How does Accounting Software get data from Online Marketplaces like Amazon, eBay and Walmart?

Seller Ledger on February 7, 2026

This article will explain how accounting software providers receive eCommerce data, how safe it is for sellers to use, and how to think about choosing which provider to go with if you want to automate your eCommerce accounting.

Accounting Software providers such as QuickBooks, Xero and Seller Ledger use something called an API to import eCommerce sales data from online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Etsy. API stands for “Application Programming Interface.” They have been in existence for decades, and they are safely used all over the internet.

How Do API’s work?

Think of an API as a private way for software programs to talk directly to each other and exchange information. In addition to providing a standardized way to exchange data, most uses of APIs also include permissions to manage customer data privacy and security.

In the case of accounting software getting information from online marketplaces, the first step is for the accounting software to get approved as a reliable partner. The large marketplaces, with tons of customer data, don’t want just any software accessing their data. Once approved, each accounting software is issued what’s effectively a digital ID, which they can use to identify themselves each time they request information.

The next major step is making sure that the accounting software actually has permission to get data on behalf of an actual customer. In order to get this permission, the accounting software sends the customer to a special page to let the marketplace know what data they are permitted to share. This happens on the marketplace’s website, so no passwords are exchanged. Once the user gives permission, the marketplace sends the accounting software a token that can be used in future requests for data. Think of that token as a permission slip that the accounting software presents each time it asks for data.

Do all software providers connect with marketplace API’s in the same way?

We’re glad you asked!  No, they do not.  This is one of the big differences in the various accounting software solutions for eCommerce sellers.  Some accounting software companies connect directly to the marketplaces, others require the use of 3rd party eCommerce connectors like A2X Accounting, Link My Books and Synder. And some choose to offer both.

Below is a diagram showing the various options used by leading eCommerce accounting platforms.

Let’s talk about some of the advantages and disadvantages of each option:

Direct connection

A direct connection means that not only has an accounting platform built their own access to marketplace data, but they have also taken the time to classify that information into the proper accounts, categories and tax lines that a business needs. Seller Ledger uses this approach.

Pros

Simplicity: Fewer moving parts means less work getting set up. And the connections and data are built into the core parts of the accounting software.

Lower costs: You don’t have to pay for extra software subscriptions.

Accountability: When marketplaces change their data, or introduce new fees, there’s only one party responsible for updating the software.

Cons

Less flexible: If your accounting needs are more unique, having the ability to choose between different methods of data connection (e.g. detailed vs summary) could be valuable.

3rd Party eCommerce connectors

Using 3rd party eCommerce connectors basically means an accounting platform is outsourcing the eCommerce data collection and classification to someone else. These 3rd parties specialize in eCommerce connectivity, so it’s a legitimate way to delegate responsibility. Xero has taken this approach.

Pros

Expertise of 3rd party connectors: The leading providers have been working with eCommerce Marketplaces for year, and are very familiar with the data.

Keeps books “clean and lean”: By delegating the task of collecting and summarizing eCommerce data, you can reduce the likelihood that your traditional accounting software gets bogged down by data it was never designed to handle.

Cons

Complexity: By using what some call “middleware”, you will have more setup to get things working as desired. And because the eCommerce connections are not baked into the core product, the user experience may feel disjointed.

Cost: Needing to use a separate software system will invariably cost more.

Choice of Direct OR 3rd part connectors

Then there’s the option for maximum flexibility. Some accounting platforms build their own direct connections to leading eCommerce marketplaces, but also allow you to choose a 3rd party connection instead. Quickbooks offers this choice.

Pros

Flexibility: You can choose which option works best for your business, even doing it on a marketplace by marketplace basis if so desired.

Experience: In the case of using 3rd party connectors, these tools have been used together for many years by many sellers.

Cons

Quality and coverage: Based on online commentary, there may be issues with how well the direct connection tools are managed. And Quickbooks, as of the time of this post, only provides a limited set of direct integrations (e.g. they don’t connect directly to Walmart.) As such, you could end up with a “kitchen sink” approach.

