So…you took on (maybe even accidentally), or are thinking about taking on, your first Amazon client, opened up their books, looked at the deposits hitting the bank… and thought:
“Okay… this should be straightforward.”
And then about five minutes later:
“Wait. Why does none of this match?”
If that sounds familiar, welcome. You’re in the right place.
Amazon accounting is one of those things that looks simple from the outside—but once you get into it, you realize it’s a completely different kind of puzzle. And you know I love a challenge.
Let’s walk through the basics, the nuances, and a few things I wish I knew before I got started.
The biggest mistake I see (and yes, I’ve done it too) is trying to treat Amazon like a standard income stream.
You see a deposit hit the bank and think, “Great, that’s income.”
It’s not.
Amazon deposits are net of everything:
So, what hits the bank is not your client’s actual sales, but rather what’s left over after Amazon takes its cut (and sometimes holds on to more).
If you’re trying to match deposits directly to sales, you’re going to drive yourself crazy.
Instead, you have to shift your mindset to:
The bank feed is not your source of truth…Amazon is.
Amazon doesn’t operate in daily clean transactions like Shopify or Stripe. Instead, everything is grouped into settlement periods, usually every 2 weeks.
Each settlement includes:
At first glance, these reports can feel overwhelming. There are a lot of moving parts, and it’s easy to get lost in the details.
Here’s the key:
👉 You don’t need every single line item, you need a system.
Most of the time, the goal is to:
Once you understand how the pieces fit together, it becomes much more manageable.
If there’s one thing Amazon is really good at, it’s charging fees.
Some of the most common ones you’ll see:
And they’re not always grouped in ways that make sense at first glance.
This is where your role becomes more than just recording transactions; you’re helping your client understand where their money is actually going.
Because here’s the truth:
You can have strong sales and still be unprofitable on Amazon.
Breaking out fees clearly is one of the biggest value-adds you can provide.
If your client is using Amazon FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon), inventory adds another layer to the puzzle.
Now we’re not just dealing with:
We’re dealing with:
And here’s the tricky part:
Cash movement and inventory movement don’t happen at the same time.
Your client might:
So if you’re only looking at cash, you’re missing the bigger picture.
This is why understanding inventory accounting, even at a basic level, is so important for Amazon clients.
And yes, it can get messy. But it’s also where things start to click once you understand the flow.
Amazon accounting has a learning curve, and that’s okay. Here are a few common mistakes I see:
1. Recording deposits as income
We already talked about this one… it’s probably the most common.
2. Ignoring reserves
Amazon often holds back a portion of funds. If you’re not accounting for that, your books won’t tie.
3. Not reconciling settlements
If you’re not tying your entries back to the settlement reports, things can drift quickly.
4. Overcomplicating everything
You don’t need to recreate Amazon line by line in QuickBooks. Keep it clean and summarized.
Here’s the thing: Amazon accounting isn’t broken. It’s just different.
Once you understand:
…it starts to make sense.
And if you’re like me—if you enjoy problem-solving, figuring things out, and building systems that actually work—this niche can be incredibly rewarding.
Every client is a little different:
Which means every set of books is its own puzzle.
If you’re new to Amazon accounting, don’t feel like you need to know everything right away.
Start simple:
The more you work with it, the more it clicks.
And once it clicks? It opens up a whole new level of value you can provide to your clients—not just bookkeeping, but real insight into how their business is performing.
Once you understand the basics, the next step is figuring out how to make this process efficient, because doing Amazon accounting manually is… not ideal.
In my next article, I’ll walk through the tools I actually use and how I build a tech stack that works (without overcomplicating everything).
If you’ve been thinking about getting into ecommerce accounting (or you’re already in it and trying to make sense of Amazon), just know this:
It’s just another puzzle. And you’ve got this.