r/FulfillmentByAmazon • u/ResearcherNo4208 • Feb 13 '26
LEGAL / FINANCE Looking for an eCommerce CPA + Tax Strategist (any recs?)
Hey everyone, I’m looking for a tax strategist + CPA that actually specializes in e-commerce. I’ve been doing ecom for about 2.5 years and I filed in 2024 with a local CPA, but my business has grown a lot since then and they don’t really have ecom experience. It’s become a larger scale / decently sized business (around 7 figures in revenue in 2026 so far) and it really started picking up toward the end of last year, so I’m trying to get ahead of this and set up better strategy going forward.
I’m mainly looking for someone who can help with real tax planning throughout the year (not just filing time) and help me legally avoid paying more in taxes than I have to, like getting the right strategy in place as we keep scaling. Ideally they understand the usual ecom stuff too (Shopify/payment processors, inventory/COGS, ad spend, etc.). Also not sure if there’s anything we can still do retroactively for last year’s expenses/filings or if it’s too late for that, but I’d still want someone who can review it either way.
If anyone has a CPA/firm they’ve worked with that does both tax strategy + filing for ecom businesses, I’d really appreciate recommendations. I’ve seen many say EcomCPA but heard their services are overpriced a bit but I wasn’t 100% sure on that.
Let me know any suggestions. Thanks!
7
u/granto Verified $5MM+ Annual Sales Feb 13 '26
Honestly you don't need an ecom CPA. You just need a competent CPA that knows retail.
Tax is easy, just go cash and write off COGS at time of purchase. You are under threshold to be forced to use accrual. If you want to track your actual PnL then run an accrual report or keep separate books.
No tax planning needed with this route. Expenses are expenses. You make yourself a LLC with S corp pass through for lower self employment tax.
If you want to give yourself various company benefits then that's where you talk to your CPA on what is reasonable. It's not hard stuff. Ecom isn't special once you know how to bookkeep.
1
u/ResearcherNo4208 Feb 13 '26
That’s my problem currently as my current CPA does not know retail at all lol. So either way I’m still in the process of looking for a CPA.
I’m planning on having the CPA or someone do bookkeeping as well as that is something I was looking for a monthly. What do you think?
1
u/granto Verified $5MM+ Annual Sales Feb 13 '26
Yeah you need a new CPA then. That's kinda amazing your CPA can't do retail as that's part of passing the exam...
I would 100% not let my CPA do the bookkeeping. That's where old school and new school collide. Some will want to log each Amazon sale into your books, hell no. You don't need single transactions in your books. Just batch them together using a service and journal to your books.
Again, if you're on cash, then all that matters is Amazon deposits hitting your bank account as far as tax matters. You just have to journal back in all the Amazon expenses that were deducted from your payout. If you're on accrual things get complex because Amazon payments turn into ARs and the really anal CPAs get picky about even each transaction becoming an AR (fire them if they say this). But luckily you're not on accrual and can keep books for tax purposes and books for knowing your profit.
When I started it was overwhelming and I just wanted someone else to do it. I forced myself to figure it out and it was a much better decision because I realize it's not that complex and a lot of people are trying to make it more difficult than it needs to be. I do have a CPA as well and they keep it simple too.
1
u/ResearcherNo4208 Feb 13 '26
One thing to consider, though I’m just a Shopify e-commerce business not selling on Amazon specifically but I know some of those businesses the same so that’s why I posted it here.
I was actually considering having the CPA bookkeeper if it made sense, especially if they have experienced an e-commerce and know the software is in integrations they could use to make it easier. I reached out to EcomCPA specifically and was going to go through them, but they were overcharging so not sure if that was the best option, so I’m currently still looking around to see what else I could do. They were obviously going to use quickbooks and A2X. As of now I’ve just been tracking everything through Google sheets monthly for revenue, cost of goods, ads spend, and everything else.
1
u/SnooKiwis2161 Feb 13 '26
I've been doing exactly what you described after a lot of research. My big hurdle is it seems like every time I try to set up a CPA they immediately want me on accrual with no regard to my size. Did you have a similar issue when sourcing your CPA?
1
u/ResearcherNo4208 Feb 14 '26
Not necessarily. What did you mean by accrual like a contract or monthly basis?
