcare and solutions for Electronics Healthcare Records, Telemedicine, and other solutions, this would be a big advantage for your application. 

Here are the basic qualifications for an accounting professional in healthcare: 

  1. Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Business Administration, Accounting, Economics or any other related field 
  2. 10 years of technology-related business development and sales experience
  3. Has experience presenting to CxO and senior management customers 
  4. Excellent written and verbal communications skills 

Amazon is currently seeking candidates from South Africa who can work in South Africa. So if you’ve been dying to tick off South Africa from your bucket list as well, now is the time to hit two birds with one stone. 

  • Accounts Payable Analyst 

Handling AP payments does work up a sweat. It’s a good thing to have amazing accounting software to help manage invoices, payments, and bank info. But the work of an AP analyst doesn’t stop there. 

You should have a working knowledge of Amazon’s invoice entry and transaction policies and procedures. Moreover, you must identify and accurately correct payment failures, delays, or variances. 

The basic qualifications of an AP analyst are: 

  1. A Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or any related field 
  2. 2 years of experience in AP, AR, Payments, Treasury, and/or Invoice Entry 
  3. Top-notch excel skills 

Amazon prefers advanced proficiency not only in English but also in Spanish or Portuguese.

  • Financial Analyst

If you’re an accountant from the UK, you might want to apply as Financial Analyst for Amazon’s London offices. For this, you need to have CIMA, ACCA, ACA, or similar credentials and some accounting experience. 

Your sole responsibility is to gather data, analyze financial results, make projections or forecasts, and develop recommendations to enhance daily operations in accounting for Amazon business.

Moreover, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is looking for a Financial Analyst II to make internal and external audits, preferably someone with SQL experience and effective interpersonal skills. Here are the basic requirements for an Amazon Financial Analyst II: 

  1. Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or any other relevant field 
  2. 3 years experience in accounting 

Along with those qualifications, it doesn’t hurt to start perfecting your PPT presentations when you make internal reports or even KPIs. 

  • Accounting Finance Manager 

Amazon business could never get enough of recruiting finance managers that specialize in US GAAP, IAS, and IFRS reporting. Those with CPA, ACCA, ACA, CIMA, or other relevant credentials are welcome to apply.

Your job supports Amazon customer retail accounting and operations worldwide, so you should be able to effectively talk about financial terms to other Amazon departments. You would also most likely lead an accounting team. 

If you want more detailed descriptions of the role of Accounting Finance Manager, go check their site. Meanwhile, here are their preferred qualifications: 

  1. Work experience from the ‘Big 4’ accounting firm: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, and Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler
  2. Work experience from large US or international companies 
  3. Knowledge of Oracle 
  • Accounting Data Governance Manager 

This job mainly involves designing and implementing SOPs for role delegations, rules, and processes of Amazon. You should have a deep understanding and experience handling financial IT systems, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) requirements, SEC/PCAOB regulations, and control frameworks. 

Here are some of their basic and preferred requirements: 

  1. Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, IT, or other related fields 
  2. Seven or more years of internal control experience 
  3. Extensive knowledge of COSO and CoBIT 
  4. Extensive knowledge of SOX methods and standards 

If you have held similar positions in large organizations before, then Amazon has a place for you. 

  • Amazon FBA Specialist 

Many newbie sellers on Amazon aren’t familiar with Amazon FBA, which is perfectly fine 

because Accounting Amazon FBA experts exist. You don’t even have to get a license or a finance-related degree to apply for this job. If you’re intimately familiar with the policies and processes of FBA, Amazon sellers would be happy to have you. 

Amazon FBA sellers still have preferences so check these out to see if you are fit for the role: 

  1. A Bachelor’s degree in any field 
  2. Prior experience in customer service, virtual assistance, and/or Amazon Seller Central FBA experience 

Having an accounting background is a plus factor in getting this job since you’d be helping with inventory management, purchase orders, and logistics. 

  • Accounting Amazon Seller 

If you have the fundamentals and experience of bookkeeping and accounting as well as a passion for business, open up a business on Amazon! What’s great about this is that you don’t need to be any graduate of accounting or any degree for that matter. Plus, it might be your door to financial independence. 

When you are willing to learn everything about Amazon’s policies, basic accounting, and business management, you can be successful as any other businessman or woman out there. Professional or not, as long as you have the necessary skills in tech and finance, the sky's the limit for you. 

A mobile phone, showing Amazon FBA, on top of an Amazon prime package

Stay in The Loop 

Unemployment rates have skyrocketed over the last two years. It is a good thing that a lot of big companies like Amazon are starting to get back on track and that economies are now starting to recover as well.

Perhaps you’re looking to further your career, or you just need financial and accounting services for your business. If so, Unloop is here to hook you up with the best financial assistance and advice for your Amazon business. 
Learn more about our accounting Amazon and other services at Unloop today!

Top 9 Accounting Amazon Jobs to Look Out for This 2023
Watch Now

Disclaimer: Please note this article is not financial advice. The purpose of our blog is purely educational, so please consult a professional accountant or financial advisor before making any financial decision.

The entire global community has just started to recover from the COVID pandemic. Good thing that companies like Amazon open their doors to more career opportunities for accountants and finance professionals. 

Accounting and finance is not easy work, but it is lucratively rewarding. If you have an accounting background and experience, this article is for you. 

Why is Amazon Accounting Important? 

Accounting is the backbone of Amazon businesses—of any business, as a matter of fact. Having to track and monitor your numbers keeps your online store afloat. 

This is why business with Amazon is so much harder without any solid foundation of accounting in place. You would feel like a lab rat going through a very boring maze. Many times you would just be crashing into a lot of walls. 

Fortunately, Amazon and FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) Sellers diversified accountancy to more job-specific careers to optimize the features Amazon has to offer and increase productivity by 50%.

Take a look below to help you get started with your accounting career: 

A woman working on her charts and graphs on her computer
  • Application Analyst 

A Corporate Report Systems Analyst, loosely termed an Application Analyst, takes an analytical role in designing and implementing technological solutions for Amazon’s global team, Enterprise Reporting Platform. You will be giving effective support for the following systems: 

  1. Blackline 
  2. Essbase 
  3. Oracle Financials General Ledger 
  4. Hyperion Financial and  Account Reconciliation Management
  5. Smart View 
  6. Hyperion

In addition, it is your responsibility to ensure the quality of application controls and meet Amazon’s financial goals. It sounds entirely techy because it has some IT-related work as well. 

