Ebay Paypal Amazon

Question asked by ray 10 years ago

Hey all, i'm pretty new to accounting & i have a ton of questions that i need assistance with. I have read the how to guides, the faq's and the forums for some of my issues but unfortunately they did not help resolve my questions. Rather than ask all 50 questions in 1 go i will ask them 1 at a time so as not to confuse the situation.

I trade on ebay/amazon & need a way to keep track of money coming in/out/refunds, goods i buy, my postage costs, goods lost in the post, replacements sent out for free etc etc!

I will start with the Paypal side of things. I have managed to import the Paypal data successfully but have issues with how to deal with the imported data. As i have been trying to play about with it i have successfully managed to screw up the import by posting it to wrong places so i guess the easiest way to deal with the mistakes will be to delete all the data and start over. I have tried to delete the paypal account using this link https://secure.clearbooks.co.uk/********/accounting/banking/delete/7502002 but i get an error message saying "You cannot delete your account due to the audit trail". I just need all the data to be deleted so i can start over.

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13 Replies

Hi Ray,

Don't worry all questions are welcome :)

There is a feature in Clear Books where you can create a project. This project can represent a particular job that you were working on or a division within your company. Each project generates it's own P&L and cashflow report so that you can see the profitability of the particular job or division. The guide below explains how to create and assign projects to invoices:

https://www.clearbooks.co.uk/support/guides/projects-settings-2/how-to-create-a-project/

If you set a default project for a supplier or a customer then whenever you create an invoice (customer) or bill (supplier) this project will be automatically used.

Default account balance (which should actually say Default account code) - the supplier is indeed someone you would buy goods from, the account code would usually be cost of sales or a more descriptive account - you can create account codes on the Settings>Codes menu

https://www.clearbooks.co.uk/support/guides/codes/adding-new-account-codes/ https://www.clearbooks.co.uk/support/guides/codes/can-i-edit-an-account-code/

VAT rate - if the only option is No VAT it sounds like you may be non VAT registered. Make sure to toggle on VAT on purchases on the Settings > Toggle features > Invoicing&expenses menu

file

Employment status - The list of suppliers is not strictly just a list of your actual suppliers to your company, it also includes employees, shareholders and just generally any people or places you pay money to. You can therefore create a supplier as an employee and then toggle on this setting so that you can create employee expenses on the Purchases>Expenses menu.

Also just another thing to note is that you can generalise your suppliers and customers a bit if you like - so if you have thousands of random Paypal customers you could create one customer called 'Paypal customer' and assign all Paypal transactions if you liked.

It's not necessary to create POs before bills (purchase invoices). Most people like to use POs as a form of validation. For example if there are lots of employees requesting to buy things for the company, instead of allowing them to create the bills directly they would be required to create a PO before hand. This would then be approved or rejected by someone more senior.

Instead of using POs it might be best just to create bills directly from the Purchases>Bills>Create menu whenever you receive a purchase invoice from a supplier.

It's completely up to you how you want to classify the sales and purchases of your products. You can be as specific as you like by creating new account codes as explained earlier in this post, however using materials revenue as the sales account and materials as the purchase account is perfectly fine.

Hope this all helps out a bit. John

Best answer
10 years ago

Hi Ray,

If these transactions are still showing up on the P&L it sounds as though the account reset was not successful. Can you try this again on the Settings>Getting started>Reset menu - make sure to use the password resetnow

10 years ago

Thumbs up!! Thanks that has reset everything for me! Now to start again..... I did want to start tracking all my purchases/ sales from beginning of oct 14 but as i have no solid factual data of stock on hand as at 1st oct nor cash at bank etc etc would it just be easier if i started the accounts from say todays date (8th Nov). This way i know what stock is in hand, i know what cash is in the bank. I don't know though what i would do with the invoices say from the middle of Oct that still need to be paid, would that just not mess up the accounts? Then when i import transactions from paypal it will also include money that is in paypal balance even though i am going to only import transactions from todays date?

