How To Integrate Etsy and Sage Business Cloud Accounting
Estimated reading time: 10 minutes.
Time is one thing you can’t buy and if you’re an Etsy seller, it’s probably safe to assume that you already need as much of it as possible to create.
Bookkeeping is fundamental to the survival and growth of your business, so it needs your attention and your investment. Fortunately, neither of those things need to be significant - not with the technology that allows you to work smarter, not harder.
Sage cloud-based accounting software is a great option for Etsy sellers because not only is the award-winning software an industry leader worldwide, but it has options to start small and grow. This makes it perfect for Etsy sellers at any stage of their journey who want to spend less time crunching numbers and more time making.
Connecting Etsy to accounting software is an important first step in your journey to business stability and progress, but it’s not the only step. In this guide, we’ll be taking you through why cloud-based accounting software is best, the gaps it does leave behind, and how to cover those too.
Plus, we’ll take you through the simple integrations step-by-step so that you can set and forget.
In this guide on integrating Sage cloud accounting with Etsy:
Table of Contents
The Benefits of Cloud Accounting for Ecommerce
Managing your books via cloud accounting software makes a lot of sense for ecommerce sellers. With their business based online, sellers need supporting software solutions in the digital space too.
Let’s take a look at why cloud accounting software for small businesses can offer numerous advantages of interest to Etsy sellers:
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It’s incredibly secure
With such a huge quantity of data online now, security measures have caught up. Eliminate the risk of viruses hacking your software or of losing information on USBs by keeping to the cloud. Data on the cloud is encrypted, which essentially means that without your passwords, your information is scrambled into “ciphertext” to avoid others accessing it. Sage has a blog about safety on the cloud here.
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It doesn’t need installing
No discs, wait times, updates, or saving. Everything is backed up for you in the cloud all the time, so you won’t lose your information or progress.
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It’s accessible everywhere, anytime
The cloud is called “cloud” for a reason. It’s a digital space around all of us, accessible via an internet connection. Whatever your device or location, if you can reach the internet address you need, you have access to your software.
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You can share controlled access with others
With cloud accounting software, access isn’t all or nothing. You can let others into certain aspects of your books and not others, making it ideal for working with a bookkeeper or even involving stakeholders if you choose to grow in the future.
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Data can be transferred automatically
Cloud accounting software is designed to be integrated with your ecommerce platform and other apps to enhance your business operations. What does that mean? Automatic transfer of data and communication between your technology. Whether you’re at your computer or fast asleep, your numbers are being collected and crunched for you.
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You have an accurate visual snapshot of your finances
Excel spreadsheets can be good, but they take a bit of tweaking and adjusting to interpret, not to mention leave a lot of room for easy errors. With accounting software, your numbers are presented to you in visually appealing, digestible ways. Your dashboard gives you a quick overview at just a glance, and none of your information is accidentally left out.
What Does Sage Business Cloud Accounting Offer Etsy Sellers?
So what about Sage cloud-based accounting for Etsy, in particular?
What you get with Sage Business Cloud Accounting
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Send and track invoices
If you are a maker selling on Etsy, you’ll no doubt need to understand how much you spend creating, to figure out your profit margins. If you need to order materials for your business, or you need to send an invoice, Sage can help.
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Snap and save receipts
You might buy your materials in stores rather than online, or meet suppliers and need to claim tax back on purchases. Sage allows you to use your phone to capture receipts so that you can maximize your deductibles.
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Stay on top of taxes
Monitor a running total of your taxes which you can file and submit.
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Accurately forecast
Watch your cash flow movements and see a visual representation of changes as they happen from your Sage dashboard.
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Make payments
Keep on top of your supplier orders and invoices.
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Share access
Work with an accountant or VA and need to give them access? Sage allows you to share your software with those who need it, but only as far as your permission settings allow.
These are taken directly from Sage’s website.
Sage cloud pricing starts from $10/mo and goes up to $25/mo for US users, or £12/mo and up to £30/mo for UK users.
Sage has options for self-employed business owners and start-ups, so you have everything you need from the ground up, however you operate.
Why Sage Accounting Integration with A2X is a Must for Etsy Sellers
So you’ve seen what Sage can do, and does extremely well. But there are a few things that accounting software doesn’t offer ecommerce sellers which can make life a whole lot easier.
Sage will bring all your information across from Etsy and present it to you, but A2X takes it a step further.
A2X for Etsy is a connector app that sits between your Sage account and Etsy store.
Rather than individual orders clogging up Sage, A2X captures the settlements from Etsy, calculates all the income and expense lines for each bank deposit associated with them, and posts this information in neat journal summaries to Sage. A2X will also split statements that span different months, keeping your activity grouped by month for easy performance tracking.
