Using Spreadsheets for your Amazon Accounting? Here's How it Compares to A2X

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes 30 seconds. 

Still using a spreadsheet for your Amazon accounting? 

In this video from 2019, Patti Scharf from Catching Clouds gives a great summary of the benefits and problems with spreadsheet-based accounting for Amazon, and why a specific Amazon accounting solution like A2X can make it more automated and accurate. 

In this guide about using spreadsheets vs. A2X for your accounting:

Accounting for Amazon Sellers

We think that Amazon sellers’ time is better spent on value-adding activities in the business such as new product development, or sales and marketing, than on spreadsheets. 

Accounting for Amazon sellers is known to be complex and confusing - especially if you’re manually collating the data.

When you’re potentially handling tens of thousands of transactions a month, it’s physically (and mentally) impossible to keep up at times. Automation makes sense of your data and makes it useful, allowing you to focus on growing your ecommerce business. 

Similarly, for accountants, it means moving to value-based services and automating the mundane data entry, so you can focus on the high-value consulting and advice that is both a more valuable use of your time and more beneficial to your clients. 

We’ve all heard the famous line that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results, right? Well, if your business is failing to grow and you’re constantly swamped in data and accounting spreadsheets - it’s time to leave that insanity behind. 

Accounting Before A2X

Before account automation gained attention through intelligent programming such as A2X, accounting was done via spreadsheets. 

Back then, either yourself or your accountant had to gather SKUs, products listings, payment processing data, all your shopping carts (not just Amazon but also Shopify, eBay etc) and more.

This data was then inputted manually, which was seriously time-consuming. Using spreadsheets for Amazon accounting puts your business at a disadvantage. 

Pros and cons of spreadsheet accounting

Pros:

• They are a lower cost option, but can be complicated to set up. There are some Amazon seller spreadsheet templates from ecommerce accountants available for a one-off price. 
• Can be used with moderate success for small businesses. 

Cons:

• Imported data can cause Excel to crash when pulled in large volumes. 
• It lacks efficiency. It can take hours to get the data input correctly.
• High risk for errors, and backtracking to find errors can also take a lot of time.  
• No customer support - it’s all on you! 
• It takes a lot of time to learn and teach. If you’re an accountant training new staff, this is seriously inefficient.  
• Doesn’t allow scalability or review of profit unit by unit, and no sales by item reporting unless it’s linked to Quickbooks (but it usually crashes when using this functionality). 
• Manipulating income data is time-consuming for your accountant, leading to higher costs.

Yes, Amazon seller accounting spreadsheets can be very impressive, and they do work - but it’s the time and effort involved in updating and maintaining them that is unsustainable. 

For accountants and business owners, automated programming that can do this in a single click with virtually no margin for error sounds like a dream.

But it really exists - with A2X. 

Accounting with A2X

A2X accounting is the hands-down winner for automating and managing your FBA Amazon accounting.

It integrates seamlessly with accounting software and handles all those niggly, mind-numbing hours of manual data entry for you. Even when you’re asleep, it’s hard at work so you don’t have to be. 

Pros and cons of A2X for Amazon 

Pros: 

• Summarizes your SKUs and transactions, and posts accurately - A2X can handle a huge volume of data without crashing. 
• Efficient, one click and information is imported and reconciled. 
• Dedicated support centre with real experts, who will spend the time required to solve any issues and answer your questions accurately. 
• Gives you confidence in your accounting; it’s streamlined and simplified. 
• Reconciles to the penny to match your Amazon reconciliation and bank statements. 
• Ideal for ecommerce accountants - it allows you to grow your business as less time is spent on manual data entry or training new staff. 
• A2X calculates the cost of goods sold and income information for comparison.
• Provides inventory reports, offering sellable vs unsellable for more accurate inventory management. 
• Breakdown of where inventory is located (country by country).
• Nexus inventory report available with some subscription tiers, to tell you when and where your products are located, allowing accurate state by state taxation adherence. 

Cons: 

• Monthly subscription, scaled cost dependant on your needs. May not work for your budget. 

Step into the Future of Ecommerce Accounting with A2X

Depending on your business needs, you may find one option works better for you than another - though Patti is emphatic in her belief that A2X is the answer in most scenarios.

If you’re planning on specializing in ecommerce accounting, you’ll find all existing ecommerce accountants now use A2X - which is no accident!

Regardless of whether you employ an accountant for your ecommerce business or you’re handling your own Amazon accounting, A2X just makes sense.

Make sure you check out the video above for a detailed overview of these different approaches.

If you’re ready to ditch the spreadsheets (and stress) and automate your Amazon accounting with a single click, check out A2X for Amazon today for your free trial.

Also on the blog

• The A2X Amazon Accounting Hub
• Accounting for Amazon Sellers: The 5 Basics
• What is the Best Amazon Accounting Software for Sellers?
• How to Find an Amazon Accountant or Bookkeeper (and When) 
• 10 Most Common Amazon Accounting Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

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