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Ecommerce accountant for online sellers

Accountants for Shopify, Amazon and online retail brands: A2X and Xero setup, GST on overseas sales, inventory and true margins, and tax planned before 30 June.

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Ecommerce accountants for online sellers who want real numbers

New Wave is an ecommerce accountant for Australian online brands selling through Shopify, Amazon, eBay, WooCommerce and their own sites. We set up your books so payouts reconcile, GST is right on local and overseas sales, and you can see your true margin every month, not just at tax time.

We are Chartered Accountants, a registered tax agent (25483393), a Xero Platinum Partner and A2X certified. We are based on the Gold Coast and work with ecommerce businesses right across Australia, most of them turning over $1M or more.

Why ecommerce needs a specialist accountant

An online store is not a normal retail business. Money arrives in batches from Shopify Payments, PayPal, Afterpay and Amazon, net of fees and refunds. Stock sits in your warehouse, a 3PL or Amazon’s fulfilment centres. Customers are in Australia and overseas, and the GST treatment changes with where the goods go.

A generalist accountant usually records the bank deposits and calls it revenue. The result is profit that looks wrong, GST that is often overpaid or underpaid, and a tax bill that arrives as a surprise. The signs:

your bank deposits never match your sales reports
Xero is full of individual orders, or one lump sum a week with no detail
you cannot say what your gross margin was last month
you are not sure whether you should be charging GST on overseas orders
stock is expensed when you buy it, so profit swings wildly month to month

What we do for ecommerce businesses

Your core compliance sits on one monthly package agreed up front:

Tax returns for your company, trust and the owners, prepared, reviewed and lodged on time.
BAS and IAS, with GST correctly split between Australian sales, GST-free exports and imported stock. See GST for online sellers.
Tax planning before 30 June, including stock valuation and the timing of big purchases.
ASIC compliance for your company.

When you need more, we quote it upfront before we start:

A2X and Xero setup: settlement summaries instead of order-by-order syncing, so every payout reconciles. See Shopify and Xero.
Ecommerce bookkeeping, monthly, with a clearing account for every sales channel. See ecommerce bookkeeping.
Inventory and COGS: landed cost, monthly inventory journals and a year-end stocktake process. See inventory accounting.
Amazon accounting: settlement reports, FBA fees and stock held in Amazon warehouses. See Amazon seller accounting.
Monthly management reports: margin by channel and product, cash flow and what to do about it, through our virtual CFO service. See profit leaks in ecommerce.
Clean-ups and catch-ups when the books have fallen behind.

No surprise bills. You agree every price in writing before we start.

Platforms and tools we work with

Shopify, Amazon (including FBA), eBay, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Etsy, Shopify Payments, PayPal, Stripe, Afterpay, Xero, A2X and the main inventory apps. We are a Xero Platinum Partner, so most of our ecommerce clients run Xero; see the ecommerce accounting software stack for how the pieces fit.

Who we work best with

Product brands selling online, from $500K a year to multi-million multi-channel businesses
Amazon FBA sellers, including those selling into overseas Amazon marketplaces
Shopify brands with wholesale or retail alongside online
Digital product, course and membership businesses (different revenue rules, same need for clean books)

If you are just starting, our start-up services get your structure and GST registration right from day one.

How it works

Free discovery call (30 minutes). Tell us how you sell and what is not working.
Books and systems review. We look at your Xero file, your sales channels and your last returns, and show you what we would fix.
Your proposal. A monthly package for your compliance, agreed up front, with separate quotes for setup, bookkeeping or reporting.
Setup. We connect A2X, rebuild the chart of accounts where needed and set your BAS and reporting calendar.
Monthly numbers. Reports you can act on, and a tax planning meeting before 30 June.

Real results for real businesses

Case study: online retailer selling internationally. Gross margins did not add up, inventory was wrong and the business was probably overpaying GST. We connected A2X to Xero, rebuilt the chart of accounts, set up monthly inventory tracking and corrected the GST treatment. The owner now gets reliable monthly figures, accurate margins and hours back every week.