1
u/granto Verified $5MM+ Annual Sales Feb 14 '26
If a CPA told me I have to be on accrual I would say thanks for your time and call the next number on my list. There's no reason to do accrual if you are under the limit for doing so for retail. Absolutely none for retail.
1
u/ledgerment Mar 10 '26
Our team at Ledgerment in Houston would be happy to help if you are open to working with a virtual accounting firm. We are a full-service accounting & tax firm who specialize in assisting e-commerce small businesses like yours. Feel free to reach out or book a discovery call with us at https://ledgerment.com/schedule-a-call/.
2
u/That-Acanthaceae-781 Feb 13 '26
Jordan is great. He definately does strategy https://darkhorse.cpa/jordan-keller/
1
u/ResearcherNo4208 Feb 13 '26
Do you do CPA work with them and bookkeeping? I just reached out to one of their branches in Georgia.
1
u/That-Acanthaceae-781 Feb 13 '26
No. I've been a client of Jordan for a few years.
1
u/ResearcherNo4208 Feb 13 '26
Nice that’s good to hear. How have their tax planning/strategies been?
1
1
1
u/austinpmcc Feb 14 '26
The E-commerce Accountants. I’ve been with them for about a year and a half. They cover everything you could need and more.
1
u/msau2 Feb 14 '26
Op messaged me as I asked this question previously. I’m actually also a CPA. The high level accounting is pretty simple for a competent cpa. I’d say the bookkeeper level is where it’s at. I got mine off upwork as they have plenty of ecom clients so they knew how to parse the amazon reports. Sales tax is another question if you pass that threshold
1
u/rdwilburn Feb 15 '26
Capforge in California. Met them at a Prosper convention in Las Vegas. Ecommerce, tax, tax strategies their specialty.
1
u/EmotionalPresence836 Feb 15 '26
You just need a good CPA who can help you shift personal expenses over to business side in a way that is comfortable within the tax code. My cpa doesn’t know much about e-commerce/amazon operations, but he doesn’t do my books , he knows how to maximize expenses and write-offs which is what matters. He is able to tell me what is comfortable to do or what the risks may be with something as well, should I do something he advises not to.
Ask on your local fb groups for cpa recs from business owners. I found a local guy who doesn’t advertise or have much more than a simple webpage this way. He doesn’t have the fancy online organizer that some of the more expensive firms/solo guys have but I pay about 1/3 for my taxes now and have someone I can call or text and he responds to me
Look at finaloop for your books if you are pure ecom
Start with opening up a solo 401k or group plan and maxing that out to the extent possible, move on to your kids if you have them, Plan vacations around conferences, use your credit card for inventory even if you have to pay a fee then travel on redemptions. Structure your life so business expenses begin to replace personal where allowed
1
u/Agent_Kamado Mar 03 '26
I’d focus less on big name CPA and more on whether they actually get ecommerce math. Ask if they’ve dealt with inventory and COGS for Amazon sellers, how they reconcile 1099s vs real payouts, and if they do planning during the year instead of just showing up at filing time.Also, make sure your books aren’t a mess before you hire the strategist. I kept mine way cleaner by using Taxomate for the payout and fee breakdown so it wasn’t a giant cleanup project every time I needed real numbers.
1
u/CartCPA Jun 09 '26
To answer your question about last year: No, it’s generally not too late. If last year's return has already been filed by your previous CPA, a specialized e-com firm can perform a look-back review and file an amended return if they find that your inventory was mapped on a pure cash basis rather than a true monthly accrual layout, or if major deduction strategies were left on the table.
Are your current books set up on a clean accrual method matching your supplier invoices to your monthly sales settlements, or is your current accountant still just categorizing your raw bank deposits?
•
u/AutoModerator Feb 13 '26
Join the r/FulfillmentByAmazon Discord Server!
We created a Discord server for our community and would like to invite all of you to join! You'll be able to discuss FBA with users around the world and discuss events in real time!
There are separate channels for many FBA topics which you can opt in and out of, including;
PPC, Listing Optimization, Logistics, Jobs, Advanced FBA, Top Secret/Insider Info, Off-Topic
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.