Accounting for Online Apparel Brands, Built to Protect Your Margins
We track what each product earns after returns, ads and fees, and tell you what you can afford for your next collection.
Thirty minutes with a CPA who built and ran his own online store.
Featured in The Globe and Mail & Yahoo Finance
Trusted by Canada's 7-Figure Online Sellers
Signs Your Books Are a Size Too Small
Your bestseller gets the biggest ad budget.
Nobody has checked whether it makes money.
Customers order a size up and a size down.
Your books count the sale, then miss what the return cost you.
You don't know how much stock has expired.
But your books still count it at full value.
Subscriptions grow, but profit doesn't.
Discounts and refunds hide inside one sales number.
A lot of founders get stuck here. It’s fixable.
A lot of founders get stuck here. It’s fixable.
Take one hoodie from your online clothing store and follow the $80 from checkout to your bank account.
We track this for every product in your catalogue, every month, so you price and restock with the right number in front of you.
Where Your Shopify Sales Go Before They Reach Your Bank
Shopify reports one figure, your payouts show another, and your bank shows a third. Fees, refunds, discounts, chargebacks and payout timing explain the gap. We close it every month.
Illustrative figures for a single month.
Your month on one page, with every dollar accounted for
Accounting and Tax Services for Online Apparel Brands
Margins you can trust
- Profit for every product after fees, ads and returns
- Landed cost built into your inventory
- Every payout matched to the bank
Tax on both sides of the border
- GST/HST returns filed on time
- US sales tax nexus reviewed state by state
- CRA and IRS filings with audit support
Cash planned around your collections
- 13-week cash flow forecast
- 12-month budget
- A monthly P&L in plain English
Off-the-Rack Accounting vs Made-to-Measure Books
A general accountant gives every client the same fit. An online clothing brand needs books built around fabric orders, size runs and seasonal stock.
Founders Who Made the Switch
The Profit Clarity Path
Anxious about the big switch? Some of our best clients were too. Here's exactly what happens.
See what you're missing
Review our free checklist and spot the leaks in your fees, taxes, and books.
Get tailored advice
Book a Diagnostic Call with our Ecommerce CPA and leave knowing what to fix first.
Safeguard your setup
We review your Canadian corporate structure and whether a US LLC could cut fees and taxes.
Get caught up
Messy books cleaned, missed filings done, penalty waivers requested from CRA and IRS.
Clarity every month
Monthly books done right from your Shopify portal. Payouts reconciled to the penny.
Plan ahead
Tax-saving consults, cash flow forecasting, budgeting, and ad spend tracking.
Your Next Collection Starts With Clear Numbers
Book a 30-minute call. You’ll leave knowing what to fix first.
Questions Clothing Brands Ask Before Hiring an Ecommerce Accountant
My online clothing brand sells well. Why is there so little left?
Returns, markdowns, ad spend and shipping take a bigger share than most founders expect. Pricing from the factory invoice, instead of the full landed cost, makes it worse. Once every cost is laid out, you can see which one to fix first.
Which of my products actually make money?
We calculate profit per product after returns, discounts, ads and fees. You’ll know which pieces earn a restock and which ones to drop from the next collection.
What happens to last season's stock in my books?
When pieces can only sell at a discount, we lower their value. That keeps your profit figure honest and gives you time to plan a clearance.
Do I collect US sales tax on clothing sold online?
Only in states where you have nexus. Each state also treats clothing its own way: most tax it, a few exempt it, and some exempt pieces under a price limit. We review every state you sell into, and registering in a new state is an add-on.
What does nexus mean for an online apparel brand?
It’s the point where a state expects you to collect its sales tax. For online sellers, it usually comes down to how much you sell there in a year.
I sell to Canada and the US. Do I need two accountants?
No. One SAL team handles your GST/HST, your T2 corporate return and your US filings, so both sides are planned together.
What accounting does an online apparel brand need?
Monthly bookkeeping with reconciled payouts, inventory with landed cost, GST/HST returns, a US sales tax review and a year-end corporate return. Growing brands add a monthly P&L and a cash flow forecast.
I paid my factory a deposit. Where does that go in my books?
On your balance sheet, until the stock arrives. It becomes inventory when the goods land, and turns into cost of sales piece by piece as you sell.
How do you record returns and exchanges?
Each return is recorded against the product that came back, separate from sales. Pieces that go back on the shelf return to inventory.
Do I need to track every size and colour?
Only when it affects a buying decision. Most reporting works at product level, with size or colour detail when you plan a reorder.
Do you work with Shopify and my current apps?
Yes. Premium and Platinum include QuickBooks, Dext and A2X. On Core, you keep paying for QuickBooks yourself.
Is my brand big enough to work with SAL?
Most online brands we work with sell at least about $500,000 a year. Below that, our fees usually cost more than the problems they fix, and we’ll say so on the first call.
How much does ecommerce apparel accounting cost?
Core starts at $1,000 a month, Premium at $1,300 and Platinum at $2,000. Where you land depends on your order volume, your companies, your platforms and how often you file sales tax. The pricing tool gives you a range in under a minute.
Further Reading for Online Clothing Store Owners
Our Team
The ecommerce accountants behind your profit clarity
- Understands ecommerce beyond just the numbers
- Finds the profit leaks in your store
- Fixes inventory and COGS issues
- Keeps you compliant on both sides of the border
Led by M. Salman, CPA, President of SAL Accounting. He built and scaled his own Shopify store before becoming a CPA.
See Your Ecommerce Pricing
Seven quick questions about your orders, channels, and companies. About a minute, no email needed. Fixed monthly fees from $1,000, agreed before any work starts.