Winning e-commerce clients
As we know most work is won through referrals but there is often a dedicated page for accountants on the software portal of some key pieces of tech used to manage e-commerce clients. This can provide an invaluable connection between potential clients and their advisers.
Winning work then works in the same way as in any other sector: offer up a free consultation, include telephone support, provide instant support by putting someone on the phone who can immediately answer a query and generate invaluable goodwill with a new lead.
User friendly and accessible advisers win work, those who are easy to communicate with, get back to people quickly, and if busy and know they can’t respond at least acknowledge the enquiry.
The key to servicing e-commerce clients
We’ve had great success by linking with a piece of software that allows e-commerce sellers to link their Amazon, eBay, Shopify and Etsy accounts directly to Xero or QuickBooks and drills into the Amazon reports to pull down all the relevant data. This can be set up to automate so you don’t even need to go into the software and generate the export.
You can confidently track sales and get accurate VAT reporting by country, tax rate and jurisdiction. The client is relying on you to be quick and accurate with the turnaround of their data, having up to date management information to allow them to make instant business decisions.
As experts using the software, clients approach us to get a quote to move away from paper records and have up to date records on a much more regular basis.
How to onboard online clients
We act for clients across the globe using online encrypted software. This allows us to send and receive sensitive data anywhere in the world. Client identities can be verified using various online offerings as well as with the ICAEW.
We then send electronic new client packs for digital signature direct to the client’s email address. We find this process to be quick and efficient as we can set reminders if the client doesn’t sign straight away – meaning the software is chasing, not us! Also, nothing gets lost in the post and we aren’t relying on the client having a printer handy or being willing to go to the post box. It’s also saved us a small fortune on postage.
We no longer use form 64-8 instead we request agent pins with HMRC to be sent out to the client.
How we add value
By using software, we can make sure VAT is not double counted on EU sales if you have multiple registrations across multiple countries. The software allows us to quickly establish where each and every sale is going from and to and we can minimise any human error in the bookkeeping.
We can also set up tracking within Xero so we can easily see which countries are making the most sales and profits – where is the client getting their greatest returns?
We can also flag for any re-imbursements for lost or damaged items from Amazon and make sure these are not subject to vat.
Essentially each and every line of the sale comes across to be mapped up to Xero. This is when the magic starts as once linked and everything is running as it should we can set the automation and sit back and let the kit do most of the work. This keeps the accountancy costs down for the client on a massive scale once they reach 6 and 7 figures.
Typical demographic of clients using e-commerce
We have clients in their twenties right through to those in their fifties selling a variety of items – from pizza shovels to children’s swimsuits to craft items and everything in between.
The common denominator we find is a passion for scaling up and wanting to grow their business. Clients are investing profits back into more stock, more advertising, using the likes of Helium10 to find the products customers are searching for so they can sell more. It’s not an instant lottery win, it’s a dedicated and coordinated approach to finding the right products and showcasing them in the right way to generate sales. Not for those looking to make a quick buck but over a reasonable period of time the rewards can be huge!
Tax wins
Not only does the client keep their vat bills manageable and make sure they aren’t declaring more output vat than they need in a quicker period of time, because the system is now all computerised they can see each month how their corporation tax is stacking up so there are no surprises at the year end. They can make sure this cash is kept to one side and not rolled up inadvertently in their investment of more stock or advertising.
No brainer
By being fully computerised the client saves accountancy fees and hours of time. This means as advisors we have more time and scope to help the business grow, use our expertise of what we have seen previously to help and point in the right direction, allowing new businesses to learn from mistakes made by others and get a more direct route to success from the outset. I think it’s a win – win all round!
About the author
Bev Goodall is managing director at AbacusBean Limited, and ICAEW BAS member firm