“We’ve finally found an accounting firm that truly understands small eCommerce businesses and the kind of support they need.”

Kerry P., ecommerce business owner (shortened from a Google review)

Ecommerce guides

Frequently asked questions

What does an ecommerce accountant do?

An ecommerce accountant handles your tax, BAS and compliance like any accountant, but sets up your books around how online selling works: payouts net of fees, multiple sales channels, inventory and GST on overseas sales. The aim is books that reconcile every month and a margin you can trust.

Do I need to charge GST on sales to overseas customers?

Generally, goods you export to overseas customers can be GST-free if you meet the ATO’s export conditions and keep evidence of export. Sales to Australian customers are taxable once you are registered for GST. The details depend on how and where the goods are sent; see our GST guide for online sellers.

Should I use A2X with Xero?

For most Shopify and Amazon sellers, a settlement-summary tool such as A2X is the cleanest way to get sales into Xero. It posts one summarised entry per payout with sales, fees, refunds and GST split out, so the bank deposit reconciles exactly. We are A2X certified and set it up for clients.

How should I account for stock?

Stock you buy is an asset until you sell it, so it should not be expensed in full on purchase if you want accurate monthly profit. You also need to value closing stock at 30 June for tax. See inventory accounting and landed cost.

Do I need to be on the Gold Coast to work with you?

No. We are based in Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast, and most of our ecommerce clients are elsewhere in Australia. Everything works online.

How much does an ecommerce accountant cost?

Your tax returns, BAS, tax planning and ASIC sit on one monthly fee agreed up front, set by your structure and how complex your channels are. Setup, bookkeeping and reporting are quoted upfront. We give you every figure in writing after a free call, so there are no surprise bills.

Talk to an ecommerce accountant

Book a free 30-minute discovery call and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit. Book a FREE discovery call

Chartered Accountants | Registered tax agent 25483393 | Xero Platinum Partner | A2X certified

Related case study

$1M+ tax saved on exit

Structured two years before the sale, the owner kept more than $1M that would have gone in tax

Structured well ahead of the sale, we saved the owner more than $1M in tax when the business sold.

Read the case study

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Before you ask

The questions we get from ecommerce accountant for online sellers.

Do I pay Australian tax if I sell through Amazon in the United States?

An Australian company selling into the US through Amazon is taxed in Australia on its worldwide profit, and may also have US sales tax obligations handled through Amazon and in some cases US income tax exposure depending on how it operates there. Stock held in US fulfilment centres, marketplace facilitator rules and transfer pricing all come into it. We work with specialist US advisers where needed and keep the Australian side clean.

How does an ecommerce business reduce its tax before 30 June?

By planning in May with real numbers: the value of closing stock and how it is counted, the timing of large stock and equipment purchases against the instant asset write-off, prepayments of advertising and software, superannuation for the owners, and the right distribution of profit across the group. Most of these are decisions that must be made before 30 June, which is why tax planning is part of the monthly package.

What should an online brand's monthly reports show?

Revenue and gross margin by channel and by product group after the true cost of goods, advertising spend as a percentage of revenue by channel, return rates, cash across the bank and every clearing account, and inventory on hand against the next purchase commitment. Owners who see those five lines monthly stop making decisions on the bank balance. We build the pack from Xero and your settlement and inventory tools.

Is an Australian ecommerce business better off as a company or a trust?

Most product brands that reinvest profit into stock and growth are better held in a company, often owned by a family trust, because retained profit is taxed at the company rate and the structure can take an investor or a buyer. The brand and the trading operation are often separated so the valuable asset is protected. It is modelled on your plan rather than assumed, and the exit a few years out is part of the model.

Ready when you are

Stop paying for the dinosaur.

Book a free discovery call. Thirty minutes with a New Wave team member on where the business is and where you want it. If we are not the right firm for you, we will tell you who is.

Book a free discovery call Call (07) 5504 1999