How do you handle inventory for your business? Have you considered the importance of finding the best bookkeeper for retail or e-commerce who has industry experience and specialized knowledge?

Bookkeeping for retail can be super complicated compared to many other industries. There’s managing your financial numbers, but there’s also specialized knowledge of inventory management to keep accurate records of your stock. Every piece of inventory represents cash and you can’t afford to lose track of a single item. Just keeping track of all that inventory can be a full-time job in itself. 

Here are some reasons why you need a specialized bookkeeper for e-commerce or any other retail business.

Inventory Management

If you work in retail, you’re constantly managing incoming and outgoing inventory. Some of your stock may be kept in warehouses, some in your store, or, if you run an at-home business, some of it may even be in your home. No matter where your inventory is located, you need to keep track of your inventory at all times, including the quantity, purchase price, and sale price of every item.

To manage inventory effectively, you need a robust inventory management system that can keep track of it all. Staying on top of this can be time-consuming, but the process can be made much simpler by using an accounting program like Xero or Quickbooks Online (QBO) in combination with such inventory management systems as Unleashed, Dear, and others.

These cloud-based accounting programs include the usual suite of invoicing and financial tracking features, but also offer inventory management. They can be a little complicated to use at first, but that’s one of the reasons why we offer Bookkeeping Training. If learning to manage your bookkeeping yourself isn’t a great use of your time – and let’s face it, it probably isn’t – you can hire us to take care of your retail bookkeeping for you. As virtual bookkeepers, our services are cost-effective and our expertise is unmatched! 

Keeping Track of Business Metrics

If you’ve ever watched Dragon’s Den or Shark Tank, you know how much business owners get grilled on their numbers. The entrepreneurs who don’t know and understand their numbers are viewed as high risk – and for a good reason! Not having a handle on your numbers means that you don’t really understand the health of your business. When it comes to retail, an industry with so many upfront costs, that can be very scary indeed.

Stop to think about it: Do you know how much your business owes right now, at this very minute? How about all of your assets? What is your business’s net worth? This is data that you should have at your fingertips at all times.

If you’re using a cloud-based accounting program that’s kept up to date daily, then getting all of this information should be a snap. You simply need to open up the program and there it is. If you aren’t keeping on top of your accounting, you could be missing critical business metrics that will help keep your business afloat.

Grappling with all those financial metrics is another place where a virtual bookkeeper for retail comes in very handy.

At Canadian Cloud Accounting

We maintain your books on a regular basis, making sure that the information contained within is always up-to-date and accurate. If you’re interested in learning more, contact Canadian Cloud Accounting today. Together, we can get your books in order and set your retail business up for success!