For this job, you need to have a degree in Economics, Finance, Business Administration, IT, or any related field. You also need to have excellent communication, technical and problem-solving skills, and prior experience in Account Reconciliation systems and Task Management. 

Amazon Business prefers a hybrid of IT and accounting. So if you are a tech-savvy accounting graduate, give this job a try. 

  • International Tax Analyst 

If you have seen the movie Meet Joe Black, you’ve probably heard the line, “Death and taxes, what an odd pairing.” If you love math (death) and taxes, you’ll also love this job.

Anything to do with international income tax reporting, including improving the tax processes, is your main job responsibility. For this, you need to have up-to-date knowledge of tax regulations and international laws. 

Here is a more comprehensive description of your responsibilities:

  1. Gathering data for various US international, US federal income tax reporting disclosures 
  2. Preparing and reviewing international aspects of Amazon’s worldwide provisions relating to transactions 
  3. Managing junior tax professionals and outside service providers 
  4. Facilitating streamlining and automation of recurring calculations with Amazon’s tax technology

Amazon has job openings for a Senior International Tax Analyst as well. However, the qualifications are quite steep. Aside from having a degree in Finance, Accounting, or Tax Law, you need to pass the CPA or any related licensure examination. 

But if you do have these requirements, you’ll be receiving a hefty payment of $71,550 yearly. Better get started on those international law and taxation books.

  • Accounting Manager in Healthcare

Accounting is not just related to eCommerce or anything to do with numbers. Accounting can also be integrated with healthcare. If you would like to dedicate your skills to facilitating Amazon employees with health and instance, then this is the one for you. 

As long as you have knowledge about local healthcare and solutions for Electronics Healthcare Records, Telemedicine, and other solutions, this would be a big advantage for your application. 

Here are the basic qualifications for an accounting professional in healthcare: 

  1. Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Business Administration, Accounting, Economics or any other related field 
  2. 10 years of technology-related business development and sales experience
  3. Has experience presenting to CxO and senior management customers 
  4. Excellent written and verbal communications skills 

Amazon is currently seeking candidates from South Africa who can work in South Africa. So if you’ve been dying to tick off South Africa from your bucket list as well, now is the time to hit two birds with one stone. 

  • Accounts Payable Analyst 

Handling AP payments does work up a sweat. It’s a good thing to have amazing accounting software to help manage invoices, payments, and bank info. But the work of an AP analyst doesn’t stop there. 

You should have a working knowledge of Amazon’s invoice entry and transaction policies and procedures. Moreover, you must identify and accurately correct payment failures, delays, or variances. 

The basic qualifications of an AP analyst are: 

  1. A Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or any related field 
  2. 2 years of experience in AP, AR, Payments, Treasury, and/or Invoice Entry 
  3. Top-notch excel skills 

Amazon prefers advanced proficiency not only in English but also in Spanish or Portuguese.

  • Financial Analyst

If you’re an accountant from the UK, you might want to apply as Financial Analyst for Amazon’s London offices. For this, you need to have CIMA, ACCA, ACA, or similar credentials and some accounting experience. 

Your sole responsibility is to gather data, analyze financial results, make projections or forecasts, and develop recommendations to enhance daily operations in accounting for Amazon business.

Moreover, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is looking for a Financial Analyst II to make internal and external audits, preferably someone with SQL experience and effective interpersonal skills. Here are the basic requirements for an Amazon Financial Analyst II: 

  1. Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or any other relevant field 
  2. 3 years experience in accounting 

Along with those qualifications, it doesn’t hurt to start perfecting your PPT presentations when you make internal reports or even KPIs. 

  • Accounting Finance Manager 

Amazon business could never get enough of recruiting finance managers that specialize in US GAAP, IAS, and IFRS reporting. Those with CPA, ACCA, ACA, CIMA, or other relevant credentials are welcome to apply.

Your job supports Amazon customer retail accounting and operations worldwide, so you should be able to effectively talk about financial terms to other Amazon departments. You would also most likely lead an accounting team. 

If you want more detailed descriptions of the role of Accounting Finance Manager, go check their site. Meanwhile, here are their preferred qualifications: 

  1. Work experience from the ‘Big 4’ accounting firm: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, and Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler
  2. Work experience from large US or international companies 
  3. Knowledge of Oracle 
  • Accounting Data Governance Manager 

This job mainly involves designing and implementing SOPs for role delegations, rules, and processes of Amazon. You should have a deep understanding and experience handling financial IT systems, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) requirements, SEC/PCAOB regulations, and control frameworks. 

Here are some of their basic and preferred requirements: 

  1. Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, IT, or other related fields 
  2. Seven or more years of internal control experience 
  3. Extensive knowledge of COSO and CoBIT 
  4. Extensive knowledge of SOX methods and standards 

If you have held similar positions in large organizations before, then Amazon has a place for you. 

  • Amazon FBA Specialist 

Many newbie sellers on Amazon aren’t familiar with Amazon FBA, which is perfectly fine 

because Accounting Amazon FBA experts exist. You don’t even have to get a license or a finance-related degree to apply for this job. If you’re intimately familiar with the policies and processes of FBA, Amazon sellers would be happy to have you. 

Amazon FBA sellers still have preferences so check these out to see if you are fit for the role: 

  1. A Bachelor’s degree in any field 
  2. Prior experience in customer service, virtual assistance, and/or Amazon Seller Central FBA experience 

Having an accounting background is a plus factor in getting this job since you’d be helping with inventory management, purchase orders, and logistics. 

  • Accounting Amazon Seller 

If you have the fundamentals and experience of bookkeeping and accounting as well as a passion for business, open up a business on Amazon! What’s great about this is that you don’t need to be any graduate of accounting or any degree for that matter. Plus, it might be your door to financial independence. 

