QuickBooks
How to Record Amazon Sales in QuickBooks Online (Step by Step)
By the SkyUp Ways accounting team ·
Short answer
Record each Amazon settlement as one summarized entry, not one entry per order. Post gross sales and refunds as income, each Amazon fee and advertising as expenses, the reserve as a balance sheet account and marketplace-collected sales tax as a pass-through. The entry's net equals the payout, which you then match to the bank deposit.
Set up the accounts first
- Income: Amazon Sales, and Amazon Refunds (a contra-income account).
- Expenses: Amazon Referral Fees, Amazon FBA Fees, Amazon Storage Fees, Amazon Advertising, Other Amazon Fees.
- Other income: Amazon Reimbursements.
- Balance sheet: Amazon Reserve (current asset) and an Amazon Clearing account for payouts in transit.
- Sales tax: a clearing account for marketplace-collected tax that nets to zero.
Post one entry per settlement
- Summarize the settlement report by transaction type.
- Create a sales receipt (or a journal entry) for gross sales and refunds. If you track inventory, record sales by product so cost of goods sold is right.
- Post a journal entry for fees, advertising, reimbursements and the reserve movement.
- Book the net to the Amazon Clearing account.
- When the money lands, match the bank deposit to the clearing account so it returns to zero.
Why not just record the deposit?
Recording only the deposit understates your sales and hides what Amazon costs you, which makes it impossible to see your real margin. It also creates problems at tax time, because your CPA needs gross receipts and deductible expenses, not net payouts.
Software or a bookkeeper?
Tools such as A2X and Link My Books summarize settlements and post them to QuickBooks for you. They still need correct account mapping, a review of anything unusual and a monthly reconciliation. If you would rather not do that yourself, a bookkeeper who reads settlement reports every week can do the whole job.
Amazon bookkeeping
Prefer it done for you? We post and reconcile your Amazon settlements in QuickBooks Online every week.
See how it works