posted on December 28, 2000 08:00:15 AM new
HI all -
Sorry about all the questions. I am trying to figure out if I need to change my ways for 2001. This one: in your records, do you note the amount you pay for postage on your sales PER item? Or do you just make a note every day of how much you paid the Post office or UPS?
My packages go for all sorts of amounts based on weight and shipping method. It would be very time-consuming to have to note in my records the amount I paid to ship each one.
I'm just a small timer, but for the past few months I mail 3-10+ pieces a day.
posted on December 28, 2000 11:37:36 AM new
Postage is an expense item vs. a cost of sale item, therefore the total amount from the receipt can be posted as a whole and does not need to be assigned to any particular transaction.
As for the amount collected from your customers, you can either lump the total together, or split it into separate categories if you want to track your postage cost vs. what you collect.
My suggestion for your new year is to get some software to keep track of it all with. Such as Peachtree Accounting (what we use), or Quickbooks. Not only will this help you stay on top of things, but typically accountants charge by the hour and having most of the work done for them will save you a lot of money in the long run. (you should check with your accountant first to see what software they recommend, as you will usually save even more if you can give it to them on a disk)
posted on December 28, 2000 11:47:51 AM new
Mr.Jim -
I presently input my data into a Quicken program and it is generating a net profit number for me.
My main concern is finding out if my recordkeeping system is going to be "OK". It's workable for me now, and I believe it generates an accurate accounting of what I take in, what I spend for merchandise to sell, and what my miscellaneous expenses are. But I don't do all this per item and if I had to do that, I am not sure I could keep it up, since I do a lot of small transactions and the recordkeeping would be a lot more time-consuming, I think.
posted on December 28, 2000 01:06:45 PM new
On the postage side, I get a detailed receipt from the post office each time I mail packages, and keep a log of the day and amount and how I paid for it (cash, business credit card, fiance), so at the end of the month, I can make one entry for postage. I make a once-a-month entry for other things like my Paypal, Ebay, and Amazon Fees for the month, rather than on an item by item basis.
I also "prepay" postage when I buy a book of stamps for the smaller items going out. I record this as postage expense, and plan to make an adjusting entry moving the unused stamps from Postage Expense to Prepaid Postage to cross fiscal years, and reverse it back out in the new year (but then I'm an accountant and understand the accrual system basics pretty well.)
I plan on doing the same thing with my Cost of Goods Sold in the new year - I will put together a spreadsheet of all my inventory and track which auction site I made the sale on (because I track Ebay, Amazon, and Yahoo sales in different accounts so I can compare results). That way I can record my sales from inventory in one entry each month, and yet have the level of detail I want separately.
I do record my sales on a sale by sale basis, so the sales will all flow through the accounts receivable module of my accounting software. I'm using 3S by Clarisys (I think that's the name of it). Its freeware, and very basic but so far, so good.
posted on December 28, 2000 02:23:38 PM new
Katiyana - I'm a little confused, but overall glad to hear that it's possible to do lump sums for the postages and ebay fees. I started out recording all those small amounts and drove myself nuts.
I wish I could invite you over for coffee and a chat, I think that would be fun! I do know at least one big time ebayer "in real life" but was startled when it turned out he had never used an auction manager and had no idea about free listing days. I don't know how he moves all his stuff without knowing some of these basics.
posted on December 28, 2000 02:45:42 PM new
Its funny, I became an Ebay seller because of the free listing day last year. I had some small-time selling on Amazon (back when there were actually Amazon Auction users), but nothing significant. It was only when Ebay had the free listing day that I put a bunch of stuff up, and they sold VERY WELL.
I sell a lot of low-end items (usually starting at $1), so the fees can really bite sometimes. I've managed to spread out a bit and get some other items that are moving very well, especially right before Christmas. December looks like a pretty good month for me.
My whole first year as a seller, I've used an Excel spreadsheet to manage all of my auctions, tracking who has paid, who hasn't, etc. I didn't take into account expenses at the time they were incurred - I spent about a week this month going back and filling in the blanks (fortunately, I've saved all the receipts). Its been a chore, but I'm all caught up now. I'm developing the "system" now to carry into the new year.
I'm going to keep a postage log for the monthly postage, and an inventory log to calculate the COGS each month. Ebay fees, Paypal fees, etc, all come out on Microsoft Money reports for my credit cards and Paypal account. All I have to do is write up the appropriate journal entries, enter them into the software, and I"m done. And doing it on a daily basis, while time consuming is MUCH better than doing everything for the month once a month. I'm able to produce lots of good reports to see who is past due, etc.
I'm going to be very well organized going into 2001, so hopefully I"ll continue to have the same success I did in 2000.
I've made lots of very good friends through the chat boards and Ebay and other sites. We have a group of Pokemon collectors tied into a newsletter so we can exchange info on what we need for our collections, set up trades, etc. Its very nice to be able to finish my set while helping someone else finish theirs. And there is SOOOO many things to collect!
8)
Love being able to help answer any questions I find as I lurk around the boards...
posted on December 28, 2000 06:10:22 PM new
You still have time to buy?? ; - )
Honestly, though, with two back-to-back free listing days and Christmas with two kids under 6 and a full-time job that occasionally needs attention....December has been quite a month!
I am looking forward to getting back to a more sane pace! I feel like once I settle down on some of these accounting issues, I"ll be set. I did really well in 2000 even though most of the time I was low on the learning curve. Now that I have my digital camera, auction managers, and money on my bookstore credit slip, I am ready to go!
