If you sell on eCommerce marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, or Shopify, your accounting can get messy fast. Payouts don’t match order totals. Fees are buried in statements. Returns show up weeks later. That’s exactly where automated marketplace accounting software like Focal Software becomes mission-critical.
How Automated Marketplace Accounting Works
Automated eCommerce accounting starts by integrating directly with your marketplaces and bank accounts. Instead of exporting CSV files and manually entering data into your accounting system, an operations system built for online sellers pulls everything in automatically.
Here’s what happens under the hood:
1. Revenue from Marketplaces
Every order is imported with key details:
Order date
Sales price
Taxes
Shipping income
Discounts and promotions
Focal Software maps each component to the correct accounting category so your eCommerce revenue is always accurate and audit-ready.
2. Marketplace Fees and Commissions
Marketplaces deduct a variety of fees before you ever see a payout:
Referral or commission fees
Fulfillment and storage fees (FBA, 3PL, etc.)
Advertising fees
Subscription or listing fees
Automated accounting breaks down each payout into revenue and fees, then posts them to the right expense accounts. That means your profit margins are clear, not buried in a lump-sum deposit.
3. Returns and Refunds
Returns can wreck your books if they’re not handled correctly. Automation tracks:
Refunds to customers
Returned inventory (resellable vs. damaged)
Fee reversals (or lack thereof)
Focal Software automatically adjusts revenue, inventory, and fees so your financials reflect true activity—not just cash movement.
4. Tying to Bank Transactions and Auto-Categorizing
Once marketplaces send payouts to your bank, automated bank feeds in your system match those deposits to detailed settlement reports.
For each bank transaction, the system:
Recognizes the source (e.g., Amazon payout, Shopify payout)
Breaks it into revenue, fees, refunds, and taxes
Auto-categorizes everything into your chart of accounts
This automated reconciliation eliminates hours of manual work and reduces human error.
Why Automation Is Critical for Month-End Close
For many eCommerce businesses, month-end close is stressful and slow because:
Marketplace statements are complex
Bank deposits don’t match order totals
Fees and returns are hard to track
With automated marketplace accounting:
Your books are updated daily, not just at month-end
You can close faster because everything is already categorized
Financial reports (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow) are reliable and timely
Accurate month-end close isn’t just an accounting best practice—it’s what gives you the visibility to make confident decisions about pricing, inventory, and advertising.
Bring Your Marketplace Accounting into Focus
Focal Software is built to automate eCommerce accounting from marketplaces to bank reconciliation. By auto-categorizing revenue, fees, and returns, we help online sellers close their books faster and understand their true profitability.