10 years ago

No problem Ray.

Usually you would need to start adding data in from the start of your current financial reporting year and add opening balances so that all transactions added from the start date build on the opening balances and give the correct accounting position as of today.

You can start adding data in now and go back at a later date and add in the transactions prior to this as well as the opening balances. You can set up your financial reporting years on the Settings>Periods menu - does your financial reporting year start on the 1st October?

10 years ago

Yes financial reporting starts on 1st oct. But at the moment i am just going to start concentrating on getting the accounts correct from today and then add in missing info as you have suggested. As the help guides are not really created for novices like myself i have few questions that may seem pretty trivial but i don't fancy having to go back and fix things 6mths down the line! Who knows maybe my dumbo questions may make it to "A Noobs Guide for Clearbooks"!

To add a supplier - (these are companies i buy goods / services from)

https://secure.clearbooks.co.uk/****/accounting/suppliers/add/

Under Basic Information this is where i am putting the company name, and then filling in the address etc etc if i want to OR if the company details are automatically picked up by CB using companies house data. On the right side i have more options, under preset information i do not understand what the default project is. What is it and what is it's use?

under Supplier invoice defaults:

Supplier invoice defaults

Default account balance - As this supplier is someone i buy goods from would i set this to "Materials or Cost of Sales"?
VAT rate - Although i have turned on VAT in settings in the drop down box all it shows is NO VAT. This company charges me VAT on my goods.
Credit terms (days) - Self Explanatory, if the company gives you time to pay.
Employment status - Not Sure why this would appear in my supplier details.
Self assessment ref - Not Sure why this would appear in my supplier details.

Goods i buy to sell:

When i buy goods from a company is it necessary for me to create a Purchase Order? I don't find where i can create one unless Purchase Orders are called Bills under https://secure.clearbooks.co.uk/***/accounting/purchases/list-all/ So when i have bought goods would i go here https://secure.clearbooks.co.uk/***/accounting/purchases/add/

When i am adding a product, i have the option of adding it as Item Type, in my case i select BOTH as i buy & i sell the item. Under the FOR SALES - Account column, i have the drop down list titled REVENUE do i choose Revenue OR Materials Revenue? Remember this is specifically for goods i sell. Under the FOR PURCHASES would i record this as Materials?

10 years ago

Hi Ray,

Don't worry all questions are welcome :)

There is a feature in Clear Books where you can create a project. This project can represent a particular job that you were working on or a division within your company. Each project generates it's own P&L and cashflow report so that you can see the profitability of the particular job or division. The guide below explains how to create and assign projects to invoices:

https://www.clearbooks.co.uk/support/guides/projects-settings-2/how-to-create-a-project/

If you set a default project for a supplier or a customer then whenever you create an invoice (customer) or bill (supplier) this project will be automatically used.

Default account balance (which should actually say Default account code) - the supplier is indeed someone you would buy goods from, the account code would usually be cost of sales or a more descriptive account - you can create account codes on the Settings>Codes menu

https://www.clearbooks.co.uk/support/guides/codes/adding-new-account-codes/ https://www.clearbooks.co.uk/support/guides/codes/can-i-edit-an-account-code/

VAT rate - if the only option is No VAT it sounds like you may be non VAT registered. Make sure to toggle on VAT on purchases on the Settings > Toggle features > Invoicing&expenses menu

file

Employment status - The list of suppliers is not strictly just a list of your actual suppliers to your company, it also includes employees, shareholders and just generally any people or places you pay money to. You can therefore create a supplier as an employee and then toggle on this setting so that you can create employee expenses on the Purchases>Expenses menu.

Also just another thing to note is that you can generalise your suppliers and customers a bit if you like - so if you have thousands of random Paypal customers you could create one customer called 'Paypal customer' and assign all Paypal transactions if you liked.

