As an eCommerce business owner, you know how challenging it can be to manage your finances when you sell across multiple platforms like Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, etc.
A2X simplifies this process by taking all of your data from sales channels and creating summaries that are automatically added to your cloud accounting software in organized summaries, saving you time and improving accuracy. So, you’ll have real-time insights into your financial performance, enabling you to make informed decisions and grow your business.
In this post, we’re diving into the ins and outs of A2X.
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What is A2X?
Founded in 2014, A2X makes ecommerce accounting simpler, more accurate, and more efficient by helping more than 12,000 eCommerce businesses pull in and organize all of their sales and fees data across all of the channels they sell on. Then, it makes it easy to summarize and reconcile your accounts in popular accounting platforms like QuickBooks or Xero.
One of the biggest reasons why tens of thousands of businesses use A2X is their intuitive platform. That’s because the two founders, Paul Grey and Ashley Schroder, have over 10 years of experience selling on Amazon.
By solving accounting problems for their own businesses, Grey and Schroder ultimately created the framework for what we know today as A2X. The eCommerce accounting application has gone on to win Xero’s USA app of the year in 2019 and has processed more than 700,000,000 orders and reconciled over 3,000,000 settlements since its inception in 2014.
In addition, A2X was later purchased by Jamie Shulman and Jamie McDonald, founders of Hubdoc (sold to Xero). The two had a revised focus on partnership with specialist eCommerce accounting firms through their A2Xperts Community where Bean Ninjas is one of a few select featured partners.
How A2X works
A2X first kicks into action when a customer places an order through a sales channel, like Amazon or Shopify. Amazon will capture all the payment details and customer information associated with the order and send this data to the seller in a settlement file every two weeks.
Shopify will generate a file each time it pays a settlement to a seller’s bank account to detail the total payment amount and payment platform used to collect payment on the order..
Then, A2X pulls the various transactions — including the sales, fees, refunds, and value-added sales tax (VAT) information — and rearranges the data to align with the seller’s bookkeeping preferences. The summary is then added to the seller’s accounting system, such as QuickBooks, where it can be reconciled in a few clicks once the payment arrives in the seller’s bank account.
Sales settlements can contain hundreds of transaction details, so A2X significantly streamlines the verification and reconciliation process for ecommerce sellers.
Likewise, A2X enables both businesses and bookkeepers to adopt accrual accounting — or recording expenses at the time of transaction versus at the time of payment — which helps with accurate tax and inventory recording.
Who A2X integrates with?
A2X has integrations for six top eCommerce sales channels, including Amazon, BigCommerce, eBay, Etsy, Shopify, and Walmart.
It can connect any of these sales channels with the three most popular accounting software, which are QuickBooks, Sage, and Xero.
For those who sell across numerous sales channels, A2X also has a premium plan for integration with up to five sales channels.
What types of eCommerce businesses should use A2X?
A2X is geared towards small to mid-sized eCommerce businesses. While sellers with less than $10,000 in sales per month may not require the rapid reconciliation features of A2X, those with high-volume sales within their market may find A2X useful for tax and inventory recording.
A2X is also ideal for sellers who handle multi-currency and multi-country sales, particularly those with eCommerce operations on large marketplaces like Amazon. And it can help to streamline tax information across various locations for accurate reporting.
Our top reasons for using A2X
From ease of use to optimal efficiency, here are several benefits of using A2X:
- Simplified summaries. Rather than simply shifting data from one platform to another, A2X groups transactions into categories and time periods, with the appropriate tax rules applied. It also provides detailed information on each transaction, including fees, refunds, and adjustments, making it easy to understand.
- Less manual work. Instead of organizing raw data manually, A2X automates reconciliation and can even fetch historical data to limit the amount of required manual effort and time. No need for tricky excel pivot tables and data exports out of Amazon Seller Central
- Improve accuracy. A2X reduces the risk of errors that can result from manual data entry.
- Enables better decision-making. With accurate, real-time accounting data, you can make informed decisions.
- Adopt accrual accounting. A2X enables businesses and bookkeepers to adopt accrual accounting for inventory, which is helpful for accurate tax and inventory recording. This can also make tax time less stressful and give you clearer line of sight to gross margins.
- Supports multiple platforms. A2X supports a wide range of ecommerce and accounting platforms, including Amazon, Shopify, Walmart, Xero, and Quickbooks.
- Compare sales data across channels. You can compare sales data across channels and time periods to identify areas of operational improvement.
- Customizable. Sellers can tailor the account codes, transaction categories, tax rules, and other factors on their A2X account and scale the platform to accommodate growing sales.
Overall, A2X is an essential tool for any ecommerce business looking to streamline your accounting processes and gain deeper insights into your financial performance.
However, just like with any tool, there are some limitations.
For instance, some customers complain about the platform’s multi-channel integration, which only allows for five marketplaces and does not include certain jurisdictions throughout Europe.
Okay, I’m convinced. Should I set up A2X myself or have my accounting firm do it?
If you have experience with accounting software and feel comfortable setting up integrations and reconciling accounts, you may be able to set up A2X on your own.
A2X provides detailed documentation and support to guide users through the setup process, so it can be a good option for those who are tech-savvy and have a bit of accounting knowledge.
On the other hand, if you’re new to eCommerce accounting or don’t have much free time, it may be helpful to have your eCommerce accounting firm, like Bean Ninjas, set up A2X for you.
Overall, this can provide you with peace of mind, knowing that your accounting processes are being handled by an eCommerce accounting expert. We’ll ensure that everything is set up correctly and that your accounts are reconciled properly. We can also provide training on how to use A2X alongside setting up and navigating Quickbooks or Xero.
Pro Tip: Did you know we’re an A2X Gold Partner and featured prominently on the A2X website.
Still not sure which route to take? We can help. Schedule a free call with a member of our team here.