Link My Books Explained: Ecommerce Bookkeeping Tool
In this guide
The quick answer
What is Link My Books, and how does it automate ecommerce bookkeeping?
Link My Books is ecommerce bookkeeping automation software that connects supported selling channels to QuickBooks Online or Xero. It organizes sales, refunds, fees and tax-related amounts into settlement summaries, sends them to your accounting software, and helps you reconcile payouts with bank deposits. It can save manual entry, but accurate account mappings and regular reviews still matter.
Selling online creates more accounting work than the bank statement suggests. Your store might show hundreds of orders, while Amazon or Shopify deposits one smaller payout after fees, refunds and other deductions. Recording that deposit alone rarely tells the whole story.
That's why I recommend looking at the bookkeeping process, not just the sales dashboard. In the short video below, I introduce Link My Books through a familiar example: recording Amazon sales in QuickBooks Online without manually entering every settlement. The same principle applies to several other supported ecommerce channels.
This guide explains what Link My Books does, where it connects, how automation works, what it cannot replace, and how to test it using my free-trial and coupon offer.
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Why is ecommerce bookkeeping so time-consuming?
A marketplace payout is not the same thing as gross sales. Platforms may deduct commissions, fulfillment charges, transaction fees and refunds before they send you money. Some taxes are collected or remitted by the marketplace, while other amounts must be recorded according to your business's tax position.
When you sell across several channels, you also have different payout dates, currencies and reporting formats. One store might pay daily, another might pay less frequently, and a single settlement can include orders from more than one day.
Sales and refunds
Gross product revenue and returned orders need to be identified separately, rather than treated as one net deposit.
Fees and deductions
Referral, payment processing, fulfillment and other charges affect how much cash reaches your bank.
Taxes and timing
Tax treatment, settlement dates and delayed payouts need careful mapping to the right reporting period.
Doing this by hand is possible. The challenge is repeating it accurately as order volume rises. Automation is useful when it removes repetitive reconciliation work without hiding the numbers you still need to understand.
How Link My Books works: from marketplace sales to reconciled accounts
Link My Books acts as a bridge between your ecommerce sales channels and your accounting ledger. Rather than asking you to rebuild each payout manually, it gathers the transactions that make up a settlement and groups them into accounting categories.
- Connect a supported sales channel. Authorize your Amazon, Shopify or another supported account through its official connection process.
- Connect QuickBooks Online or Xero. Choose the correct accounting company so settlement entries reach the books you actually use.
- Configure accounts and taxes. The Accounts & Taxes wizard matches transaction types to your chart of accounts and appropriate tax codes.
- Review each settlement summary. Link My Books groups sales, refunds, fees and relevant taxes into a summarized entry with an audit trail.
- Send or automatically post it. Start with a manual review. After the entries have been checked, you can enable automation for future settlements.
- Reconcile the payout. Match the entry in QuickBooks or Xero to the bank payment from the marketplace or payment processor.
The distinction between accounting platforms is worth knowing: Link My Books posts each settlement as a sales journal in QuickBooks or as a summary invoice in Xero. It also provides the settlement breakdown for checking the amounts. See its official data-posting explanation.
My preferred starting point is to review a few settlements with your accountant before switching on automatic posting. That gives you a chance to catch an incorrect tax mapping or expense account before the error repeats.
Link My Books free trial and VOVA20 offer
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Which ecommerce platforms connect to Link My Books?
Link My Books supports more than Amazon. Its documented integrations include Amazon Seller Central, Shopify, eBay, Etsy, TikTok Shop, Walmart, WooCommerce and Square. These connect to QuickBooks Online or Xero for accounting. That makes the tool relevant to marketplace sellers, standalone ecommerce stores and businesses with more than one sales channel.
Support is not identical in every country. Link My Books currently documents TikTok Shop connections for the US and UK, and Walmart support for the US rather than Walmart Canada. Its Amazon connection covers supported seller regions and their marketplaces. Check the official connection guide before selecting a plan.
Marketplace sellers
Connect an eligible Amazon, eBay, Etsy, TikTok Shop or Walmart account and organize payouts with their underlying transactions.
Online store owners
Connect supported Shopify, WooCommerce or Square activity and reduce manual payment and fee reconciliation.
Multichannel teams
Connect several supported stores, then compare channel performance while keeping bookkeeping entries organized.
One important limitation: an Amazon Seller Central integration does not automatically include Amazon KDP royalties or Vendor Central. Check whether your exact business account is supported before assuming every Amazon product uses the same connection.