Complexity: Again, because the eCommerce connections are not a core part of the accounting software.

Cost: If you use a 3rd party connector in addition to a multi-channel tier of Quickbooks, prices could get up there.

Conclusion

As with any decision, your choice of accounting software to use for your eCommerce business comes down to the needs of your business and your personal preference. But, regardless of which option you choose, feel confident that there lots of ways to automate your eCommerce accounting using accounting software.

Automate your Whatnot accounting with updated Seller Ledger integration

Seller Ledger on January 31, 2026

When we first launched our Whatnot integration, the only sales data available to Whatnot sellers was their Ledger history. Customers could download those reports and then upload the CSV-formatted files to Seller Ledger. Since then, Whatnot has added weekly order reports, which provides much more transaction detail, including:

  • Item prices
  • Coupon costs
  • Shipping costs
  • Commission fees
  • Payment processing fees

To take advantage of that, Seller Ledger has rolled out new functionality to automate Whatnot accounting. Customers no longer need to download files from Whatnot and upload them to Seller Ledger. All of that is taken care of.

How to automate your Whatnot accounting

In order to fully automate your Whatnot account within Seller Ledger, you only need two things:

1. You should use the Chrome browser when accessing Seller Ledger so that you can also make use of the second tool (below.)

2. Once you are using Chrome, you will want to install Seller Ledger’s custom-built Browser Extension. This extension allows Seller Ledger to automatically pull down and import the proper transaction details.

You can learn more on how to get set up properly in this support article.

Once you are properly set up, Seller Ledger will regularly access your Whatnot account, retrieve the order, coupon, shipping and fee information.

Competing with Quickbooks

Seller Ledger on January 29, 2026

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Well, here’s another form of flattery, though perhaps less sincere. We discovered yesterday that Quickbooks is buying google ads against our product name.

We take that as a compliment, because it must mean that they would like to reach prospective eCommerce customers who are searching for us. That is quite flattering, considering they are:

  • Significantly larger than our company
  • Have been around a lot longer than us
  • Have had years (decades?) to try to enhance their software in ways that would make it work well for online sellers.

Now, it would be very easy to react to such an action with trepidation or anxiety. I mean, this is an enormous public company with very deep pockets that isn’t afraid to spend to achieve its goals. And given that Quickbooks has raised their prices 35% in the last 3 years, there should be plenty to spend.

Spending on advertising is a lot easier that simplifying an existing product that isn’t particularly well-suited to eCommerce. And we have faith that word will continue to spread about how much better Seller Ledger is for eCommerce accounting.

So we welcome the challenge – the challenge of competing with Quickbooks:)

New Walmart Channel summary page

Seller Ledger on January 29, 2026

Continuing the work with did for both Amazon and eBay, we’ve just rolled out a new channel summary page for Walmart. While Seller Ledger has been importing Walmart sales, refunds and fees for more than a year now, we’ve made it even easier to make sense of all of that detailed data.

From your Seller Ledger dashboard, just click into your Walmart account to view a screen like the following:

Walmart summary

You can choose from a number of date ranges to see your data. You can click into any payout to view a summary of (and mini profit and loss statement for) that payout. You can even drill down to see every single transaction that makes up each payout.

You can also see a summary of your sales and expenses for the period, with a breakdown among selling costs.

Want help automating your Walmart accounting? Learn more about how Seller Ledger can help.

Best Amazon Accounting Software for 2026

Seller Ledger on January 18, 2026

Whether you’re thinking of switching or just getting started, this step-by-step guide will help you choose the right solution for your Amazon business.

Amazon (and eCommerce) accounting comes with a rather unique set of challenges, above and beyond traditional business accounting. In addition to regular income and expense tracking, you can expect to face:

  • Lots of order transactions (if you’re lucky)
  • Even more fee transactions
  • Inventory and cost of goods sold tracking
  • Reconciling platform payouts vs your bank

The good news is, with modern software, you can shrink the time you spend on accounting for your Amazon business from hours a month to minutes.

