Common Mistakes in E-Commerce Accounting

Keeping records in e-commerce is harder than in regular retail. The reason isn't sales volume; it's that there are four or five separate financial events behind a single order.

A product is sold, a commission is deducted, a shipping fee is charged, the money is deposited 15 days later, the customer returns it. All five require separate records. When one is skipped, the profit figure turns out wrong.

1. Deducting the commission from sales

The most common mistake. A product is sold for 1,000 TRY, the marketplace deducts a 150 TRY commission, and 850 TRY is deposited into the account. Invoicing based on 850 TRY is wrong.

The invoice you issue to the customer is for 1,000 TRY; the commission is a separate expense document issued to you by the marketplace. Recording them net shows your turnover too low and your VAT incorrect.

2. Ignoring payment terms (due dates)

Marketplaces generally transfer the sales proceeds with a certain payment term. During this period, your money is with the marketplace.

Assuming the money is in your cash register on the day you make the sale means planning based on cash you don't actually have yet. Treat the marketplace like a current account and track your pending receivables.

3. Failing to record returns

The return rate is high in e-commerce, and a return is not just the cancellation of a sale: the product goes back into inventory, a return document is issued for the invoice, the commission is partially reclaimed, and you are left bearing the shipping cost.

An unrecorded return messes up inventory, turnover, and VAT alike. A significant portion of those end-of-month "numbers don't add up" situations stems from this.

4. Not tracking shipping expenses

Shipping per order looks small on its own. Across 500 shipments a month, however, it becomes one of the largest expense items.

If you run a free shipping campaign, this cost is coming directly out of your profit. If you don't record it, you will never find out what that campaign actually costs you.

5. Not matching product codes

If the stock code in the marketplace and the product code in basic accounting are different, the same product is opened a second time during order transfer. Inventory gets split in two, and both look wrong.

Aligning codes from the start is much easier than trying to merge duplicate cards later on. We explained how to set up this matching in our article converting marketplace orders into invoices.

6. Not calculating profit by channel

If you sell on three marketplaces, all three have different commission rates and return behaviors. Looking only at total turnover hides which one is actually profitable.

The channel with the highest turnover can sometimes be the one that leaves the least profit after commissions and returns. You will only see this if you analyze it by channel.

Where to start?

Don't try to fix everything at once. Doing these three in order yields the biggest impact: first, start recording commissions as a separate expense; second, process returns regularly; and third, align your product codes.

Also keep payment reports coming from the marketplace in file management so you don't waste time searching when reconciliation is needed.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to issue an invoice for every order?

You have an obligation to issue a document when you make a sale. E-archive invoices are generally issued for sales made to end consumers; confirm your specific situation with your financial advisor.

Can I deduct the commission VAT?

When you record the commission document, the related VAT enters the deductible account. If you don't record the document, you cannot exercise this right — we covered this topic in our article on VAT tracking.

My own website and marketplaces together, how do I separate them?

Define payment channels as separate accounts: virtual POS separately, and each marketplace separately. This way, you can clearly see what came from which channel without mixing them up.

In e-commerce, profit is not the difference between the selling price and the purchase price; it is what remains after deducting commission, shipping, and returns. An item you fail to record is quietly eating away at your profit.

Open a free account on Qolay.App to set up tracking by channel.