Why retail stores need different books
Stock bought before it sells, a point of sale with every sale on it, cash and cards and gift cards, sales tax on most of it, and counts that never quite match. A store's real profit depends on knowing what the stock cost.
What a bookkeeper for retail stores keeps track of
- Daily sales from your point of sale
- Stock bought, sold and counted
- Sales tax collected
- Cash counted against the till
- Card fees
In the US
- You collect sales tax on taxable goods and file returns with the state, monthly, quarterly or yearly.
- Stock counts at year end set your cost of goods sold.
- Card processors send a 1099-K for what they paid you.
In Canada
- You charge GST/HST and, where there is one, PST on most goods.
- Stock is valued at cost, first in first out or average, the same way every year.
- Gift cards carry no GST/HST until they're used.
What SumSwift does for shop owners
- Point of sale reports read and booked day by day
- Stock kept item by item with barcode scanning, counts and purchase orders
- Till counts with over or short
- Sales tax or GST/HST and PST worked out from the real sales
- Every statement checked against the balances your bank printed, to the cent, with personal spending kept off your profit
- Receipts snapped with your phone or forwarded by email are read and matched to the charge