Accountant for e-commerce businesses
Sales across Europe, payouts net of commissions, stock at a logistics provider: your Viseeon accountant automates your shop's bookkeeping and secures your VAT (TVA).
- Accountants used to online shops and marketplaces
- Free 20-minute first call, by video
Why choose an accountant who specialises in e-commerce?
An online shop generates thousands of small sales, paid through several payment providers and sometimes marketplaces. Payouts arrive net of commissions and refunds, which makes reconciliation difficult. As soon as you sell to consumers in other European Union countries, the VAT of the buyer's country may apply.
Your Viseeon accountant connects your sales platform, your payment providers and your bank. They check your VAT country by country and give you a real margin, after platform, shipping and returns costs.
What accounting headaches do e-commerce businesses face?
VAT on sales within the European Union
Above €10,000 excl. VAT per year of distance sales to consumers in other EU countries, the VAT due is that of the buyer's country. Many shops cross this threshold without noticing. Catching up country by country is long and costly.
Payouts that cannot be reconciled
One transfer from your payment provider bundles dozens of orders, minus fees, refunds and disputes. Without a detailed export, your real revenue is wrong. So is the VAT collected.
Scattered stock
Goods in a warehouse, at a logistics provider, in transit or at a marketplace: year-end stock must be valued correctly. A stock error directly changes your taxable profit.
A margin eaten away by hidden costs
Commissions, advertising, shipping not re-invoiced, returns and breakage: revenue grows but cash flow does not follow. Without margin per channel, you do not know where to cut.
The three e-commerce specialities of your accountant
European VAT and the one-stop shop
Tracking of the €10,000 threshold, registration and returns on the OSS one-stop shop, checks on sales made through marketplaces deemed liable for the VAT.
Automated reconciliation
Connection of your sales platform, your payment providers and your marketplaces. Each payout is split into sales, fees and refunds.
Margin per channel and stock
Net margin per sales channel after commissions, shipping and returns. Stock valuation and tracking of product turnover.
When must you charge the VAT of the buyer's country?
The €10,000 excl. VAT threshold is assessed over the current calendar year and the previous one. It adds up your intra-EU distance sales and certain electronic services.
- Below the threshold: you apply French VAT.
- Above the threshold: you apply the VAT of the country where the consumer lives.
- The OSS one-stop shop lets you declare and pay this foreign VAT from impots.gouv.fr, without registering in each country.
- For goods imported from non-EU countries with a value of €150 or less, the IOSS one-stop shop simplifies import VAT.
Source: impots.gouv.fr. Your accountant watches this threshold every month and triggers registration at the right time.
Which indicators should you track for an online shop?
- Margin over purchase cost per channel: own website, marketplace, social networks.
- Customer acquisition cost compared with the average basket.
- Return and refund rate, which weighs on margin and VAT.
- Stock turnover: how many days of sales sit in your warehouse.
- OSS threshold: the total of your EU distance sales since 1 January.
VAT checklist for online selling
Check in 15 points that your shop applies the right VAT: sales in France, in the EU, outside the EU, marketplaces, returns. To tick off before your next VAT return.
Get the guideYour questions about e-commerce accounting
From when should I apply the VAT of the customer's country?
As soon as your distance sales to consumers in other EU countries exceed €10,000 excl. VAT, in the current or the previous year. Beyond that, the VAT of the buyer's country applies.
What is the OSS one-stop shop?
It is an online procedure that lets you declare and pay in France the VAT due in other member states. The tax authority (DGFiP) then passes the VAT on to the countries concerned. You avoid registering in each country.
I sell on a marketplace: who pays the VAT?
In some cases, the platform is deemed the supplier and is liable for the VAT: sales of imported goods of €150 or less, or sales by a seller established outside the EU. In other cases, you are. Your accountant checks each flow.
Do I need certified till software for my website?
The obligation can apply to e-commerce if you are subject to VAT and sell to consumers. It does not apply if all your payments go through a bank established in France or the EU. Your accountant checks your situation.
Up to what revenue can I stay a micro-entreprise?
For the sale of goods, the 2026 threshold is €203,100 excl. VAT. The VAT exemption (franchise en base de TVA) ends earlier, at €85,000 of previous-year revenue. You can therefore be a micro-entrepreneur and still have to charge VAT.
How do I book Stripe, PayPal or marketplace payouts?
Each payout must be broken down into gross sales, fees, refunds and any disputes. Fees are expenses, sales are revenue. We automate this breakdown from the detailed exports.
Does dropshipping have special rules?
Yes: the place the goods are shipped from and the status of your supplier change the VAT rules. Goods shipped from outside the EU may fall under IOSS. It is a model where expert advice helps from the start.
Do I need a year-end stock count?
Yes, under the standard (réel) regime. Closing stock is valued at purchase cost and reduces your consumed purchases. Remember stock held at the logistics provider and at marketplaces.
Are advertising costs deductible?
Yes, they are operating expenses. Invoices from foreign ad networks often require you to self-assess VAT (reverse charge). It is a frequent mistake in the first years.
Let's talk about your shop
20 minutes by video with an accountant who knows online retail. Tell us your sales channels: we will look at your VAT situation.
Related industries
Read on the blog
Sources and last update
- Distance sales and the OSS one-stop shop: am I concerned? – impots.gouv.fr
- 2026 micro-entreprise regime thresholds – entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr (F32353, checked 21/02/2026)
- VAT exemption threshold (franchise en base de TVA) – entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr (F21746, checked 01/01/2026)
- What you need to know about till software certification – economie.gouv.fr (24/02/2026)