Growing an ecommerce business means managing inventory cycles, platform fees, marketing spend, and returns while keeping cash flow aligned with revenue. Stock gets ordered and paid for months in advance, then sits in warehouses waiting to convert into sales while your working capital stays locked up.
Most ecommerce businesses reach a point where basic bookkeeping isn’t enough anymore. When your bank asks for forecasts, investors want proper management accounts, or you need to work out whether you can afford that next stock order, you need financial expertise that understands how online retail works.
We provide outsourced finance services for ecommerce businesses across the UK, from bookkeeping and VAT through to strategic FD support and financial modelling.
The problem:
Your current accountant sends reports without explaining what they mean for your business. When you need to make major decisions about stock investment, hiring, or marketing spend, you’re not confident you’re reading the situation correctly.
How we solve it:
Each month, we provide video commentary explaining what’s changed, why it’s important, and what it means going forward. We break down your margins, highlight cost trends, and flag anything that needs attention. You can ask questions throughout the month rather than trying to interpret reports alone.
The problem:
Your P&L shows healthy margins, but cash flow creates constant pressure because working capital gets locked up months before sales come through. You order stock months ahead, pay suppliers upfront, and then wait for it to sell. Meanwhile, your cash is locked up in inventory. Without visibility into when the next squeeze will happen, you’re constantly anxious about whether you have enough runway.
How we solve it:
We build rolling cash flow forecasts that account for your stock ordering patterns, supplier payment terms, and platform settlements. You’ll see cash pressure weeks before it hits, giving you time to adjust ordering schedules or manage payment timing.
The problem:
Revenue numbers look healthy, but once you factor in Shopify fees, Stripe charges, shipping costs, fulfilment expenses, and returns, you’re not certain which products are profitable.
Your bookkeeper records the transactions without breaking down profitability by product or category, which means you’re making decisions about product range and marketing focus without knowing what’s driving profit versus just volume.
How we solve it:
Our management accounts show gross profit by product and category after every fee and cost is deducted. You’ll see which SKUs drive genuine profit and which are marginal or loss-making, giving you the information to make strategic decisions about product range and marketing investment.
The problem:
You’re dealing with sales data from Shopify, settlements from Amazon, fees from Stripe, charges from Klarna, and transactions through PayPal. Each platform reports differently and settles at different times.
You’re wasting hours every month chasing numbers across platforms when you should be running the business. There’s always uncertainty about whether everything’s been captured correctly.
How we solve it:
We handle all multi-platform reconciliation as part of our bookkeeping service. We integrate data from Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, Stripe, PayPal, Klarna, and your accounting software, then deliver clean monthly management accounts. The reconciliation happens behind the scenes.
The problem:
Your bank is asking for monthly management accounts and forward-looking forecasts. Investors want regular financial updates with KPI tracking and variance analysis. Your current setup produces statutory accounts once a year, which doesn’t meet their requirements, and you’re concerned this is affecting funding conversations or covenant compliance.
How we solve it:
We prepare management accounts and forecasts designed to meet investor and lender requirements. Our reports include the KPIs, variance analysis, and forward commentary that banks and investors expect. We’ve supported numerous funding applications and investor reporting processes, which means your stakeholders receive the professional reporting they expect.
The problem:
You need strategic financial input for business planning, pricing decisions, funding applications, and operational improvements. A full-time Finance Director would be ideal, but the £80k-£120k salary doesn’t make sense for your business size or stage.
How we solve it:
Our fractional FD service provides strategic expertise on a part-time basis. We support business planning, financial modelling, investor discussions, and pricing strategy. Scale our involvement up during busy periods like fundraising, then down when you need less intensive support.
The problem:
Returns are constant in ecommerce, particularly in fashion and apparel. Each return affects cash flow, creates processing work, impacts inventory levels, and reduces your margin. Most accounting systems don’t track returns properly, so you can’t see their full financial impact or identify patterns by product type.
How we solve it:
We track returns within your management accounts, showing their impact on gross margins, cash flow timing, and operational costs. You’ll see return rates by product category and understand their full cost, giving you the data needed for decisions about product selection and return policies.
The problem:
Platform fees keep rising, shipping costs have increased, marketing is more expensive than it used to be, and supplier prices are up. Your margins are tighter, but you’re not sure where to focus your attention to protect profitability or where you might have room to negotiate better terms.
