Bookkeeping Built for Ontario E-Commerce and Online Stores
Selling online means your bank statement almost never shows a sale. It shows a Shopify payout, an Amazon settlement or a Stripe transfer that already has fees, refunds, chargebacks and sometimes sales tax netted out. Add inventory bought months before it sells, sales into several provinces with different tax rules, and advertising spend that changes daily, and it is easy to run a busy store without knowing whether it makes money. BKInk provides cloud-based bookkeeping for Ontario e-commerce businesses and online stores so payouts are reconciled back to real sales, sales tax is tracked by province and margins are visible every month.
Common Challenges
Payouts recorded as revenue. Booking a platform payout as a sale understates revenue and hides fees, refunds and chargebacks. Over a year the distortion is significant, and it makes HST returns wrong.
Sales tax across provinces. A store based in Ontario selling to customers in other provinces has to think about GST, HST and, depending on the province and thresholds, provincial sales taxes. Marketplace platforms sometimes collect and remit tax on your behalf and sometimes do not. The books need to show clearly what was collected, by whom, and what you owe.
Inventory and cost of goods sold. Cash goes out to suppliers, freight forwarders and customs brokers long before the product sells. Without a sensible method for inventory and cost of goods sold, profit is overstated in slow months and understated in busy ones.
Foreign-currency purchases and sales. Suppliers billed in US dollars, platforms paying in multiple currencies and exchange differences all need to be recorded correctly rather than lost in rounding.
How BKInk Helps
We set up or clean up your QuickBooks Online file with a structure built for an online store: sales by channel, platform and payment-processor fees, refunds, shipping income and cost, advertising, inventory purchases and cost of goods sold. Each month we reconcile every payout and settlement report back to gross sales, fees, refunds and tax collected, so revenue is complete and fees are captured as expenses. Every bank, credit-card, loan and payment-processor balance is reconciled.
Sales tax collected is tracked by province and by who remitted it, and returns are prepared through our HST filing service. Inventory purchases and cost of goods sold are recorded using a method that fits the size of the business, so gross margin by month is meaningful. Where you have staff, payroll runs alongside the books through our payroll service. At year-end the file goes to your accountant reconciled and complete, or to our own corporate year-end and T2 preparation service.
Key Benefits
- Payouts reconciled to gross sales, with fees, refunds and chargebacks recorded rather than netted away.
- Sales tax tracked by province and by remitter, so HST returns are based on the right figures.
- Meaningful gross margin through consistent inventory and cost-of-goods-sold treatment.
- Advertising and fulfilment costs visible by month, so you can see whether growth is actually profitable.
Why Choose BKInk
- Founder-led, dedicated bookkeeper who is a Certified QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor and Technician of CPB Canada.
- Cloud-native from the start: your store already runs online, and so does the bookkeeping.
- Bookkeeping and tax under one roof, with CRA-authorized EFILE for T2 and T1 returns, or a clean handoff to your existing accountant.
- Fixed monthly pricing scaled to order volume and channels. See bookkeeping pricing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which platforms can you work with?
We work from the payout, settlement and sales reports your platforms and processors produce, including Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, Stripe, PayPal and Square, and reconcile them in QuickBooks Online. We do not need access to run your store.
Do I have to register for HST if I only sell online?
Registration depends on your revenue and where your customers are, not on whether you sell online. We will look at your sales by province during the consultation and set the books up so registration and filing decisions are based on accurate numbers. Our HST tracking checkup is a useful starting point.
Can you handle inventory?
Yes, at the bookkeeping level: we record purchases, landed costs and cost of goods sold using a method appropriate to your volume, and reconcile to the inventory counts or reports you provide. We do not replace your inventory-management system.
We are a sole proprietor, not a corporation. Does that matter?
No. The bookkeeping is the same; at year-end the records feed a T2125 on your personal return, which we can prepare through our T1 service. See also bookkeeping for the self-employed.
How much does e-commerce bookkeeping cost?
It depends on order volume, number of channels and currencies. See example packages on our pricing page; a consultation produces a fixed quote.
Ready to Know What Your Store Really Earns?
Schedule a consultation and get payouts reconciled, sales tax tracked by province and margins you can trust.