It's not necessary to create POs before bills (purchase invoices). Most people like to use POs as a form of validation. For example if there are lots of employees requesting to buy things for the company, instead of allowing them to create the bills directly they would be required to create a PO before hand. This would then be approved or rejected by someone more senior.

Instead of using POs it might be best just to create bills directly from the Purchases>Bills>Create menu whenever you receive a purchase invoice from a supplier.

It's completely up to you how you want to classify the sales and purchases of your products. You can be as specific as you like by creating new account codes as explained earlier in this post, however using materials revenue as the sales account and materials as the purchase account is perfectly fine.

Hope this all helps out a bit. John

Best answer
10 years ago

John, your help is really appreciated & especially given that it's a weekend!

I have created a product called dove soap. I buy this from Test Supplier A & Test Supplier B. Both of them charge me different prices for the same item. As a result of the different pricing for the same product will the system average out the cost price of the product for me?

If i want to view the value of my stock on hand how do i view this? I have tried here https://secure.clearbooks.co.uk/***/accounting/stock/stock-report/ but this just shows me the stock level & i can edit it if i wish but it doesn't show me the value.

10 years ago

Ah - the stock tool isn't as advanced as to deal with price averaging at the moment - I think the only way you could add this to the system at the moment is to create 1 stock item (with Both in the item type) and just leave the cost and sale price blank for the time being. All the other information would be filled in bar the prices for the time being.

Stock value is another limitation of the stock tool at the moment too, however the instructions below explain how to enter your current stock valuation and how to update this valuation in future (however you may want to check this over with an accountant before proceeding):

We suggest that you enter the stock valuation every month using Tools > Journals. For example, say in August stock was worth £2,000; but was £5,000 at the end of September

First create a journal with the following double entry:

Dr Inventory £2,000 Cr Cost of Sales £2,000

We suggest you date this on the 31st August.

On the 30th September create another journal to reverse out the August inventory balance:

Cr Inventory £2,000 Dr Cost of Sales £2,000

Finally journal the September valuation:

Dr Inventory £5,000 Cr Cost of Sales £5,000

Both the latter would be dated 30th September.

10 years ago

When you say i can assign all the paypal payments to 1 customer (eg paypal customer) how do i do this? I originally before beginning this post, looked at waiting to explain, noticed at the bottom i could Create a user defined lookup rule, so i clicked the add button & set the search term to "Status: Completed" & then selected the entity as Paypal & under account i had it go to revenue. After doing this i seemed to cock things up as i could no longer see the paypal fees as being seperate from the transaction...

10 years ago

Lol that stock valuation procedure is rocket science! Ok will have a word with accountant about it...

10 years ago

oh right - what I meant by that is just head to Sales>Customer>Add and create a new customer called Paypal customer - there might already be a contact in the list called Paypal, that is because a new contact (customer/supplier) is always created when adding a new bank account on the Money>Bank accounts menu.

So what would have happened is that you added a Paypal bank account and the system automatically created a Paypal contact (a contact is created for each bank account so that when you explain transfers it knows which which entity to show in the description). You then began to explain the statement and set up a look up rule to explain all receipts with the search term "Status: Completed" in the description which is all fine so far.

Next I'm guessing you used the mass update button to explain all the Paypal transactions on the statement using the lookup rule above. This would usually be fine for all other bank statements, however as Paypal include Paypal transaction fees, these are lost when running that mass update at the moment which is a bit of a pain. The development team are aware of this at the moment, however it's proving quite tricky for them to fix. How many receipts do you usually have on your Paypal statement?

Yes the stock valuation does look a bit complicated - I got it from an accountant who used to work here :) however basically it is journal in the current value - at the end of the month reverse this journal by creating one with the complete opposite details and then create a new journal with the new valuation.

10 years ago

hmmm trying to explain over 2000 transactions for the 3 different accounts might prove a bit much! Any ETA on when a fix might be running?

10 years ago

sorry forgot to mention that yes i was using the mass update button.

10 years ago

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