How do I choose?

First, let’s assume that you’d like to get your Amazon data into your accounting software with as little customization and setup as possible. That will rule out platforms like Wave Accounting and Freshbooks, which not only don’t have direct integrations with Amazon, but they require using a general purpose API (application programming interface) tool like Zapier to make it work. That’s a non-starter for most sellers.

Next, the key question becomes – how much (and what kind of) Amazon data do you want to bring into your accounting software. Specifically, do you want all of the transactions from Amazon or just summarized information?

Detailed vs Summarized Amazon Data

So what does it mean, to get detailed vs summarized Amazon data? Let’s take a look at each method:

Detailed transaction data

This means pulling in every order, including line items, discounts, sales tax collected and remitted, shipping collected and fees subtracted. It also means bringing in shipping label transactions, and LOTS of other Amazon fees.

What are the pros and cons of this approach?

Pros:

  • You get a perfect understanding of your Amazon accounting, not only at the P&L and balance sheet level, but also down to the net profit on every sale (if your solution can pull that off – more on this later.)
  • You can automate inventory and cost of goods calculations by mapping sales back to the original inventory purchases.
  • You avoid the issue of payouts that can span different periods (e.g. an early January payout that includes both December and January transactions.)

Cons:

  • A lot of folks (especially old-school CPAs) worry about “cluttering up” your books with too much detail, which can bog down your accounting platform’s performance. Amazon does produce an enormous number of small transactions.
  • Reconciling all of those transactions to the payouts and deposits to your bank can be a royal pain in the neck if your solution doesn’t do this for you (again, more on this later.)

Summarized data

Using this approach, instead of bringing in all Amazon transactions, you summarize them outside of your accounting platform, and instead, match the totals to each payout that shows up in your bank account.

The pros and cons of this approach are pretty much the reverse of the above:

Pros:

  • Reconciliation of all of those Amazon transaction totals to your payouts should be easier.
  • You avoid “cluttering up” your accounting software with details you may never need to dig into.
  • The performance of your accounting software remains high by limiting the data you add.

Cons:

  • You miss out of net profit calculations.
  • You can’t automate inventory/cost of goods calculations.
  • Payouts that span multiple months or years are still problematic.

Biased perspective

We’d like to take a quick moment to point out the following observations. We believe two of the most commonly referenced reasons for choosing the “summarized” approach stems from folks dealing with practical limitations of existing solutions.

First, the idea that a lot of data will “clutter up” accounting software is more a reflection of the design of that software than the data itself. Good software design, especially around the user interface, can do an awful lot to hide details until you’re ready to look for them. In addition, when a software solution already has a lot of non-eCommerce features that already “clutter up” the interface, perhaps avoiding those unused features would help.

Second, the argument about performance is equally fascinating. There are many other platforms that process exponentially more data than accounting platforms and yet are still performant. Just ask Google, Amazon, eBay and Shopify (or TaxJar.) So changing your desired behavior because of the scaling limitations of a platform seems suboptimal.

What are the best options?

In addition to looking at the data options from Amazon, you may have some other criteria specific to you and your business. How much do you want to do yourself vs outsource to an accountant or bookkeeper? Do you want something specifically designed for eCommerce? How much do you value simplicity? Are you price conscious?

We’ll go through the leading contenders in the space, based on current (2026) sentiment:

Seller Ledger

Seller Ledger is one of the newer players in the space, created by several of the original team members behind Outright/GoDaddy Bookkeeping and TaxJar. It provides both the accounting platform plus a direct Amazon integration (as well as many others) and chooses the “detailed transactions” approach.

Seller Ledger is specifically designed for eCommerce sellers, so it has a much simpler user interface and setup process that traditional accounting software. It also has a pricing model that starts much lower and grows with the size of your businesses. Additionally, it does not limit features based on pricing tiers.

