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Etsy to QBO integration using Synder Part 1

Shawheen Amirkhizi • Jun 22, 2021

What is an Etsy Store and why is it Important to Integrate Etsy to QBO

Etsy is a global online marketplace, where people come together to make, sell, buy, and collect unique items.

 

As per statista.com as of 2020, more than 4.3 million sellers sold goods through the Etsy platform. Most of the Etsy sellers spend a lot of time thinking about how they can set themselves apart, what new product they can make and sell, and different ways they can market their items. These sellers take great pride in offering such unique, and hand crafted items, but one thing that often doesn't get enough thought or attention is the bookkeeping side of running a business. QuickBooks Online is a great solution for Etsy sellers to manage their accounting and finances.

 

However, Etsy platform has a number of transactions which you need to bring into QBO. These transactions are standard and consistent and therefore setting your system up to import them automatically into QuickBooks is important to ensure effective, efficient and correct bookkeeping.

 

There are many apps to integrate Etsy and QuickBooks to import and categorize your transactions automatically. Some of these apps include Intuit's "Sync with Etsy", Webgility, A2X and Synder. In this article we will discuss this connection using Synder which is a very flexible software allowing for both easy setup as well as customized settings per transaction type. In future blog posts we will also explore other synchronization apps.

 

Further, we would like to note that in this article we are exploring the Etsy shop where stock-keeping unit (SKU) missing per variation and with limited inventory tracking. Due to lack of inventory tracking causes a lack of consideration for cost of good sold (COGS), which must be addresses using a separate inventory management software. In our future blog posts we will explore about inventory management software which will suitable for Etsy shop.


Quickbooks Online Setup for Etsy Sellers

Before synchronizing transactions with QBO using Synder or any integration app, there are a few steps that should be taken to setup QuickBooks online appropriately. These include:

 

  • Adding the bank account where Etsy deposits your money from sales
  • Adding the bank or credit card account where Etsy charges your seller fees and refunds over Etsy balance
  • Creating Chart of Accounts
  • Location Tracking (for multi-shop sellers)

 

The setup process for adding bank and credit cards is a common task, therefore we will not address this in this article. We will however discuss in greater detail the setup process for location tracking and creating the chart of accounts. 


How to Set-up Etsy Sellers Chart of Accounts in QBO 

There are different types of Etsy transactions such as Etsy sales, Payouts, Shipping income, Discounts, Refunds, Shipping fees, Ads fees, transactions fees, subscriptions, Listings fees etc. In order to gain granular detail, it is important to customize the Chart of Accounts based on these Etsy transaction types. Setting up the chart of accounts in a useful manner is necessary for a useful and informative profit and loss statement.

 

To simplify this process for Etsy Seller's, we have created a sample chart of accounts for Etsy Shops. 


Below are some step by step instructions on how to add a customized chart of accounts for an Etsy store. 

Step 1 Go to the gear icon in QBO and select Import data from Tools

Step 2 Select Chart of Accounts

Step 3 Browse the Chart of Accounts CSV or Excel file and select Next


Note: You can use our proposed Etsy Chart of Accounts, if you do use this file please refer to our second blog post on about Etsy to QBO using Synder

Step 4 Map fields to QuickBooks and select Next

Step 5 Check Account Name, Type and Detail Type and select Import

Once you have imported the relevant Chart of Accounts to QBO it is important to enter the beginning balance of the Etsy Payment Account. Go to Accounting Select Chart of Accounts select the relevant Etsy bank account and click edit. As per below image you can include opening balance of Etsy. This should be done before adding any transactions or synchronizing any data. 

Setting up Location Tracking in QBO for Multi-shop Etsy Sellers

A popular strategy on Etsy, is to create multiple shops and separate them based on product or target customers. In order to provide useful financial data, it is important to show the performance of each shop separately in their books. This can be done by creating additional accounts, labeled with the name of the shop. However, this method is not optimal and we highly recommend using location tracking instead. In this way the same chart of accounts will be used for all Etsy shops allowing for easy comparison between the different shops.

 

Note: The QuickBooks Online Plus or higher subscription is required for location tracking. Location can be renamed and we often use the name "Stores" for easy understanding.

 

 

Below are some step by step instructions on how you can add location (store) tracking to your Etsy business.

Go to Gear Icon Select Account and Settings

From Account and Settings Select Advanced and go to Categories choose to switch on Locations

Under the Gear Icon select All Lists 

Chose Locations/Stores

Click New on the top right and enter a name for your Location/Store

Wrapping Up

Now that you have added the "Charts of Accounts" related to Etsy Store in QBO and activate the location tracking functionality QBO to track the multi Etsy Stores financial performance. We have covered how to integrate Etsy to QBO using Synder app and how to sync transactions in to QBO in our Blog post, Etsy to QBO integration using  Synder Part 2.

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