Why FBA sellers struggle with bookkeeping
Amazon FBA bookkeeping is harder than most ecommerce:
- Complex fee structure: referral fees, FBA fees, storage fees, long-term storage, removal fees
- Inventory tracking: COGS varies by supplier, shipment and product
- PPC advertising costs: campaign spend has to be allocated to specific ASINs
- Returns and refunds: revenue adjustments change your true profit
- Multiple payment schedules: Amazon deposits every 2 weeks, but fees are deducted daily
- Tax complexity: nexus, sales tax, quarterly estimates, COGS accounting
SheetLink helps by syncing your bank and card transactions (Amazon deposits, inventory purchases, ad charges and other business expenses) to Google Sheets when you press Sync now. You control when your data updates, which suits a weekly or monthly business review.
How SheetLink helps Amazon FBA sellers
Privacy-first bookkeeping at a fraction of the cost of FBA-specific accounting software:
- Sync Amazon deposits when you choose: the payouts to your bank account land in your sheet when you press Sync now
- Track inventory costs: supplier payments, shipping to FBA, prep services
- Monitor Amazon fees: Amazon deducts referral, FBA and storage fees from your payouts, so record them from your settlement reports next to the synced deposits
- Track PPC spend: sync ad charges billed to your card and allocate them to ASINs
- Calculate profit by ASIN: see which products are actually profitable
- Affordable pricing: Pro is $4.99/month, vs A2X ($19/month) or Taxomate ($29/month)
Why manual sync works for FBA sellers
SheetLink only syncs when you press Sync now. Unlike tools that pull from your bank in the background, it gives you complete control over when your financial data reaches your spreadsheet. That’s a privacy feature, not a limitation.
Made for weekly or monthly reviews
Most FBA sellers review their finances weekly (to watch inventory and cash flow) or monthly (to reconcile Amazon statements and calculate taxes). Manual sync fits that: press Sync now during your review, update COGS and fees, and you’re done. No need for daily automatic updates.
What to track for your FBA business
SheetLink syncs every transaction from the accounts you connect, so you can organize your FBA finances around:
Income sources
Expense categories
Calculate true profit per ASIN
Many FBA sellers overestimate profit by leaving fees out. Here’s how to calculate it accurately:
Example: a $45 product sale
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $45.00 |
| Amazon referral fee (15%) | -$6.75 |
| FBA fulfillment fee | -$5.30 |
| Monthly storage fee (prorated) | -$0.45 |
| Product cost (COGS) | -$12.00 |
| Shipping to FBA (per unit) | -$2.50 |
| PPC cost (allocated) | -$4.00 |
| Packaging and prep | -$1.00 |
| True profit | $13.00 (29% margin) |
| ACOS (advertising cost of sale) | 8.9% ($4 ad spend / $45 revenue) |
Build formulas in Google Sheets to calculate this for each ASIN. You’ll see which products have the best margins, so you can focus your inventory investment on them.
Track the Amazon fee breakdown
Understanding Amazon’s fee structure is critical for profitability. Amazon deducts these fees before it pays you, so they don’t reach your bank as separate charges: take them from your Seller Central settlement reports.
Referral fees (usually 8-15% of sale price)
A category-dependent fee Amazon charges on every sale. Most products: 15%. Media (books): 15%. Apparel: 17%.
FBA fulfillment fees (size and weight based)
Amazon charges for picking, packing and shipping, based on each item’s size and weight, and fees rise in the Q4 peak season. Amazon revises its rates every year, so take current figures from Seller Central. Track them per ASIN to see the impact on margins.
Storage fees (monthly and long-term)
Monthly storage is charged per cubic foot and costs more from October to December. Stock that sits too long also gets an aged-inventory surcharge. Rates change every year, so check Seller Central, and minimize slow movers.
Other fees (returns, removals, prep)
Return processing fees, removal orders ($0.50-$0.60 per unit), disposal fees ($0.15-$0.30 per unit) and FBA prep service fees ($0.30-$2.00 per unit). Track these hidden costs too.
Manage inventory and COGS tracking
Accurate COGS tracking is essential for tax deductions and profitability analysis:
Track supplier payments
Include shipping to FBA
Add prep and packaging
Calculate the per-unit cost
Track inventory value
Keep an inventory tab in the same spreadsheet, with columns for ASIN, Supplier, Units, Total Cost, COGS per Unit, Units in Stock and Inventory Value.
Amazon PPC and advertising tracking
PPC spend directly affects profitability. Track advertising costs to calculate true ACOS and TACOS:
- ACOS (advertising cost of sale): PPC spend ÷ PPC revenue × 100 (target: under 20% for established products)
- TACOS (total advertising cost of sale): PPC spend ÷ total revenue × 100 (includes organic sales)
- PPC by ASIN: allocate campaign spend to specific products to see which are profitable
- Break-even ACOS: your maximum allowable ACOS, based on your margins
If your ads are billed to a card, the charges come in with every sync like any other transaction (if Amazon deducts them from your payouts instead, take them from the settlement report). Tag them by campaign or ASIN to track PPC ROI.