When you are willing to learn everything about Amazon’s policies, basic accounting, and business management, you can be successful as any other businessman or woman out there. Professional or not, as long as you have the necessary skills in tech and finance, the sky's the limit for you. 

A mobile phone, showing Amazon FBA, on top of an Amazon prime package

Stay in The Loop 

Unemployment rates have skyrocketed over the last two years. It is a good thing that a lot of big companies like Amazon are starting to get back on track and that economies are now starting to recover as well.

Perhaps you’re looking to further your career, or you just need financial and accounting services for your business. If so, Unloop is here to hook you up with the best financial assistance and advice for your Amazon business. 
Learn more about our accounting Amazon and other services at Unloop today!

Read more

One of a business owner's top priorities is filing taxes. Since almost every sale or purchase comes with taxes (particularly sales tax), accounting for every single one can be a headache. Fortunately, if you're an Amazon seller, the ecommerce platform has got you covered.

Here's how Amazon made selling a lot easier with the Amazon Tax Exemption Program (ATEP).

What Is Sales Tax?

For most purchases you make, you'll notice there are additional costs included in the receipt. One of them is the sales tax, which is a percentage-based value-added tax attached to the purchase of goods and services. According to law, every sale must be taxed, which is why you must account for each item’s sales tax.

The buyer, specifically the end consumer, shoulders the sales tax. If you are a reseller purchasing the product, you'll have to charge your customer the sales tax levied by the government to pay your product's sales tax.

Since the end consumer should cover the sales tax, resellers usually have to ask for tax refunds since they have to pay it initially. However, if the seller has tax exemptions, they can forgo paying the sales tax until they sell the product.

Do You Have To Pay Tax on Amazon?

Yes, you do. Even if your purchases are made online, every sale must still be taxed according to law. The tax rate applicable for a given order is the combined state or local rate for the location to which the order was sent or fulfilled. In some states, the tax on sales is lower than in others.

Does Amazon Charge Sales Tax?

No, Amazon cannot charge sales tax; only the government is allowed to levy taxes on the sale of goods and services. However, Amazon can collect taxes for you through the Amazon Tax Exemption Program (ATEP).

What Does It Mean To Have Tax Exempt Status?

While all business owners are legally obliged to pay taxes, there are some individuals or organizations whom tax exemption applies to are the following:

  • Churches and religious bodies
  • Charitable or non-profit organizations
  • Political entities
  • Private foundations
  • Resellers
  • Veterans

Individuals or organizations who are granted tax exemptions are allowed to waive taxes for purchases, therefore saving them money. On the other hand, resellers are still required to pay the sales tax, but they can ask for refunds after selling their products.

If you're a reseller on Amazon, you can get sales tax exemptions through the ATEP.

What Is the Amazon Tax Exemption Program?

The Amazon Tax Exemption Program is Amazon's way of handling your sales taxes for you. Instead of having to pay and refund sales taxes individually, you can instead apply for tax exemptions, buy your products tax-free, and have the end consumer pay the sales tax directly to Amazon as part of the ATEP.

How Do You Enroll In ATEP?

Amazon sellers with an Amazon business account qualify for ATEP by default. By saving your tax settings through Amazon's Tax Exemption Wizard, you automatically enroll yourself in ATEP.

If you want to enroll as a buyer, however, you'll have to go through the whole process of getting your Amazon Tax Exemption Certificate. The Tax Exemption Wizard will walk you through the process.

Can I Opt Out of ATEP?

If for some reason, you feel like ATEP isn't for you, you can always choose to leave the program and organize your sales taxes on your own. The Amazon Tax Exemption Program is not mandatory, so you shouldn't feel pressured to leave the program if it doesn't work for you.

However, we do recommend you use ATEP since it comes with many benefits.

How Do Sellers Benefit From ATEP?

Collecting taxes can be tricky, not to mention crucial for every business. But with the creation of ATEP, Amazon and its business have had an easier time selling to their customers. Here are two ways Amazon sellers benefit from ATEP.

As a Buyer

In general, Amazon resellers get their products from another business, and when they make purchases, they have to pay sales taxes initially and then collect the sales tax from customers when the sale has been made.

By having tax exempt status through ATEP, you can make tax exempt purchases for your business. This means you don't not only save money by not paying the sales tax for your purchases for resale, but you can also save time by allowing Amazon to waive your sales taxes and collect it directly from the end consumer.

As a Seller

You can get a lot of headaches as a reseller since part of a reseller's job is to collect sales taxes from each sale. That's why, as a seller, ATEP saves you a lot of time and money by collecting these taxes for you. Now you can worry less about your taxes and focus more on selling your product.

If your customer also has tax exempt status, Amazon's tax exemption program will also handle the process for you, lessening the burden on your accounting.

What If Amazon Sellers Don't Follow Tax Policies?

As stressed, taxes are every business owner's legal obligation. If you don't pay your taxes— or if you pay them incorrectly—you could be looking at the suspension of your business or, worse, legal implications like going to jail.

In 2020 alone, around 593 people were sent to jail for tax-related crimes, like tax fraud or tax evasion. The same goes for Amazon sellers. Even if ecommerce sellers don’t have brick-and-mortar businesses, the same tax laws apply depending on your location. So as a business owner, you should be wary of such violations since they could mean the end of your business.

Manage Your Taxes With Unloop

Having trouble with your taxes? You're not the only one. Organizing and filing taxes can be a nightmare, especially for ecommerce businesses. If you're thinking of outsourcing help for your taxes, then it's time you give Unloop a chance.
We offer bookkeeping, accounts payable, payroll, forecasting, and tax services. Book a call, and let's work out how Unloop can help you!

Selling Made Easier With the Amazon Tax Exemption Program (ATEP)
Watch Now

One of a business owner's top priorities is filing taxes. Since almost every sale or purchase comes with taxes (particularly sales tax), accounting for every single one can be a headache. Fortunately, if you're an Amazon seller, the ecommerce platform has got you covered.

Here's how Amazon made selling a lot easier with the Amazon Tax Exemption Program (ATEP).

What Is Sales Tax?

