Bookkeeping is simply keeping track of money flowing in and flowing out of a business’s bank accounts and credit cards.

The idea of maintaining records and keeping books (i.e. bookkeeping) is to get in sync with the flow of movement of money so that as a Shopify business owner you can make well informed decisions.

Examples of benefits of keeping good accurate books include assessing which Shopify vendors you are spending the most with, which products are generating the best sellers and who or what segment of the market are your best customers.

No Shopify does no do bookkeeping. The best option is to hire the services of a Shopify bookkeeper who can integrate your store with the right apps and accounting software to give you accurate records and financial information.

We use a combination of Shopify reports, Excel spreadsheets, and Apps such as SOS Inventory, Erplain, Locate and Cin7 depending on the following:

a) Stage of the Business
b) Number of transactions
c) Number of Sales Channels used
d) Accuracy desire
e) Other needs per our clients requirements

Note: Based on our experience, we DO NOT utilize Inventory Management & Tracking within QuickBooks Online.

This software is a Bookkeeping and Accounting software that was not designed to be a robust inventory solution and offers very basic and limited inventory management and tracking. There is no functionality for managing or fulfilling sales orders. Also, there is no detailed inventory history.

Due to the ever changing and complex nature of sales tax, we do not provide stand-alone sales tax preparation services.  Instead, we use Apps and the knowledge and expertise of services from Sales Tax More (STM) or TaxJar as part of our ongoing subscriptions to unsure up-to-date compliance.

As a part of your bookkeeping services, we review and evaluate your ongoing sales tax needs, and provide recommendations and integrations that will serve your Business and provide seamless management of your bookkeeping and sales tax obligations. This ensures compliance with the various Sales Tax Authorities.

We find that the best bookkeeping software for Shopify is QuickBooks Online because:

• It’s live in the cloud. You can access your reports and
  data from wherever you are.
• QuickBooks Online is equipped with key features to simplify and manage your Shopify bookkeeping and grow your business. By using QuickBooks Online, it will keep you tax-ready all year long.
• It will give you a pulse on your business so you can assess your business’ financial health at at any time.
• QuickBooks Online is a SaS (Subscription as a Service) based software. This software is updated at a minimum on a monthly basis providing the user with new features and enhanced functionality.
• QuickBooks Online’s financial features take advantage of state-of-the-art encryption and authentication technologies, including Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), digital certificates, and RSA encryption to protect the security and privacy of your financial information.
• Your data is protected and private. With password- protected login, firewall protected servers and the same encryption technology (128 bit SSL) used by the world’s top banks, we have the security elements in place to give you peace of mind.

Our primary focus is on servicing the bookkeeping needs for sellers utilizing the Shopify platform.

We are aware that these same sellers may also sell across multiple sales channels including Amazon.com, Etsy, Ebay, Walmart etc. and furnish bookkeeping services for those other sales channels as well.

No. You do not need a LLC to open a Shopify store.

Financial Solutions, Inc. is a licensed CPA firm. We provide tax planning and tax preparation services for primarily small business owners including Shopify sellers.

• We provide tax planning and tax preparation services
  for Corporate Tax Returns (1120), S-Corporation Tax Returns (1120S), Partnership Tax Returns (1165), Self Employed Single member LLC Tax Returns (1040 + Schedule C).
• In addition we also prepare Individual Tax Returns
  (1040)

Yes. Financial Solutions, Inc. is a registered Investment Management Company in the State in Hawaii.

We have our books audited by an Independent 3rd Party CPA Firm on an annual basis.

• We are certified QuickBooks PRO Advisers.
• Our CEO, Niky Kartari is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 30 years of experience in Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Tax Services.
• In addition to being a CPA, Niky is also a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) providing financial and life planning services to all Small Business Owners including Shopify Sellers and individuals that would like to gain greater clarity of their financial picture for a peaceful and prosperous future.
• Niky also possesses the following certifications:
  – BS in Accountancy and Entrepreneurship, DePaul
  University
  – Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from
  University of Florida
  – Masters in Tax (M.Tax) Golden Gate University
  – Masters in Advanced Financial Planning (M.FinPlan)
  Golden Gate University
  – Masters in Investment Management (M.InvestMgmt)
  Golden Gate University
  – Certificate in Technical Analysis & Trading Financial Markets, Golden Gate University

Yes. Niky was a co-owner of a successful retail operation in Chicago, IL. While working at the business, Niky was instrumental in upgrading the inventory system from a rudimentary manual inventory system and implemented a cutting edge Point of Sale (POS) system that included up-to date software, user-friendly hardware such as credit card chip readers), and a host of helpful features, like inventory management reports, sales analytics, and
integrations.

In addition, Niky was responsible for preparing and submitting the monthly sales tax returns to the Sales Tax Authorities.

That is a great question. Initially the thought is that if you do your own bookkeeping, you will save money. However, there is a flaw in that line of logic.

Firstly, whatever money you spend on bookkeeping services you can deduct 100% on your tax return.

Secondly, and more importantly, where is your time best spent? Spending time doing bookkeeping after a long hard day of work will not generate any revenue nor increase the bottom line of your business.

However, reviewing the numbers in accurate financial statements that are generated with good bookkeeping will provide you with great insight into your business.

Successful business owners are smart business owners. So as business owners we need to be smart about our time and where we spend it in our business.