E-Commerce Bookkeeping Outsourcing to India for Australian Businesses — Shopify, Amazon, eBay

Why E-Commerce Bookkeeping Is More Complex Than Standard Retail

E-commerce businesses face bookkeeping challenges that bricks-and-mortar retailers do not. The most common pain points:

• Multi-channel payouts — income arrives as net settlements from Shopify, Amazon, eBay, and Etsy — each netting off fees, refunds, and adjustments before depositing. Recording the gross sale, platform fee, and refund separately is essential for accurate P&L and BAS
• High transaction volume — hundreds or thousands of individual orders that cannot be entered manually. Automation tools (A2X, Shopify's Xero integration) are essential
• Foreign currency — selling to overseas customers means receiving USD, GBP, EUR payouts that must be converted to AUD at the correct rate with FX gains/losses tracked
• GST complexity — domestic sales are taxable, international sales are GST-free, and digital products have their own rules
• Inventory costing — cost of goods sold must be matched to sales for accurate margins, which requires a functioning inventory system linked to your accounting software

How Indian Bookkeepers Handle Multi-Channel Reconciliation

Shopify + Xero via A2X

A2X is the standard integration tool for reconciling Shopify payouts in Xero. Your Indian bookkeeper sets up A2X to:

• Automatically fetch each Shopify payout and split it into gross sales, Shopify fees, refunds, and net deposit
• Map each component to the correct Xero account (sales revenue, cost of goods, platform fees, refunds)
• Apply correct GST treatment — Australian customers (10% GST), international customers (GST-free)
• Post a summary journal to Xero for each payout that matches the bank deposit exactly

The result: your bank feed shows a Shopify deposit of A$8,432. Xero shows the gross sales, fee deduction, and refunds that make up that exact figure. Your BAS is accurate and your P&L reflects true margins.

Amazon Australia + Xero via A2X

Amazon AU payouts are more complex than Shopify — they include FBA fees, referral fees, storage fees, advertising charges, and reimbursements, all netted into a fortnightly settlement. A2X handles Amazon AU specifically and your Indian bookkeeper configures it to:

• Separate gross sales from Amazon fees, FBA costs, and advertising
• Reconcile each settlement to the bank deposit amount exactly
• Code FBA inventory fees to the correct expense account
• Apply GST correctly — Amazon collects and remits GST on sales to Australian customers for marketplace sellers (Marketplace Facilitator rules apply from 2023)

eBay and Etsy

eBay and Etsy payouts are reconciled similarly — either via integration apps or by your Indian bookkeeper using the monthly sales report and payout summary to post a reconciling journal in Xero. For lower-volume sellers, manual reconciliation from the platform's monthly report is often sufficient and does not require an additional paid integration tool.

GST Treatment for Australian E-Commerce — Full Breakdown

Foreign Currency — How It Is Handled

If you sell internationally and receive payouts in USD, GBP, or EUR, your Indian bookkeeper manages this in Xero (with multi-currency enabled on Business Edition or above):

• Each foreign currency payout is recorded in the original currency (e.g. USD 5,200)
• Xero converts to AUD at the exchange rate on the settlement date
• When the payout arrives in your AUD bank account, the difference between Xero's rate and the bank's actual rate is recorded as a foreign exchange gain or loss
• Your BAS uses AUD-converted figures — your bookkeeper ensures GST calculations are always in AUD regardless of the sale currency

Inventory Costing for E-Commerce

Accurate gross margin requires tracking the cost of goods sold (COGS) against each sale. Your Indian bookkeeper sets this up using:

• Xero Inventory (built-in, suitable for under 4,000 SKUs, FIFO costing)
• Cin7, DEAR/Cin7 Core, or Katana for higher-volume sellers — these integrate with Xero and feed COGS automatically per sale
• Monthly inventory reconciliation — comparing physical stock count (if provided) to the system balance and investigating discrepancies

At month end, your Indian bookkeeper produces a gross margin report by channel — showing net sales, COGS, and margin percentage per platform (Shopify, Amazon, eBay). This tells you which channel is actually profitable, not just which one has the most revenue.

Cost Comparison for Australian E-Commerce Businesses

For full details on what is included at each tier and how we structure e-commerce client onboarding, see our Australia bookkeeping services page or contact us with your platform and monthly order volume.

Frequently Asked Questions