Choosing e-commerce accounting software: 7 practical checks

Suitable e-commerce accounting software connects your sales, payments, fees and documents and supports the handover to your accounting team. The important question is whether your monthly workflow works, including refunds, missing documents and unresolved payments.

This guide helps online sellers evaluate software for accounting preparation. For an introduction to the process, read our guide to automated accounting for online sellers. Here, the focus is selecting a tool and testing it against your real requirements.

1. Define the job you want the software to do

Issuing invoices, managing inventory and reconciling settlements are different tasks. Before a demo, write down where you currently spend time. Another invoicing tool may not solve the problem if your bottleneck is explaining marketplace payouts.

Decide who will complete the bookkeeping and what they need from you. Software for accounting preparation does not need to replace your entire accounting system. It needs to support the agreed handover. Explore KudTax's features with that requirement in mind.

2. Check data coverage and import methods

List your shops, marketplaces, payment providers and invoicing tools. For each one, identify whether you need sales, fees, payouts or documents. Then check the actual import method.

An API connection and a file import may cover the same provider while supplying different data. Ask about supported periods, formats and repeated imports. KudTax's supported API integrations also offer file import; file-only integrations are identified separately. Start with the integration directory.

3. Reconcile a complete payout

A demonstration with one invoice and a matching bank transfer is too simple. Use a full settlement period containing fees, a refund and a payout that arrives later.

For example, €5,000 in collected customer payments, less €300 in refunds and €200 in withheld fees, results in a €4,500 payout if there are no other movements or opening balance. The bank receipt alone does not explain the underlying transactions. This is a reconciliation example, not a prescription for tax treatment or account allocation.

Check whether you can trace the components and identify unmatched items. Record the manual work left over, rather than only counting automatically processed rows.

4. Separate export files, documents and direct connections

Ask to see the handover: which file is produced, which documents accompany it and how each reaches the destination. A DATEV file export differs from a DATEV data service. DATEV outlines the available routes in its accounting data service decision guide, in German.

KudTax describes its file workflow on the DATEV export page. Ask your accountant to check a test export. A successful download does not establish that accounts, references and document handling match your process.

5. Test exceptions and assign responsibility

Choose three situations that occur in your business, such as a partial refund, a foreign-currency payment or a document without a clear order reference. Who resolves each case? How are corrections recorded? How do you avoid importing the same data twice?

Tax decisions also need a responsible person. Evaluate the available data and review steps without treating automation as a legal guarantee.

6. Compare the total cost of the workflow

Compare plans at your actual volume. Clarify what counts toward usage, which connections are included and whether setup or additional usage costs extra. Include the monthly work that remains.

For your internal comparison, add the subscription, setup effort and time spent collecting data, resolving exceptions and handing over records. Value that time using your own cost assumptions. This is a decision aid, not a promised saving. Use the current KudTax pricing alongside your calculation.

7. Decide after a complete test month

Agree on a short acceptance checklist before testing:

• The agreed sources cover the same accounting period.
• Payouts can be explained by their components.
• Missing documents and unresolved matches are identifiable.
• Your accountant or bookkeeping team can process the handover.
• The workload and plan fit your normal monthly volume.

Want to evaluate this workflow with KudTax? Register and use the checklist for your first test. If several shops, payment providers or an accounting firm are involved, request a demo and describe your data sources and target system. This makes the discussion specific to your business.