For most purchases you make, you'll notice there are additional costs included in the receipt. One of them is the sales tax, which is a percentage-based value-added tax attached to the purchase of goods and services. According to law, every sale must be taxed, which is why you must account for each item’s sales tax.

The buyer, specifically the end consumer, shoulders the sales tax. If you are a reseller purchasing the product, you'll have to charge your customer the sales tax levied by the government to pay your product's sales tax.

Since the end consumer should cover the sales tax, resellers usually have to ask for tax refunds since they have to pay it initially. However, if the seller has tax exemptions, they can forgo paying the sales tax until they sell the product.

Do You Have To Pay Tax on Amazon?

Yes, you do. Even if your purchases are made online, every sale must still be taxed according to law. The tax rate applicable for a given order is the combined state or local rate for the location to which the order was sent or fulfilled. In some states, the tax on sales is lower than in others.

Does Amazon Charge Sales Tax?

No, Amazon cannot charge sales tax; only the government is allowed to levy taxes on the sale of goods and services. However, Amazon can collect taxes for you through the Amazon Tax Exemption Program (ATEP).

What Does It Mean To Have Tax Exempt Status?

While all business owners are legally obliged to pay taxes, there are some individuals or organizations whom tax exemption applies to are the following:

  • Churches and religious bodies
  • Charitable or non-profit organizations
  • Political entities
  • Private foundations
  • Resellers
  • Veterans

Individuals or organizations who are granted tax exemptions are allowed to waive taxes for purchases, therefore saving them money. On the other hand, resellers are still required to pay the sales tax, but they can ask for refunds after selling their products.

If you're a reseller on Amazon, you can get sales tax exemptions through the ATEP.

What Is the Amazon Tax Exemption Program?

The Amazon Tax Exemption Program is Amazon's way of handling your sales taxes for you. Instead of having to pay and refund sales taxes individually, you can instead apply for tax exemptions, buy your products tax-free, and have the end consumer pay the sales tax directly to Amazon as part of the ATEP.

How Do You Enroll In ATEP?

Amazon sellers with an Amazon business account qualify for ATEP by default. By saving your tax settings through Amazon's Tax Exemption Wizard, you automatically enroll yourself in ATEP.

If you want to enroll as a buyer, however, you'll have to go through the whole process of getting your Amazon Tax Exemption Certificate. The Tax Exemption Wizard will walk you through the process.

Can I Opt Out of ATEP?

If for some reason, you feel like ATEP isn't for you, you can always choose to leave the program and organize your sales taxes on your own. The Amazon Tax Exemption Program is not mandatory, so you shouldn't feel pressured to leave the program if it doesn't work for you.

However, we do recommend you use ATEP since it comes with many benefits.

How Do Sellers Benefit From ATEP?

Collecting taxes can be tricky, not to mention crucial for every business. But with the creation of ATEP, Amazon and its business have had an easier time selling to their customers. Here are two ways Amazon sellers benefit from ATEP.

As a Buyer

In general, Amazon resellers get their products from another business, and when they make purchases, they have to pay sales taxes initially and then collect the sales tax from customers when the sale has been made.

By having tax exempt status through ATEP, you can make tax exempt purchases for your business. This means you don't not only save money by not paying the sales tax for your purchases for resale, but you can also save time by allowing Amazon to waive your sales taxes and collect it directly from the end consumer.

As a Seller

You can get a lot of headaches as a reseller since part of a reseller's job is to collect sales taxes from each sale. That's why, as a seller, ATEP saves you a lot of time and money by collecting these taxes for you. Now you can worry less about your taxes and focus more on selling your product.

If your customer also has tax exempt status, Amazon's tax exemption program will also handle the process for you, lessening the burden on your accounting.

What If Amazon Sellers Don't Follow Tax Policies?

As stressed, taxes are every business owner's legal obligation. If you don't pay your taxes— or if you pay them incorrectly—you could be looking at the suspension of your business or, worse, legal implications like going to jail.

In 2020 alone, around 593 people were sent to jail for tax-related crimes, like tax fraud or tax evasion. The same goes for Amazon sellers. Even if ecommerce sellers don’t have brick-and-mortar businesses, the same tax laws apply depending on your location. So as a business owner, you should be wary of such violations since they could mean the end of your business.

Manage Your Taxes With Unloop

Having trouble with your taxes? You're not the only one. Organizing and filing taxes can be a nightmare, especially for ecommerce businesses. If you're thinking of outsourcing help for your taxes, then it's time you give Unloop a chance.
We offer bookkeeping, accounts payable, payroll, forecasting, and tax services. Book a call, and let's work out how Unloop can help you!

Read more

During your ecommerce business operations, you may have wondered about the difference between bookkeeping and accounting. You have probably used the terms interchangeably during the course of your business activities, especially during the times you and your financial consultant were trying to figure out missing payments or tax remittances.

But despite the frequent use of these terms, people are still confused about whether bookkeeping and accounting are the same. Let Unloop answer that question so you can distinguish what they are and how to use each for your business's growth.

What Is the Difference Between Accounting and Bookkeeping?

Many new business owners need clarification on bookkeeping and accounting. They interchange the terms and think they mean the same thing, but they differ in many ways.

Bookkeeping as a Discipline

Bookkeeping focuses on the activity of recording financial transactions. It's a rigorous accounting process that needs attention to detail and patience.

The discipline of bookkeeping follows the accounting cycle when recording business transactions.

Charting

Charting helps bookkeepers establish the recordkeeping system of a business by identifying the labels of each business transaction. In most cases, bookkeepers can proceed to recordkeeping if your company already has accounting and bookkeeping software with a preset Chart of Accounts (COA). On the other hand, in the absence of software, bookkeepers can create a COA for you.

Journal Entries

After the bookkeeper identifies or charts the accounts, they can use them to record business transactions in a journal. Bookkeepers use a double-entry method for each journal entry, which includes the accounts debited and credited and a given amount.

Ledger Recording

To bookkeepers, the ledger is another book they maintain containing all the debit and credit transactions of a given account. They often record the amount on the ledger on a given period and calculate its net total (i.e., debit minus credit).

