Shopify Success Unlocked: How Sleek Elevates Your E-commerce Game
Introduction
For Shopify sellers, the journey from getting started with registration to navigating the complexities of bookkeeping, accounting, and tax compliance, can be daunting.
Our goal at Sleek is to make these complicated tasks less of a burden, leading to a smoother and more efficient process for Shopify sellers. In this article, we explore how Shopify sellers can benefit from using Sleek’s back-office services, ultimately enhancing their operational efficiency and freeing up more time to focus on their core business activities.
Here, we’ll outline the top three benefits that Shopify sellers can gain by incorporating Sleek into their business strategy, highlighting how it can be a valuable tool in their journey towards ecommerce success.
The Key Benefits of Using Sleek
- Get Peace of Mind That You’re Compliant From Day One
- Optimise your business by outsourcing your Tax, Accounting and Bookkeeping
- Ensuring Compliance and Security for Your Business
Reason #1: Get Peace of Mind That You’re Compliant From Day One
Starting your journey as an e-commerce entrepreneur isn’t just about listing some products. It’s about setting up a robust and compliant foundation for your digital business.
Here’s how having a partner like Sleek can help in this crucial stage of business formation.
Selecting the Right Business Structure
One of the first steps in this journey is choosing the appropriate business structure. Sleek guides you through this process, helping you understand and select the structure that aligns with your business goals and needs. Setting up your business correctly from the get-go is crucial, and with Sleek’s assistance, you can ensure that your business is not only compliant but also positioned for success.
Outsourcing for Efficiency and Reduced Risk
In the dynamic world of e-commerce, outsourcing complex or specialised tasks is a smart move. Sleek provides services that cover these essential areas, allowing you to focus on what you do best. By outsourcing key skills that you may lack, such as advanced accounting or compliance expertise, you not only enhance efficiency but also significantly reduce financial risks for your business. Sure, setting up a business might be possible on your own, but unless you’ve navigated these processes before, they can be cumbersome and time-consuming. Time that otherwise could be better spent on your listings, sales or customer service!
What are the pros and cons of different business structures? Find out more.
Reason #2: Optimise your business by outsourcing your Tax, Accounting and Bookkeeping
In the fast-paced world of ecommerce, success hinges on both innovative ideas and adept cash flow management, yet the daunting challenge of accounting tasks can impede growth for many Australian entrepreneurs, consuming precious time and energy. Here’s how a partner like Sleek can help you!
Cost Savings
Outsourcing your accounting to Sleek can be significantly more cost-effective than maintaining an in-house team. You save on expenses such as salaries, benefits, training, and office space. Sleek offers specialised software and expertise, enabling efficient and accurate handling of financial tasks at a lower cost.
Scalability and Flexibility
As your Shopify business grows and evolves, so do your accounting needs. Sleek’s outsourcing services are scalable, adapting to your business’s changing requirements. This flexibility is more efficient than trying to expand an in-house team to meet fluctuating demands.
Enhanced Focus on Your Business
Free up valuable time and resources by outsourcing accounting tasks, allowing you to concentrate on core business activities like product development, marketing, and customer service. This shift of focus can lead to increased competitiveness and growth for your Shopify business.
Reason #3: Ensuring Compliance and Security for Your Business
For e-commerce sellers, compliance is crucial as it safeguards against legal issues and financial penalties, ensuring a smooth operation and building trust with customers.
Staying on Top of Tax Deadlines
In the whirlwind of managing an Shopify business, tracking key tax dates can easily slip through the cracks. However, missing these dates can lead to unwanted penalties or fines. This is where Sleek steps in as your vigilant partner. We ensure that your business consistently meets all tax deadlines, thus safeguarding you from potential financial setbacks. With Sleek, you can rest assured that your compliance with tax obligations and liabilities is always in check, allowing you to focus more on growing your business.
Leveraging Expert Financial Knowledge in Ecommerce and Tax
The world of e-commerce accounting is intricate and ever-evolving, plus certain Ecommerce decisions can have impacts upon your tax reporting and compliance.
Sleek offers you direct access to a pool of financial experts, each skilled in a range of disciplines from accounting and tax compliance to financial analysis. This expertise ensures that your financial operations are not just managed, but optimised, aligning perfectly with the latest regulations and industry standards. With Sleek’s team at your side, your financial decisions are informed, strategic, and compliant.
Common Accounting Mistakes for Ecommerce Sellers:
Implications of Inventory Tracking
Choosing the right inventory tracking system is crucial due to its significant impact on tax implications. The Last-in, First-out (LIFO) method, beneficial in high-inflation periods, prioritises the expense of recently purchased products, maximising the cost of goods sold (COGS). Conversely, the First-in, First-out (FIFO) method, the most prevalent system, sells the oldest inventory items first, potentially understating COGS during inflation. Selecting the optimal system requires evaluating your product types, tax situation, and inventory complexity. Changing methods later entails complex recalculations and potential tax consequences.
Minimising Risks of Errors and Fraud
In any financial operation, the risk of errors and fraud is a constant concern. Sleek addresses this concern head-on by prioritising accuracy and security in all accounting practices.
A specialist partner running the books reduces the risk of human error and allows you to rest assured that we have it covered. Plus, our stringent security measures and protocols are designed to shield your sensitive financial data, significantly reducing the risk of costly errors and potential fraud. With Sleek, you gain not just a service, but a secure fortress for your financial data, providing unparalleled peace of mind.
Common Accounting Mistakes for Ecommerce Sellers
Calculating COGS
Virtually all Shopify sellers maintain an inventory of their products, each with its own cost and sales price. To precisely determine the cost of goods sold (COGS), as well as the gross profit margin and inventory value, it’s crucial to accurately calculate and timely record the COGS for each individual SKU.
However, it’s common to observe inaccuracies in COGS calculations among Shopify sellers, often compounded by recording COGS at incorrect times rather than at the point of sale. Such errors can distort your gross profit margin and misrepresent the value of your inventory, leading to misguided business decisions and potentially, the failure of your business. Getting COGS right is therefore critical for the health and success of your e-commerce operation
