Be That Business Newsletter #10: Three Business Resources for e-Commerce

eCommerce is a huge sector, and it's growing! There are so many resources available for Entrepreneurs to start a side hustle or a main gig! Or both! From Shopify to Etsy to Amazon, Paypal, Stripe, and Square, the apps and tools out there are numerous!
But what about the bookkeeping for all these things? What about the sales taxes? (In Canada, we follow the "Place of Supply Rule", that is, where the goods take ownership, that's the sales tax rate that is charged, if a seller is registered for the sales tax. More to come on this hot topic in the future!)
It's not just the sales tax, but the payment processing fees deducted from the received funds. Even inputting a couple of these entries into the bookkeeping is an onerous task, let alone many multiple transactions a day! What's the secret? App integration! (A2X seems to be a favorite integration tool during my research!)
Between understanding the sales tax and setting them up correctly, and integrating the apps into your bookkeeping software correctly, there's a lot of heavy prep work. But once set up correctly, it's smooth sailing. If not set up correctly, it's gonna be rough seas. And if it's not set up right at the beginning, you can lose the integration edge (integration feeds generally only go back and fetch 1 to 3 months of data. If you wait, you'll be doing a lot of manual entry and hair pulling! If not you, then you'll be paying someone else to!)
If eCommerce is part of your plans, here are some great resources to set you up for success!:

1. eCommerce Tax Guide for Canadian Sellers - I found this excellent blog post that covers a huge amount of information for both income and sales tax for Canadian eCommerce Sellers. The author, Boris Baranov, also offers specialized bookkeeping and income tax preparation for Canadian eCommerce Entrepreneurs.
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2. GST/HST rules for digital sales - With the new rules that came out for GST on digital goods back in 2021, small businesses may not be aware how it effects their expenses and claiming GST/HST ITCs.  If the supplier is a non resident, and is under the simplified regime, businesses can no longer claim the GST/HST as an ITC, but instead, need to go to the supplier, and update the account to show their business number as to not be charged GST/HST at the source!  Check out my YouTube video that explains this in more detail!
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3. eCommerce Integration Services - There are a lot of people out there ready to help you set up your beautiful Shopify or Squarespace store, but they often miss the crucial step of integrating your eCommerce Store and Payment Platforms with your bookkeeping. For that you need a someone who knows accounting AND tech. A great example is the team at Financly.ca who specialize in eCommerce Accounting. They offer the specific service of setting up your integrations correctly, as well as offering support on sales tax and other accounting related services.
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What Resources have you found that have helped you start, run, or grow your business? Feature it (and a callout to your business!) in our next Resources Newsletter!

Be Intentional Today!
Get out there, and Be That Business That Thrives!