Key metrics for FBA sellers
Build these metrics in your spreadsheet to monitor the health of the business:
- Profit per ASIN: Revenue - COGS - Amazon fees - PPC - Returns
- Profit margin %: (Net profit ÷ Revenue) × 100 (target: 20-30%)
- ACOS: PPC spend ÷ PPC revenue × 100 (target: under 20%)
- Inventory turnover: Units sold ÷ Average units in stock (target: 3-6x a year)
- Days of inventory: Current units ÷ Daily sales rate (avoid stockouts and excess stock)
- Return rate %: Returns ÷ Total sales × 100 (watch for quality issues)
- Effective fee rate: Total Amazon fees ÷ Gross revenue × 100 (benchmark: 25-35%)
How to set up your Amazon FBA tracker
Get your FBA bookkeeping organized in under 15 minutes:
Install the SheetLink Chrome extension
Connect your business bank account
Connect your business credit card
Create your FBA finance sheet
Press Sync now
Add custom columns
Tag transactions
Build profit formulas
SheetLink vs. FBA accounting software
| Tool | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| SheetLink | $4.99/month (Pro) | Solo FBA sellers, small catalogs |
| A2X | $19-149/month | QuickBooks/Xero integration, accrual accounting |
| Taxomate | $29-59/month | Multi-channel sellers, tax reporting |
| Link My Books | $12-59/month | QuickBooks automation for FBA |
| QuickBooks Online | $38-340/month | Large businesses, multi-entity accounting |
Where SheetLink fits: privacy-first manual sync with full spreadsheet flexibility, for $4.99 a month. Combine it with your Seller Central reports for complete FBA tracking, and move to A2X or QuickBooks when you need accrual accounting or CPA integration.
Tax season for Amazon FBA sellers
FBA sellers face complex tax requirements. Your synced sheet helps you stay organized:
- Schedule C filing: track gross receipts, COGS and business expenses for your profit or loss
- Quarterly estimated taxes: calculate net profit each quarter (revenue minus all costs and fees)
- COGS deductions: account for inventory purchases and the COGS sold during the tax year
- State sales tax nexus: track where Amazon collects sales tax on your behalf (economic nexus)
- 1099-K reporting: Amazon sends a 1099-K once your sales pass the IRS reporting threshold; check it against your SheetLink records
- Inventory valuation: your year-end inventory value affects the COGS on your return
Two example FBA sellers
Jason: private label kitchen products
Challenge: Jason sold 15 ASINs but didn’t track profit per product, so he couldn’t tell the winners from the losers.
Solution: He presses Sync now at each weekly review. Jason splits each Amazon payout by ASIN using his settlement report, tracks COGS from supplier invoices and allocates PPC spend per product.
Result: Five products had negative profit after all fees. He discontinued them, doubled down on his top three, and his overall profit margin rose from 18% to 32%.
Linda: wholesale arbitrage seller
Challenge: Linda sourced from 20+ wholesalers with varying costs and couldn’t tell which suppliers were most profitable.
Solution: SheetLink syncs her supplier payments when she presses Sync now at her weekly review. Linda tags each inventory purchase by supplier and product, and calculates COGS per unit.
Result: Three suppliers had consistently better margins. She moved 70% of her buying to them and improved her average margin by 9%.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 bank, your last 7 days, Google Sheets |
| Pro | $4.99/mo or $39.99/yr | Every bank you connect, up to 2 years of history, Google Sheets and Excel, priority email support |
| Max | $10.99/mo or $99/yr | Everything in Pro, plus investments, CLI automation, Postgres and SQLite output, and Claude |
Questions
How do I track Amazon FBA profit by product?
Connect the bank account Amazon pays into, and the cards you buy inventory and ads with, to SheetLink, then press Sync now to bring the transactions into Google Sheets. Amazon pays out in lump sums that cover many orders, so take each ASIN’s sales, fees and returns from your Seller Central reports and check them against the synced payouts. Track inventory costs, Amazon fees (referral, FBA, storage), PPC spend and returns, then calculate profit per ASIN: Revenue - COGS - Amazon fees - PPC - Returns = Net profit per product. A sync before each weekly or monthly review keeps the numbers current.
What Amazon fees should FBA sellers track?
FBA sellers face several fees: referral fees (usually 8-15% of the sale price), FBA fulfillment fees (based on size and weight), monthly storage fees, aged-inventory surcharges for stock stored too long, removal and disposal fees, return processing fees, and Amazon advertising (PPC) costs. Amazon takes most of these out of your payout before it reaches your bank, so get the breakdown from your settlement reports. SheetLink syncs the payouts and anything Amazon bills to your card, so you can calculate true profit after all fees.
How do I calculate Amazon FBA COGS and inventory costs?
Track product sourcing costs (wholesale, manufacturer or private label), shipping to Amazon’s warehouses, prep services, packaging materials and labeling. SheetLink syncs these expenses from your business bank account and cards. Divide total costs by units to get COGS per unit, and track inventory value by multiplying the units in stock by COGS per unit.
Can SheetLink help with Amazon FBA tax preparation?
Yes. SheetLink syncs Amazon deposits and business expenses to Google Sheets when you press Sync now. Categorize transactions for Schedule C: inventory purchases (COGS), Amazon fees, advertising, shipping and software subscriptions. Track quarterly profit to calculate estimated taxes, and total the year for your accountant or tax software.