Detailed transaction approach

Seller Ledger pulls in all transaction data from Amazon via a custom-built integration. It does not require any third party connectors. And while it does pull in every Amazon transaction, it also ties every single transaction to each payout, and matches those payouts directly to your bank account deposit. This addresses the concerns about payout reconciliation, because it is built into the system, and also avoids the timing issue when a payout occurs around the end of a period.

It groups all transactions related to each Amazon order (including fees, shipping labels, etc) so you can see your net profit per order. That includes cost of goods sold, if you are using unique SKUs. Plus, it can automate inventory levels using the FIFO (first-in, first-out) method.

If you want to outsource your Amazon accounting completely, you can use Seller Ledger and invite your accounting pro to access your data. But bookkeeping services are not included in the price of the software.

Plans start as low as $10/mo for very small sellers and go up based on monthly transaction volume.

Limitations/concerns

As of the time of this writing, Seller Ledger is primarily designed for US eCommerce sellers. It handles US income and sales tax very well, but does not yet provide currency conversion. All non-US transactions are shown and summarized in their native currencies.

It is also exclusively designed for eCommerce businesses, so if you require invoicing other features for service-based businesses, you may want to look elsewhere.

Quickbooks Online or Xero + third party connector

The most familiar names in accounting software, these two classic platforms support all kinds of business types, not just Amazon businesses.

Quickbooks is by far the most popular accounting platform in the market. It has a direct integration option with Amazon, though most commentary suggests using a third party connector (A2X, Link My Books, Synder) to properly handle Amazon data. It is also more recommended for US-based businesses. However, Quickbooks is also relatively expensive and is notorious for raising prices (as in, up 35% in the last 3 years as of this writing.)

Xero has no direct integration with Amazon, relying instead on those same third party connectors. It tends to be much more recommended for non-US businesses (especially anyone based in New Zealand or Australia.) And it is quite a bit less expensive than Quickbooks.

Now let’s look at the third party connectors. While there are a lot of more general purpose middleware solutions out there (e.g. Zapier, Webgility, etc,) we are going to focus on the 3 that appear to be the best tailored for eCommerce.

A2X Accounting is well respected for their data accuracy and working especially well with Quickbooks. They use the “summarized” approach to bringing in Amazon data, though they have a creative solution for splitting payouts across periods. They are said to be a bit more complex than other solutions, and more expensive.

Link My Books, which also uses the “summarized” data approach, focuses a bit more on ease of use and VAT compliance. It is also a bit less expensive that A2X Accounting.

Synder is a more broad-based connector, working not only with Amazon and other marketplaces, but also with payment platforms like Stripe, PayPal and Square. They also support the “detailed” approach to Amazon data in your accounting platform. They tend to me a bit more complex, which, given their extra capabilities makes sense. And their pricing is a bit higher.

The combos

Given the performance and “clutter” concerns, and seeing the US vs non-US focuses, it would seem like the choices really come down to:

  • Quickbooks + A2X Accounting (if you are US-based)
  • Xero + Link My Books (for non-US businesses.)

In both cases, you will be using the “summarized” Amazon data approach, with the pros and cons mentioned earlier.

Both combinations are also designed very well to worth with accounting professionals.

In terms of pricing, Quickbooks Online + A2X Accounting is going to be on the more expensive side, at likely $100-$200/mo to start (depending on how many channels you link and transactions you process.)

Xero + Link My Books appears to start at about half that rate and go up from there.

One additional thought: by using two different applications, it might make for fun customer support inquiries if/when something changes or breaks. And given how often Amazon adds or changes their fees, software updates are inevitable.

Finaloop

Another relatively new option, Finaloop is a “full service” solution for eCommerce businesses looking for software + bookkeeping all in one place. Like Seller Ledger, they provide the accounting platform and a direct integration with Amazon, using the “detailed” data approach. And similar to Synder, they also link to other marketplaces and payment platforms. But their big claim to fame is that their service also comes with team members who will do your bookkeeping for you.