How we solve it:
Our management accounts break down your cost structure in detail, showing where costs are increasing fastest and how they’re affecting margins. We track cost trends over time so you can identify pressure points and negotiate better terms or adjust your pricing.
Delivered monthly with video commentary. They show revenue by channel, gross profit after all fees, product and category profitability, cash position, and spend analysis across marketing, fulfilment, and operations.
Rolling cash flow forecasts are updated monthly. Accounts for stock ordering cycles, supplier payment terms, platform settlement timing, seasonal patterns, and planned marketing spend.
Real-time dashboards showing the metrics that matter for your business. Track inventory turnover, customer acquisition cost, average order value, return rates, and margin by product line. Updated automatically from your platforms.
Daily transaction processing, multi-platform reconciliation across Shopify, Amazon, and payment gateways, proper returns tracking, and clean books maintained in Xero or QuickBooks.
Business planning and financial modelling for growth scenarios, investor and lender reporting, funding application support, pricing strategy, KPI development, and operational efficiency reviews on a flexible part-time basis.
VAT return preparation and submission, Making Tax Digital compliance, cross-border VAT for UK/Europe sales, payroll processing, and year-end accounts preparation.
High return rates, seasonal buying cycles, and size/variant complexity mean your cash flow doesn’t follow your P&L. Stock gets ordered well ahead of selling seasons, which locks up working capital for months.
Whether it’s technical fabrics or sports gear, these brands often run DTC alongside wholesale. We handle the different margin structures and payment terms.
Subscriptions create recurring revenue but complicate stock forecasting. Then there are compliance requirements and expiry date management.
We're not limited to these sectors. If stock cycles create cash flow complexity, we can help.
Platforms we work with:
We regularly work with businesses selling through Shopify and Shopify Plus, Amazon UK and Amazon FBA, WooCommerce, and Magento. We integrate with Stripe, PayPal, Klarna, and most major payment platforms.
We use Xero and QuickBooks for accounting, both of which integrate well with ecommerce platforms. We can work with Sage or help you transition if your current software isn’t working for you.
Most of our clients operate in the UK, often manufacture overseas (commonly Asia), and hold stock in UK or European fulfilment centres.
Specialist Accounting Solutions Ltd is a firm of Chartered Accountants founded in 2015 by Sean Hackemann, who has been a Chartered Accountant for over 20 years and has extensive experience in leading finance departments of SMEs, advisory and corporate finance. Sean is supported by his team of colleagues across advisory and financial outsourcing, taxation and bookkeeping services.
Our monthly fees depend on your turnover, transaction volume, number of platforms, complexity of your product range, and the level of service you need.
Basic bookkeeping and VAT for a single-channel business sit at the lower end. Full management accounts, multi-platform reconciliation, cash flow forecasting, and regular FD support for a complex multi-channel business sit at the higher end.
We provide a specific quote after understanding your situation. There are no hidden fees.
If you’re frustrated reconciling platforms, guessing at cash flow, or struggling to see which products drive profit, book a 30-minute discovery call. We’ll assess your situation and explain how we can help.
No, ecommerce is a focus area but we work with SMEs across various sectors. If you’re between £1M-£20M turnover and need outsourced finance support, we can probably help.
We’re an ecommerce accountant based in Reading and London, working with online retail businesses across the UK. Most of our clients are UK-registered companies, though we support businesses that manufacture overseas (typically Asia) and hold stock in UK or European fulfilment centres.
The time required for a valuation can vary, but it usually takes between 3 to 5 weeks depending on the complexity of the business and the availability of financial data.
For more information about the length of time it takes to do a business valuation read our article: https://teamsas.co.uk/business-valuation-duration/
Primarily Xero and QuickBooks, both of which integrate well with ecommerce platforms. We can work with Sage or help you transition to something more suitable if your current software is holding you back.
Yes, we manage VAT compliance, including Making Tax Digital submissions and cross-border VAT for businesses selling across the UK and Europe.
Typically £1M to £20M turnover, but we’re flexible. If you’re growing quickly and your finance function hasn’t kept pace, we can help regardless of your exact turnover.
Usually 2-4 weeks from agreement, depending on your current setup complexity and whether historical data needs cleanup.
Yes, we regularly support clients through funding applications, preparing the financial forecasts, business plans, and investor reporting that lenders and investors require.
That’s a good problem. We scale with you and can support the transition to an internal finance team when the time is right or continue working alongside your team as strategic advisors.
