E-Commerce & Direct-to-Consumer Brands
Multi-channel reconciliation, landed cost tracking and sales tax nexus for digital commerce.
E-commerce and D2C businesses operate across a financially complex ecosystem — several sales channels, multiple payment processors, marketplace platforms, third-party logistics providers, and a multi-state tax environment that has not stopped moving since Wayfair.
The reconciliation problem is structural. A Shopify payout is net of processing fees, refunds, chargebacks and reserve holds. An Amazon settlement nets referral fees, FBA fulfilment fees, storage, returns processing and advertising. Booking the deposit as revenue understates gross sales and hides every cost netted out of it — which is exactly the cost base a contribution margin analysis depends on.
Sales tax is the second structural issue. Economic nexus thresholds — commonly $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions — are crossed silently, and marketplace facilitator laws shift collection responsibility onto Amazon or Etsy for those channels while leaving the brand's own Shopify sales entirely its own responsibility. The result is a business collecting correctly on one channel and accruing exposure on another.
Our e-commerce practice provides the reconciliation discipline and compliance governance that fast-growing digital commerce businesses need to scale without accumulating liabilities they will have to unwind later.
The Problems We See Most in E-Commerce & D2C Brands
Sector expertise is only credible when it names the thing the sector actually struggles with. These are the recurring ones.
Payouts booked as revenue
Net deposits hide fees, refunds and chargebacks in a single line. Gross sales are understated, cost of sales is invisible, and unit economics cannot be calculated from the books.
Nexus thresholds crossed silently
Nothing tells a brand it has passed $100,000 in a state. Exposure accumulates quietly and surfaces during diligence or an audit, by which time several years need reconstructing.
Marketplace facilitator confusion
Amazon and Etsy collect and remit on their channels; the brand's own storefront remains its own responsibility. Assuming coverage across all channels is a common and expensive error.
Landed cost and true COGS
Freight, duty, tariffs and 3PL fees belong in inventory cost. Expensing them as incurred overstates margin on every SKU and misprices the catalogue.
What we handle for e-commerce & d2c brands clients
Common Questions From E-Commerce & D2C Brands Clients
Let's Talk About the Role You Need Filled
A short conversation, then three days of free work so you can judge the output yourself.
info@adasglobuspro.com