With pricing that starts at $250/mo, the base pricing isn’t that much more expensive than Quickbooks + A2X Accounting. But, prices rise pretty quickly and are based on your business revenue.

Limitations/concerns

Given what happened to Bench Accounting, another startup that tried to build a “software + bookkeeping” business (more broadly than eCommerce,) you’ll want to make sure you can take your data with you if needed.

Summary Comparison

Seller Ledger

Best for:

  • Small to mid-sized Amazon sellers in the US
  • Those who want detailed Amazon data
  • Those who want an affordable option

Quickbooks + A2X Accounting

Best for:

  • Scaling US-based Amazon sellers
  • Those who want summary level data
  • Those willing to pay for quality/reputation
  • Already have an accounting pro that likes this combination

Xero + Link My Books

Best for:

  • Scaling non-US based Amazon sellers
  • Those who want summary data
  • Those looking for a more affordable summary solution
  • Already have an accounting pro that likes this combination

Finaloop

Best for:

  • Amazon sellers who want to outsource their bookkeeping but don’t already have an accounting pro
  • Those willing to pay for that outsourcing
  • Those who want detailed Amazon data

2026 Pricing Update

Seller Ledger on January 16, 2026

As we approach the end of our 3rd year since launch, Seller Ledger is announcing our pricing update for 2026.

Seller Ledger is increasing prices 0%

Yes, you read that right. We are keeping prices the same. Just like we did in 2025. And 2024.

We haven’t raised prices since we launched on April1, 2023. To put that in perspective, let’s look at a simple chart comparing us with the overall rate of inflation and the leading accounting platform: Quickbooks Online.

As you see, over the last 2 years and 9 months, the total rate of inflation has been 6.8%. We also included the change in price for Quickbooks Essentials, which allows for up to 3 sales channels but no inventory tracking, and QuickBooks Plus, which includes everything in Essentials plus inventory tracking. In both cases, their monthly prices have increased more than 35%, or 5x the rate of inflation.

Conversely, Seller Ledger’s monthly pricing hasn’t changed at all. Given the rate of inflation over that time, Seller Ledger has actually gotten cheaper relative to most other products and services.

And yet, we’ve added a TON of new functionality

Just look back at what we added in calendar year 2025. Click on any of the bulleted items to learn more.

Enhanced connectivity and data automation

Improved usability

Better support for more complex sellers

State and local sales tax reports

Oh, and though we haven’t promoted it yet, those of you who still have to deal with sales tax returns might want to check out our new state sales tax reports under the “Taxes” tab:)

If you want to go back even further to see what we’ve added since launch, feel free to check out our blog.

How is that possible without raising prices?

There are two parts to this answer:

First, we are a private company that is not beholden to outside shareholders. The number one responsibility of public company executives is to maximize shareholder value. We get to choose what we solve for. Every team member owns stock in this company. And we prefer to focus on making customers happy, first and foremost. It also helps that we’re profitable, which can be explained by the next point.

Second, technology is evolving at an ever increasing rate, and most technology dramatically improves efficiency. We are on a very modern tech stack. And instead of using tools like artificial intelligence as a way to lay people off and generate more profits, we use it to dramatically improve the product at a cost structure that allows us to do so.

    There actually is one other pricing update

    As it turns out, adding all of the functionality we have over the year has attracted some significantly larger customers. So much so that we’ve had to add some new pricing tiers above our largest tier. If you are an eCommerce seller with more that 5,000 orders/transactions a month, check out our updated pricing page.

    Methodology

    In the spirit of full transparency, we used the Wayback machine to look up pricing from both Quickbooks and Seller Ledger. Want to double check? Go ahead.

    Here’s looking to a great 2026!