No more manual calculations trying to figure out how much you spent on materials, what sales tax you collected per bank deposit and order, whether your returns were reimbursed or how much shipping cost you. A2X has it covered.
A2X also organizes your books via the accrual method. What this means is that you can see the past, present, and future of your cash flow, where money is due to come in but hasn’t been received yet, and whether your forecasting will be accurate.
A2X will transform the way you manage your Etsy bookkeeping.
But don’t take our word for it.
“A total godsend. Saves us hours of accounting reconciliation.”
- Daniel R., Capterra.
“We have lots of tools we spend money on to boost our [ecommerce] business but A2X is the best tool yet. Making money is great, but if you don’t know IF you’re making money, or how MUCH you’re actually making after all the hidden costs amazon charges you, or how much you’re spending on certain things, how can you grow? Best tool out there! It’s a must if you want to grow your business!”
- Lynn T., Capterra.
“If you’re not using A2X for [your ecommerce] accounting you’re doing it wrong! Easy to use and immediately saw the value. Splitting… deposits between months was a brutal exercise and now A2X handles it all… a no brainer tech stack for any [ecommerce] seller.”
- Catherine F., Capterra.
Ready to set and forget your accounting? Turn those reconciliation hours into minutes with A2X for Etsy and Sage.
Step-by-Step: Sage Integration with Etsy and A2X
Ready to integrate Sage cloud accounting software, Etsy and A2X? Let’s do it.
Step 1: Sign up for your free trial of A2X for Etsy
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Head to the signup page here. You have three options for sign-in:
- If you already have an A2X account, you’ll be able to either continue with an existing account or, to start your new one, select “Continue with New Account”.
- You’ll be asked to enter a few details, after which you can select “Save and continue to your account”.
- You’ll be taken to your A2X dashboard ready to connect your Etsy and Sage accounts.
Step 2: Connect to Etsy
- Select Continue to Etsy at the top left of your A2X dashboard.
- You’ll be given two options to choose from here. “I’m the owner of an Etsy seller account” is for you as the owner of the business. “I’m requesting access to an Etsy seller account” is for your accountant or bookkeeper to get access.
- You’ll be sent to the Etsy sign-in page to enter your details. You’ll then be asked to Allow Access to A2X. This is so A2X can automatically download your Etsy data.
- After allowing access, you’ll be sent back to your A2X dashboard and your Etsy account will show as connected:
Step 3: Connect Sage
- On the right of your A2X dashboard, you’ll see the accounting software integration options. Select Connect to Sage. If you’re interested in manually integrating your accounts, select the Custom Integration option and find more info on this here.
- Follow the same process as you did to connect your Etsy account, including access permissions for A2X to Sage, and you’ll be brought back to your A2X dashboard again.
An optional (but recommended) next step: Mapping your accounts and taxes
A2X accesses your Chart of Accounts and taxes in Sage so that when it captures the settlements from Etsy, it can map these automatically for you based on your blueprint.
To set these up and either use these same accounts and taxes or create new ones unique to Etsy, head to Accounts and Taxes:
You’ll see the accounts and taxes as below:
You may need to wait for some of your bank deposit and settlement data to load. As this is populated in A2X, you’ll be able to choose accounts from the drop-down menu by clicking the ‘x’. Or, you can create your own by typing in the fields:
Similarly with taxes, you can use the drop-down menu under Tax Rate:
Once you’re done, click “Save” at the bottom of the screen.
If you need to refresh your cache at any time, head to Settings > Connections.
Step 4: Test the connections
Let’s try a manual transfer to make sure your integrations are working properly.
The Home tab displays your latest deposits:
You can find the rest of them under the Deposits tab:
You can open up each deposit by selecting “Review”:
When you open up your deposit, check the details in the top left “Invoice to” box.
Check over the accounts and taxes for that deposit, and then select “Send one invoice to Sage” at the bottom left of the screen.
In Sage, the settlement appears as a single Sales Invoice. You can find these under Sales > Sales Invoices.
You can also find them by filtering statuses of invoices received:
You can open the invoice and check the same details (this example is from Amazon):
The final step is to go to the Banking tab, and open “Imported Transactions”.
That same Amazon example has appeared. Make sure your Etsy invoice is showing in its place:
Check that it matches and select “Match”. You’ll be shown the details again to confirm your reconciliation:
And that’s it! You have a working Etsy-A2X-Sage connection. You can set up auto-posting once you know your integrations are working so that you don’t need to send anything manually. See how to do that here.
For help with split-month settlement reconciliation, see our support center tutorial here.
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