Trial Balance

After getting the net totals of all the ledger accounts, the bookkeeper can proceed with a trial balance. This activity aims to ensure every transaction amount is accurate and corresponds with one another. Consequently, a trial balance also helps bookkeepers find recording errors and fix them before they generate reports.

Financial Statement Generation

Once everything is balanced and set, the bookkeeper can prepare an accurate financial statement. The business owner or the accountant will then use these reports for decision-making or tax purposes.

Closing Books

At the end of the business period—usually every 12 months—the bookkeeper is also in charge of closing the books and carrying over the real account balances, the accounts showing in the balance sheet, and their corresponding amounts, to the new business period.

Accounting as a Discipline

Accounting is broader in scope in which bookkeeping plays an essential role. While professional accountants also study bookkeeping, the bulk of what they learn from accounting helps them read and interpret financial reports and create accounting standard procedures customized to the industry or business.

Accounting branches into different subdisciplines.

Financial

This is the process of interpreting and analyzing financial statements made by the bookkeeper. Financial accounting is big-picture accounting that applies to any enterprise, whether corporate or a small business. It is concerned with profit maximization, general management policies, and increasing shareholder value.

Cost

This branch of accounting deals with production and manufacturing. Cost accounting takes a thorough approach to costing raw materials and production processes to ensure they are priced appropriately, which is important when pricing the finished product.

Managerial

Just like financial accounting, the managerial approach uses the same financial data the bookkeeper records. What makes managerial accounting different is how it uses information.

Aside from a monthly financial statement report, managerial accounting also uses financial records to generate other internal reports used by business decision-makers. Managerial accountants audit these reports and govern the system that produces them, while business owners and managers use the information to help with day-to-day business operations.

Tax

Tax accounting focuses on the specific knowledge of tax rules and regulations. This subdiscipline helps tax accounting practitioners to comply but, more importantly, allows them to maneuver the taxation system and make efficient tax decisions for the business's benefit.

Understanding tax accounting benefits a business tremendously and is highly valued. A professional who has mastered tax accounting can build the most beneficial accounting processes, methods, and business structures that result in paying less in tax liabilities.

Bookkeeping and Accounting: Differences in Job Function

Aside from discipline, the job of bookkeepers and accountants also differ. Bookkeepers can either be accountants or non-accountants, but the job functions that involve the accounting discipline will require a professional with a degree.

The Bookkeeper

Bookkeepers are the ones in charge of recordkeeping. Their functions can be considered back office and involve a lot of paperwork and file organization. Here are several highlights of a bookkeeping job.

Record Financial Transactions

The primary job function of a bookkeeper is to record transactions in line with generally accepted accounting practices. They follow the accounting cycle when recording daily business trades.

Find and Fix Recording Errors

Bookkeepers are well-equipped to identify and find errors in the books they maintain. They start with a trial balance and work their way into the ledgers, journals, and financial records to find and fix records.

Prepare Financial Reports

All the recording eventually leads to the creation of financial statements. The bookkeepers will prepare an income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement for the business owner or accountant's review.

Work With Accountants and Managers

In day-to-day tasks, bookkeepers coordinate with business managers to give them the financial data they need to make decisions. They also aid accountants during tax season and allow them to access records for consulting or auditing purposes.

The Accountant

An accountant is any professional with a degree in accountancy. They can be licensed as a certified public accountant (CPA) and hold other certifications in a given specialty. But they can also be a non-licensed practitioner employed by a business. Here are the broad strokes of their job function.

Report Analysis and Interpretation

Accountants analyze financial statements and other reports to find areas where the business can improve. They also interpret financial data and make reports of their own. From there, they can recommend policies or managerial actions to benefit the business financially.

Audit Processes and Financial Records

In some cases, bookkeepers record transactions using different principles and techniques, which alters the numbers in financial statements and other reports. For example, a bookkeeper may choose to register a huge expense as is, or they can capitalize it; this can affect the bottom line of an income statement. In this case, it's the auditor's job to check whether these choices are sound and correct them if needed.

Accountants are primarily internal auditors. They check the recordkeeping processes of a business. But some large financial firms and tax institutions hire external auditors to review companies' books.

Controller

A controller oversees and directs different accounting and financial systems of a business. They help ensure a business's accounting and financial processes are running smoothly. So they help plan and manage the business's budget and supervise accurate payroll disbursement.

Consulting

Non-certified and certified public accountants can offer consulting services to big and small businesses. They can help establish accounting processes for newly established companies or provide actionable steps to reduce cost, maximize profit, or efficiently use the business's assets.

You Need Bookkeeping and Accounting Services for Your Business

Knowing the functions of bookkeeping and accounting will teach you one thing—you need both to run a successful business. If you're participating in a fast-paced, highly competitive ecommerce marketplace, you'll also need to learn these disciplines quickly if you're going to do it yourself. This will be a challenge if you're in the thick of things.Your best option is to get both bookkeeping and accounting services. Our team at Unloop is composed of professional accountants who know how to do bookkeeping. If you still need an accountant, we can help connect you with one. So book a call for a consultation or check out our bookkeeping services now.

The Difference Between Bookkeeping and Accounting: Discipline and Function
Watch Now

During your ecommerce business operations, you may have wondered about the difference between bookkeeping and accounting. You have probably used the terms interchangeably during the course of your business activities, especially during the times you and your financial consultant were trying to figure out missing payments or tax remittances.

But despite the frequent use of these terms, people are still confused about whether bookkeeping and accounting are the same. Let Unloop answer that question so you can distinguish what they are and how to use each for your business's growth.

What Is the Difference Between Accounting and Bookkeeping?

Many new business owners need clarification on bookkeeping and accounting. They interchange the terms and think they mean the same thing, but they differ in many ways.

Bookkeeping as a Discipline

Bookkeeping focuses on the activity of recording financial transactions. It's a rigorous accounting process that needs attention to detail and patience.

The discipline of bookkeeping follows the accounting cycle when recording business transactions.

Charting

Charting helps bookkeepers establish the recordkeeping system of a business by identifying the labels of each business transaction. In most cases, bookkeepers can proceed to recordkeeping if your company already has accounting and bookkeeping software with a preset Chart of Accounts (COA). On the other hand, in the absence of software, bookkeepers can create a COA for you.

