Accounting for Amazon FBA & FBM Sellers
The amount Amazon pays into your bank isn’t your sales figure — it’s a net settlement after fees, refunds, advertising and reserves. Forti reconciles the detail and connects it to Irish VAT, OSS/IOSS and your annual accounts.
Why This Matters
It proves Amazon transferred money. It doesn’t show the gross sale, or the fees, refunds and reserves deducted before payment reached your account.
Recording only the payout understates turnover and breaks the link between sales reports, VAT and the bank.
Referral, fulfilment, storage, advertising and other marketplace charges need their own expense lines.
A refund can appear in a different settlement or VAT period from the original sale.
Money Amazon holds back changes the payout timing, not automatically when the sale is recorded.
Sales, fees and payouts in GBP, USD or other currencies need consistent euro conversion.
The books must allocate activity to the correct accounting and VAT period — not the payout date.
Is This Service For You?
You sell through Amazon FBA, FBM, or both
Your books currently record only the payouts arriving in the bank
Amazon stores or moves your stock between EU countries
You sell through more than one Amazon marketplace or currency
You also sell through Shopify, eBay, Etsy or another channel
You need Irish VAT, OSS or IOSS checked before the next return
You want monthly margin reporting, not a year-end total
You're moving from sole trader to limited company, or setting up as a non-resident
Product sales, shipping income, promotions, refunds, returns, chargebacks and other order adjustments.
Referral fees, FBA fulfilment, storage, subscription charges, removal or disposal fees and Amazon advertising.
Payouts, reserves, VAT lines, withheld amounts, marketplace adjustments and currency differences.
Where suitable, data can be imported through tools such as A2X or Link My Books into Xero or another agreed accounting system. Forti checks the mapping and reconciles the imported totals to Seller Central and the bank — automation posts the detail, it doesn’t remove the review.
FBA Inventory & Cost of Goods Sold
Purchasing stock isn’t the same as selling it. Cost of goods sold is matched to the units actually sold during the period.
Units and values reconciled to the inventory reports used for the year-end accounts.
Purchase price, freight, customs duty and other directly attributable costs allocated consistently.
Stock movements between countries tracked — they affect both inventory records and VAT obligations.
Damaged, lost, returned or disposed inventory recorded from the relevant Amazon reports and claims.
| VAT Route | Main Trigger | What It Covers — And What It Doesn't |
|---|---|---|
| Irish VAT | Irish taxable turnover from goods exceeds €85,000, or voluntary registration | Covers Irish VAT obligations. Does not replace OSS, IOSS or registrations created by stock held abroad. |
| Union OSS | Qualifying intra-EU B2C distance sales and digital services exceed the combined €10,000 threshold | Reports destination-country VAT through Ireland. Does not report every transaction in a foreign warehouse. |
| Local EU Registration | Goods stored, transferred or sold domestically in another Member State | A local VAT number and returns may be required even where the business also uses OSS. |
| IOSS | Distance sales of imported goods, consignments of no more than €150 | Import VAT collected at checkout, reported through one scheme. Excise goods are excluded. |
| UK & Other Markets | Sales, imports or stock movements outside the EU | Follow the destination country's rules and the marketplace arrangement. Irish VAT treatment alone isn't enough. |
Each distinct product type in the consignment can attract the €3 charge.
The measure covers consignments with an intrinsic value of no more than €150.
Scheduled to apply until 1 July 2028, when wider EU customs reform is expected to take over.
Amazon stores and fulfils the stock. Accounting needs stronger inventory reconciliation, fee mapping and warehouse-location VAT monitoring.
You hold and ship the stock. The VAT route can be simpler where inventory stays in Ireland — but sales, refunds, shipping and fees still need reconciliation.
You report the Amazon business through your personal Form 11. Simpler, but you remain personally liable for the trade.
The company files annual accounts, CT1 and B1. Salary, dividends and retained profits have separate treatment.
You may not need an Irish company to sell. Irish VAT, establishment and tax-residence questions still need review.
Forti's resident-founder route where at least one director is EEA-resident, or the non-resident route with a Section 137 bond.
How Forti Takes Over the Amazon Accounts
We review the business structure, marketplaces, stock locations, tax registrations and current bookkeeping.
Settlement, inventory and payment reports are connected or imported through the agreed software and chart of accounts.
Bank, platform clearing, VAT, inventory, loans and prior-period balances checked before monthly processing begins.
Settlements, expenses, stock, VAT and cash processed to the package timetable, with management reporting.
Irish VAT, OSS or IOSS filed, followed by annual accounts, CT1, Form 11 or B1 as applicable.
Transaction limits, marketplaces, countries and reporting needs are reviewed as the business expands.
E-Commerce Starter
E-Commerce Growth
⚑ Package limits are a starting point — Amazon order volume doesn’t always equal accounting transaction volume, so Forti confirms the plan after reviewing the settlement and integration set-up.
The payout is a net cash transfer. Sales and deductions must be recorded separately.
Unsold stock remains inventory. Cost of goods sold is matched to the items sold.
Marketplace VAT collection on some transactions doesn't complete the seller's registrations or returns.
Shopify, Amazon, Stripe and PayPal should map into one set of books without double-counting sales.
The underlying sales, refunds and fees can belong to different accounting or VAT periods.
OSS reports qualifying B2C sales — it doesn't remove every obligation created by stock stored abroad.
From 1 July 2026, IOSS consignments can still carry the new customs duty.
Settlement, stock and VAT errors become harder to trace after months of unreviewed activity.
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