DC's business landscape moves fast — federal contractors, nonprofits, consultants, and hospitality operators all have different compliance needs. Capital Accounting Group keeps your books reconciled weekly so you're always ready for an audit, a grant report, or tax season.
E-commerce accounting is a different animal. A single $100 sale on Shopify can produce a gross charge, a payment processor fee, a platform transaction fee, a shipping label cost, a refund or chargeback weeks later, and — depending on where the buyer lives — a sales tax obligation in a state you have never been to. Generalist bookkeepers either book the net deposit as revenue (hiding your fees and understating your gross sales) or try to hand-reconcile every transaction and give up by month three. We use the right connectors and the right chart of accounts so your books reflect economic reality without drowning in detail.
Our e-commerce practice specializes in the pain points online sellers actually hit: multi-state sales tax nexus after Wayfair (physical, economic, and marketplace-facilitator rules) with Avalara or TaxJar reconciliation; platform fee categorization so Shopify Payments, Amazon referral fees, eBay final value fees, and Etsy transaction fees land in the right COGS or expense buckets; inventory costing using FIFO, weighted average, or specific identification, with proper cost of goods sold entries at month-end; gift card and pre-order revenue deferred until the obligation is satisfied; and chargeback and refund handling without double-counting reversals. If you sell on multiple platforms or ship from a 3PL, we consolidate everything into one clean set of books.
We also think ahead to tax time. Inventory businesses have specific accounting method choices (cash vs. accrual, the $30M gross receipts threshold, UNICAP rules under Section 263A) that most photographers-turned-bookkeepers have never heard of. The wrong choice can cost you five figures. We pair weekly reconciliation with quarterly tax-planning reviews so you know what you owe before the deadline, not after. And if you are crossing into a new state for the first time — either because your revenue there hit the economic nexus threshold or because you opened a new 3PL in Reno — we flag the registration before your next filing.
Our e-commerce bookkeeping practice is based in the Washington DC metro area and works with clients across Washington, DC, Arlington, VA, Alexandria, VA, Bethesda, MD, Silver Spring, MD, Rockville, MD, Kensington, MD, Montgomery County, MD, and Adams Morgan, DC.
I ship to all 50 states from my DC warehouse. How do I know where I have to collect sales tax?
You owe sales tax in every state where you have nexus. Physical nexus is any inventory, employee, or office in a state (so if you use FBA, Amazon’s warehouses create nexus for you in over 20 states). Economic nexus is triggered when your sales into a state cross a threshold — usually $100,000 in revenue or 200 transactions annually, though thresholds vary. We run a nexus study against your Shopify and Amazon data, register you in the states where you cross the line, and set up automatic filings. Many states also have marketplace-facilitator laws where Amazon or eBay collects and remits for you, so you want credit for that rather than double-paying.
Should my e-commerce business use FIFO, weighted average, or specific identification for inventory?
FIFO (first-in, first-out) is the most common and usually matches physical reality — in a period of rising costs, FIFO reports higher profit and higher ending inventory than weighted average. Weighted average is simpler and smooths out price fluctuations, which helps when you buy the same SKU at different costs frequently. Specific identification is for high-value, low-volume sellers (jewelry, art, vintage) where each unit is uniquely tracked. Whichever method you pick, the IRS requires consistency — you cannot switch mid-year without filing Form 3115. We help you pick the right one when your books are set up and document the choice.
How do I categorize Shopify Payments fees versus Stripe fees versus Amazon referral fees?
They are all costs of sale but they live in different places on your P&L. Payment processor fees (Shopify Payments, Stripe, PayPal) should be treated as merchant fees and reduce net revenue or live just below it. Platform fees (Amazon referral fees, eBay final value fees, Etsy transaction fees) are cost of goods sold because you cannot make the sale without them. Shipping income and shipping costs should net against each other so your margins are not distorted. We configure A2X, Synder, or native Shopify-to-QuickBooks connectors so this categorization happens automatically at the order level.
Every e-commerce client gets the complete service.
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Serving businesses in Georgetown, Capitol Hill, Navy Yard, Columbia Heights, Shaw, Logan Circle and surrounding areas including Chevy Chase DC, Friendship Heights, Tenleytown, Brookland. Zip codes served: 20001, 20002, 20003, 20004, 20005, 20006, 20007, 20008, 20009, 20010, 20011, 20012.
We're not a national chain. We understand DC, Maryland, and Virginia tax rules, industry mix, and what government contractors owners actually need from a e-commerce bookkeeper.
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