Journal Entries

After the bookkeeper identifies or charts the accounts, they can use them to record business transactions in a journal. Bookkeepers use a double-entry method for each journal entry, which includes the accounts debited and credited and a given amount.

Ledger Recording

To bookkeepers, the ledger is another book they maintain containing all the debit and credit transactions of a given account. They often record the amount on the ledger on a given period and calculate its net total (i.e., debit minus credit).

Trial Balance

After getting the net totals of all the ledger accounts, the bookkeeper can proceed with a trial balance. This activity aims to ensure every transaction amount is accurate and corresponds with one another. Consequently, a trial balance also helps bookkeepers find recording errors and fix them before they generate reports.

Financial Statement Generation

Once everything is balanced and set, the bookkeeper can prepare an accurate financial statement. The business owner or the accountant will then use these reports for decision-making or tax purposes.

Closing Books

At the end of the business period—usually every 12 months—the bookkeeper is also in charge of closing the books and carrying over the real account balances, the accounts showing in the balance sheet, and their corresponding amounts, to the new business period.

Accounting as a Discipline

Accounting is broader in scope in which bookkeeping plays an essential role. While professional accountants also study bookkeeping, the bulk of what they learn from accounting helps them read and interpret financial reports and create accounting standard procedures customized to the industry or business.

Accounting branches into different subdisciplines.

Financial

This is the process of interpreting and analyzing financial statements made by the bookkeeper. Financial accounting is big-picture accounting that applies to any enterprise, whether corporate or a small business. It is concerned with profit maximization, general management policies, and increasing shareholder value.

Cost

This branch of accounting deals with production and manufacturing. Cost accounting takes a thorough approach to costing raw materials and production processes to ensure they are priced appropriately, which is important when pricing the finished product.

Managerial

Just like financial accounting, the managerial approach uses the same financial data the bookkeeper records. What makes managerial accounting different is how it uses information.

Aside from a monthly financial statement report, managerial accounting also uses financial records to generate other internal reports used by business decision-makers. Managerial accountants audit these reports and govern the system that produces them, while business owners and managers use the information to help with day-to-day business operations.

Tax

Tax accounting focuses on the specific knowledge of tax rules and regulations. This subdiscipline helps tax accounting practitioners to comply but, more importantly, allows them to maneuver the taxation system and make efficient tax decisions for the business's benefit.

Understanding tax accounting benefits a business tremendously and is highly valued. A professional who has mastered tax accounting can build the most beneficial accounting processes, methods, and business structures that result in paying less in tax liabilities.

Bookkeeping and Accounting: Differences in Job Function

Aside from discipline, the job of bookkeepers and accountants also differ. Bookkeepers can either be accountants or non-accountants, but the job functions that involve the accounting discipline will require a professional with a degree.

The Bookkeeper

Bookkeepers are the ones in charge of recordkeeping. Their functions can be considered back office and involve a lot of paperwork and file organization. Here are several highlights of a bookkeeping job.

Record Financial Transactions

The primary job function of a bookkeeper is to record transactions in line with generally accepted accounting practices. They follow the accounting cycle when recording daily business trades.

Find and Fix Recording Errors

Bookkeepers are well-equipped to identify and find errors in the books they maintain. They start with a trial balance and work their way into the ledgers, journals, and financial records to find and fix records.

Prepare Financial Reports

All the recording eventually leads to the creation of financial statements. The bookkeepers will prepare an income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement for the business owner or accountant's review.

Work With Accountants and Managers

In day-to-day tasks, bookkeepers coordinate with business managers to give them the financial data they need to make decisions. They also aid accountants during tax season and allow them to access records for consulting or auditing purposes.

The Accountant

An accountant is any professional with a degree in accountancy. They can be licensed as a certified public accountant (CPA) and hold other certifications in a given specialty. But they can also be a non-licensed practitioner employed by a business. Here are the broad strokes of their job function.

Report Analysis and Interpretation

Accountants analyze financial statements and other reports to find areas where the business can improve. They also interpret financial data and make reports of their own. From there, they can recommend policies or managerial actions to benefit the business financially.

Audit Processes and Financial Records

In some cases, bookkeepers record transactions using different principles and techniques, which alters the numbers in financial statements and other reports. For example, a bookkeeper may choose to register a huge expense as is, or they can capitalize it; this can affect the bottom line of an income statement. In this case, it's the auditor's job to check whether these choices are sound and correct them if needed.

Accountants are primarily internal auditors. They check the recordkeeping processes of a business. But some large financial firms and tax institutions hire external auditors to review companies' books.

Controller

A controller oversees and directs different accounting and financial systems of a business. They help ensure a business's accounting and financial processes are running smoothly. So they help plan and manage the business's budget and supervise accurate payroll disbursement.

Consulting

Non-certified and certified public accountants can offer consulting services to big and small businesses. They can help establish accounting processes for newly established companies or provide actionable steps to reduce cost, maximize profit, or efficiently use the business's assets.

You Need Bookkeeping and Accounting Services for Your Business

Knowing the functions of bookkeeping and accounting will teach you one thing—you need both to run a successful business. If you're participating in a fast-paced, highly competitive ecommerce marketplace, you'll also need to learn these disciplines quickly if you're going to do it yourself. This will be a challenge if you're in the thick of things.Your best option is to get both bookkeeping and accounting services. Our team at Unloop is composed of professional accountants who know how to do bookkeeping. If you still need an accountant, we can help connect you with one. So book a call for a consultation or check out our bookkeeping services now.

Read more

Monitoring your business's accounts payable is crucial to determine the state of its financial health. Accurate forecasting allows you to gain control of your cash flow. In addition, knowing when your payments are due builds a good relationship with your suppliers and opens up strategies for money-saving plans for your payables.

Forecasting accounts payable may not be your priority when handling business accounting, but it can benefit your business. In this blog post, we'll talk more about forecasting accounts payable so you know how to do it for your business.

Accounts Payable and Forecasting

Accounts payable refers to short-term liabilities a business needs to pay off within a year or a shorter time frame. Understanding and seeing your business expenses fully allows you to do the groundwork for building a suitable budget for your business.