    View your Amazon profit per order

    Seller Ledger on January 7, 2026

    Just as we announced earlier last summer with regards to eBay, we are proud to announce the ability to see the NET profit on each Amazon order. What is net profit per order? It’s how much money you make after all order-level costs have been factored in, including inventory cost, fees and shipping. Many customers think of it as their “ROI” or return on investment for each item they sell.

    Amazon profit per order

    If you click the “>>expand” link next to any order in your Amazon account, you will now see all expenses that are tied to that order. This includes any and all Amazon and FBA fees associated with that order. In addition, if you purchase shipping labels through Amazon, we include that too.

    And most importantly, as we talked about when rolling out our Gross Profit report, if you track your inventory costs at the item level and use unique SKUs for each of your Amazon items, we will match those costs to the correct item.

    There are a lot of solutions out there that will summarize Amazon amounts and match them to payouts, but how many other accounting solutions tie everything together like this to see profit on every single order?

    Feel like trying this out for yourselves? We offer a 30-day free trial with no credit card required.

    Try Seller Ledger for free

    Manage your Contacts

    Seller Ledger on January 5, 2026

    On of the challenges of importing data, especially from certain banks and credit cards, is that they can create a lot of similar but not identical contacts/vendors/customers.

    While Seller Ledger does it’s best to learn over time and create consistency among contacts, sometimes you still end up with slight variations.

    Fortunately, we’ve just rolled out a new section under Settings where you can now manage your contacts.

    From here, you can see all of the contacts used in Seller Ledger, including how many transactions are associated with each contact

    As you can see in the example above, we have two contacts that look awfully similar. If you click on the contact name (or the “View” button) you can see the transactions that use that contact name:

    These transactions look like they are consistent with the more commonly used contact name of “Nv Sos Silverflume”, so let’s reassign these transactions to that name:

    The just start typing in and choose the name of Contact you want to reassign these transactions to:

    Click “Delete & Reassign”, and Seller Ledger will move those two transactions to the new Contact name and remove the old one. From here, the list of contacts is updated as such:

    That’s it. Now as you are editing/managing contacts elsewhere in Seller Ledger, your list of options will look quite a bit cleaner. And your Expenses by Vendor report will thank you for it:)

    2026 IRS mileage rate increases to $.725 per mile

    Seller Ledger on January 2, 2026

    Happy New Year!

    It’s that time of year again – time to watch your deductions increase! To help with that, the IRS has increased the standard mileage rate for business use of your vehicle from 70 cents per mile in 2025 to 72.5 cents per mile in 2026.

    Don’t miss out on your deductions. Just tell Seller Ledger the date of the trip, a description of its purpose, and the distance traveled – we’ll calculate the rest. And remember, not only can you track your trips one at a time, but you can now also upload a CSV file of all of your trips – a pretty good option if you’re making lots of trips to the post office:)

    Closing entries

    Seller Ledger on December 28, 2025

    To better support accounting pros and some of our bigger customers who use more traditional double entry accounting, we are pleased to announce the ability to record year-end closing entries within Seller Ledger.

    What are closing entries?

    In essence, closing entries “reset” a businesses profit and loss each year. Think of the profit and loss report as a scoreboard, showing you how much money you made (or lost) in a year. When a new year starts, your profit and loss starts all over. But, you don’t want to lose track of the prior year scores. That’s where closing entries come in. These entries take the profit and loss amounts and move them to the balance sheet.

    How to I record closing entries?

    If you click on the Settings tab, you will see a new sub-tab for “Journal Entries.” This is has been updated since we first rolled out support for journal entries.

    Click the button to “Add Closing Entry. You will then see a pop-up asking which year you would like to close.

    Click “Review and Confirm” and you will be presented with the complete profit & loss for that year, as well as the net profit or loss that will be transferred to retained earnings.

    Click the button to “Create Closing Entry” and Seller Ledger does the rest of the work for you. Your Profit and Loss will be reset for the next year, and your balance sheet will be updated to reflect the change to retained earnings.