Forecasting will help you prepare to meet your payments by considering different scenarios. For example, if the price of raw materials increase or third-party fees change their rates, you can ensure your business can still fulfill its obligations and make wise decisions regarding your business finances.

Ways To Do Accounts Payable Forecasting

You can monitor the money going out of your business in several ways. Here are some things you can do to help you build an accurate accounts payable forecast.

Understand Spending Patterns

The payment patterns for your business are an important piece of information in creating an accurate forecast. Your expenses on payroll and inventory are relatively consistent month to month and easier to track. But always look at past spending data to see accurate patterns.

For example, look at the months you spend more on inventory. Some of your items may be in demand in certain months, so be mindful of that so you can plan your budget accordingly. You can also accumulate your past invoices to have a picture of where your money is going.

Noticing the patterns will also help you see where you can save, which can be good for your cash flow.

Be Up to Date With Industry Trends

Understanding trends in the marketplace, like technological advances and consumer behaviour, will help determine if these changes can affect your business payables. Changes in the industry are quick, and if you're not keen enough to see them, you may fall behind, which can make your forecast less accurate.

You can track some marketing trends by:

  • Being updated on the news about changes and developments related to your field.
  • Using data analytics to see possible trend changes. An analytics tool is easier and can predict trends before they even happen, so you’ll always be a step ahead.

Use and Analyze Historical Data

Using historical data is advantageous for forecasting because many methods maximize historical data. The most common way of using past data is through extrapolation. However, there's room for error with this method because it doesn't consider the changes that happened in your business.

Statistical modelling is a more accurate method for creating accounts payable forecasts. This method helps business owners identify behavior in ways businesses do their payments and create a forecast based on its current conditions. This forecasting method is the most accurate but requires a huge investment in time and resources.

If you're new to forecasting, it is best to use both methods for the best results. Then, play with the strength of each method to make better business decisions.

Track Invoices and Payment Deadlines

You need all the data to create an accurate forecast. That's why it is crucial that you keep track of your invoices and dues. Here are some ways to do it effectively:

  • Input all your outstanding invoices and their dues into a spreadsheet. Doing this will help you see which of your payments are nearing their deadlines so you can plan accordingly.
  • Set up timely calendar reminders using accounting software. Better yet, automate your entire accounts payable process to ensure you don't miss any of your upcoming liabilities.

Invest in Accounting Software

Accounting software is a valuable tool for businesses. Think of it as a virtual assistant that handles certain tasks that you can't because your hands are full. For example, you can start with a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to organize your cash flow in a certain accounting period. Although this may keep things organized, you still have to input data and create financial statements manually when needed.

If you want something more convenient, there are several accounting software you can choose from. These software options can perform basic accounting tasks and even more complex ones. Furthermore, they can produce financial statements like income statements, balance sheets, and other reports in just a few clicks.

Some even have a feature to create financial models for your business based on the data you input into the system. The right accounting software will help create your business's accurate accounts payable forecast.

How To Calculate Expected Accounts Payable

Knowing how much you need to pay at the end of each period will help you plan your budget. Fortunately, there is a simple calculation method that allows you to get an overview of your expected accounts payables.

Here is how to do it:

  • Determine the average number of days you need to pay your invoices.
  • Determine the total amount you need to pay suppliers.

Once you have this data, you can simply follow the formula:

(Current liabilities)/(Total operating cash/Number of days) = Expected accounts payable

So, for example, if your business has an outstanding liability of $10,000 and your total 

operating cost is $25,000, and you have 25 days to complete your payments. You can calculate your expected payables by:

(10,000)/(25,000/25) = $10,000

You can expect your business needs to pay $10,000 by the end of 25 days.

Benefits of Doing Accounts Payable Forecasts

Forecasting is an optional part of accounting, and some business owners find it unnecessary. However, forecasting is a good move for your business if you want a clearer view of your financial ratios. Here are some benefits of doing it.

Helps Maximize Working Capital

The results of the accounts payable forecast are valuable for improving your cash flow forecasting. This will help get key insights into how much of your working capital is available for business growth and investment. In addition, a clear picture of your forecast will help you maximize your working capital more confidently and risk-free.

Establishes Good Vendor Relationships

Nothing makes your suppliers happier than you paying them on time. Forecasting accounts payable will help you see your deliverables ahead of time so you won't incur late payments. In addition, timely payments build trust and good relationships with your suppliers.

Moreover, forecasting helps you identify if you will run into problems with your payments. This way, you can give your suppliers a warning if there's no choice but to delay your payments.

Lessens Payment Disruptions

Knowing your expected liabilities will help prevent disruptions in your payments. Understanding how much working capital comes in and out of your business in a specific period will help you eliminate risks and other potential disruptions.

Forecasting Accounts Payable With Unloop

Now that you have an overview of how forecasting accounts payable can benefit your business, you should start planning how you can forecast. Forecasting is not an easy task, so it is better to have a professional handle this for you.

Unloop offers AP forecasting for small ecommerce businesses. Our team of experts will ensure:

  • Your business will always pay suppliers on time.
  • Automation for all your payable workflows using accounting software, so you save time from inputting data manually.
  • The lowest possible rate for foreign payables, as we can handle foreign currency as well.

Unloop can handle all your accounts payable needs and even other accounting needs. Our team is ready to work with you on your bookkeeping, income tax, payroll, financial forecasts, and accounting. Book a call and work with us today!

Stop Going Over Budget: Forecasting Accounts Payable for Businesses
Watch Now

Monitoring your business's accounts payable is crucial to determine the state of its financial health. Accurate forecasting allows you to gain control of your cash flow. In addition, knowing when your payments are due builds a good relationship with your suppliers and opens up strategies for money-saving plans for your payables.

Forecasting accounts payable may not be your priority when handling business accounting, but it can benefit your business. In this blog post, we'll talk more about forecasting accounts payable so you know how to do it for your business.

Accounts Payable and Forecasting

Accounts payable refers to short-term liabilities a business needs to pay off within a year or a shorter time frame. Understanding and seeing your business expenses fully allows you to do the groundwork for building a suitable budget for your business.

Forecasting will help you prepare to meet your payments by considering different scenarios. For example, if the price of raw materials increase or third-party fees change their rates, you can ensure your business can still fulfill its obligations and make wise decisions regarding your business finances.

Ways To Do Accounts Payable Forecasting

You can monitor the money going out of your business in several ways. Here are some things you can do to help you build an accurate accounts payable forecast.

Understand Spending Patterns

The payment patterns for your business are an important piece of information in creating an accurate forecast. Your expenses on payroll and inventory are relatively consistent month to month and easier to track. But always look at past spending data to see accurate patterns.

For example, look at the months you spend more on inventory. Some of your items may be in demand in certain months, so be mindful of that so you can plan your budget accordingly. You can also accumulate your past invoices to have a picture of where your money is going.

Noticing the patterns will also help you see where you can save, which can be good for your cash flow.

Be Up to Date With Industry Trends

Understanding trends in the marketplace, like technological advances and consumer behaviour, will help determine if these changes can affect your business payables. Changes in the industry are quick, and if you're not keen enough to see them, you may fall behind, which can make your forecast less accurate.

You can track some marketing trends by:

  • Being updated on the news about changes and developments related to your field.
  • Using data analytics to see possible trend changes. An analytics tool is easier and can predict trends before they even happen, so you’ll always be a step ahead.

Use and Analyze Historical Data

Using historical data is advantageous for forecasting because many methods maximize historical data. The most common way of using past data is through extrapolation. However, there's room for error with this method because it doesn't consider the changes that happened in your business.

Statistical modelling is a more accurate method for creating accounts payable forecasts. This method helps business owners identify behavior in ways businesses do their payments and create a forecast based on its current conditions. This forecasting method is the most accurate but requires a huge investment in time and resources.

If you're new to forecasting, it is best to use both methods for the best results. Then, play with the strength of each method to make better business decisions.

Track Invoices and Payment Deadlines

You need all the data to create an accurate forecast. That's why it is crucial that you keep track of your invoices and dues. Here are some ways to do it effectively:

  • Input all your outstanding invoices and their dues into a spreadsheet. Doing this will help you see which of your payments are nearing their deadlines so you can plan accordingly.
  • Set up timely calendar reminders using accounting software. Better yet, automate your entire accounts payable process to ensure you don't miss any of your upcoming liabilities.

Invest in Accounting Software

Accounting software is a valuable tool for businesses. Think of it as a virtual assistant that handles certain tasks that you can't because your hands are full. For example, you can start with a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to organize your cash flow in a certain accounting period. Although this may keep things organized, you still have to input data and create financial statements manually when needed.

If you want something more convenient, there are several accounting software you can choose from. These software options can perform basic accounting tasks and even more complex ones. Furthermore, they can produce financial statements like income statements, balance sheets, and other reports in just a few clicks.

Some even have a feature to create financial models for your business based on the data you input into the system. The right accounting software will help create your business's accurate accounts payable forecast.

How To Calculate Expected Accounts Payable

Knowing how much you need to pay at the end of each period will help you plan your budget. Fortunately, there is a simple calculation method that allows you to get an overview of your expected accounts payables.

Here is how to do it:

  • Determine the average number of days you need to pay your invoices.
  • Determine the total amount you need to pay suppliers.

Once you have this data, you can simply follow the formula:

(Current liabilities)/(Total operating cash/Number of days) = Expected accounts payable

So, for example, if your business has an outstanding liability of $10,000 and your total 

operating cost is $25,000, and you have 25 days to complete your payments. You can calculate your expected payables by:

(10,000)/(25,000/25) = $10,000

You can expect your business needs to pay $10,000 by the end of 25 days.

Benefits of Doing Accounts Payable Forecasts

Forecasting is an optional part of accounting, and some business owners find it unnecessary. However, forecasting is a good move for your business if you want a clearer view of your financial ratios. Here are some benefits of doing it.

Helps Maximize Working Capital

The results of the accounts payable forecast are valuable for improving your cash flow forecasting. This will help get key insights into how much of your working capital is available for business growth and investment. In addition, a clear picture of your forecast will help you maximize your working capital more confidently and risk-free.

Establishes Good Vendor Relationships

Nothing makes your suppliers happier than you paying them on time. Forecasting accounts payable will help you see your deliverables ahead of time so you won't incur late payments. In addition, timely payments build trust and good relationships with your suppliers.

Moreover, forecasting helps you identify if you will run into problems with your payments. This way, you can give your suppliers a warning if there's no choice but to delay your payments.

Lessens Payment Disruptions

Knowing your expected liabilities will help prevent disruptions in your payments. Understanding how much working capital comes in and out of your business in a specific period will help you eliminate risks and other potential disruptions.

Forecasting Accounts Payable With Unloop

Now that you have an overview of how forecasting accounts payable can benefit your business, you should start planning how you can forecast. Forecasting is not an easy task, so it is better to have a professional handle this for you.

Unloop offers AP forecasting for small ecommerce businesses. Our team of experts will ensure:

  • Your business will always pay suppliers on time.
  • Automation for all your payable workflows using accounting software, so you save time from inputting data manually.
  • The lowest possible rate for foreign payables, as we can handle foreign currency as well.

Unloop can handle all your accounts payable needs and even other accounting needs. Our team is ready to work with you on your bookkeeping, income tax, payroll, financial forecasts, and accounting. Book a call and work with us today!

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+1 877 421 7270
228 Park Ave S #82849
New York, NY 10003
United States
7676 Woodbine Ave #2
Markham, ON L3R 2N2
Canada
228 Park Ave S #82849
New York, NY 10003
United States
7676 Woodbine Ave #2
Markham, ON L3R 2N2
Canada
About unloop

Unloop is the first and only accounting firm exclusively servicing ecommerce and inventory businesses in the US and Canada. With the power of people and technology, our team dives deep into COGS and inventory accounting.. You are paired with a dedicated bookkeeping team that prepares accurate financial statements, financial forecasts, and can also pay bills or run payroll for you. Come tax time, everything is organized and ready to go, so you don't need to worry. Book a call with an ecommerce accountant today to learn more.

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