Example: recording Amazon sales in QuickBooks Online
The Amazon-to-QuickBooks use case in my short video makes the benefit easy to see. Imagine one completed Amazon settlement with $10,000 in product sales, $500 in customer refunds, $1,800 in marketplace and fulfillment fees, and $700 in advertising charges actually deducted from that payout.
| Settlement item | Example amount | Where it belongs |
|---|---|---|
| Gross sales | $10,000 | Sales income |
| Refunds | -$500 | Sales returns |
| Marketplace fees | -$1,800 | Selling expenses |
| Advertising deducted | -$700 | Advertising expense |
| Net bank payout | $7,000 | Bank reconciliation |
These are illustrative amounts, excluding taxes, withheld balances and other adjustments. The $7,000 is the payout, not total revenue or net profit. Product costs and overhead still need to be included in profitability reporting.
With Link My Books, the settlement breakdown can flow into a QuickBooks sales journal using the account mappings you approved. When the corresponding $7,000 reaches the bank feed, you match it rather than creating another sale. The Amazon payout-matching guide covers that final step.
How to set up Link My Books step by step
The setup is designed around connecting systems you already use. You do not need to build an API integration yourself, but you should have access to the selling account and bookkeeping company you intend to connect.
- Open your free trial. Select the ecommerce business setup option and identify your first sales channel.
- Authorize the channel. Follow the marketplace's approval flow. Amazon users should select the correct region before connecting.
- Connect your ledger. Choose Xero or QuickBooks Online and the right company file.
- Finish Accounts & Taxes. Map sales, refunds, fees, tax rates and payout accounts. Ask your accountant to approve any uncertain treatment.
- Check the first settlement. Compare the proposed totals with your marketplace payout statement and inspect the destination accounts.
- Send and reconcile. Post the settlement, then match it against the actual bank payment in your accounting software.
- Automate after checking. Once the first postings are correct, decide whether the automatic settlement-posting feature suits your workflow.
Link My Books recommends completing its connection and Accounts & Taxes wizard in one session. Use the setup instructions alongside the first-settlement guide if the dashboard looks different from an older video.
Watch the complete tutorial with Daniel Little
The short video introduces Link My Books in a nutshell. For a deeper demonstration, I also filmed a tutorial with Daniel Little, co-founder of Link My Books. We explore settlement summaries, account connections, reconciliation and the setup process. The video may show an earlier interface, so follow the current help articles for changed screens.
What else does Link My Books offer beyond settlement posting?
Once the core bookkeeping is working, two additional capabilities are worth exploring: cost of goods sold tracking and financial analytics. They address a different question from recording payouts: whether your business is making enough money after the relevant costs.
Cost of goods sold tracking
Enter landed costs for your SKUs and, when COGS is enabled and configured, Link My Books can calculate the cost of items sold during settlements and post corresponding entries. The result depends on accurate product costs and the inventory accounting method you use.
Financial analytics
Explore sales, refund ratios and profit views over selected reporting periods. When multiple channels are connected, channel-level comparisons can help reveal which storefront contributes to results. Complete inputs are essential for meaningful profit figures.
The official COGS guide explains the inventory mappings and how to avoid duplicated entries. The financial analytics overview shows the reporting options.
Manual bookkeeping vs. Link My Books: which is worth it?
Manual entry may be enough when you sell occasionally and have only a few payouts. Automation becomes more attractive when bookkeeping starts taking hours every month, especially if you manage multiple channels or work with an external accountant.
| Task | Manual approach | Link My Books approach |
|---|---|---|
| Collect sales data | Download and inspect reports | Import supported settlement data |
| Classify fees and refunds | Calculate and map yourself | Use configured accounting mappings |
| Post entries | Enter each summary | Review and send or enable auto-post |
| Reconcile bank payouts | Match against manual records | Match against posted settlement entries |
| Ongoing responsibility | Full data preparation and review | Review mappings, exceptions and reports |
Link My Books is not automatically the best choice for every seller. Compare the subscription price with the hours it could save, your reporting requirements, and any accounting connector you already use. If you already import the same sales through another tool, decide on one posting workflow to avoid duplicating revenue.
Free trial + introductory discount
Use Link My Books coupon code VOVA20
14 days
Explore the free trial before committing to a monthly subscription.
50% for 3 months
Advertised discount for eligible new customers on monthly billing, using VOVA20.
Link My Books prices depend on order volume and connected channels. New-customer discounts cannot be stacked with other promotions; verify the total and renewal price at checkout.
Link My Books frequently asked questions
Is Link My Books accounting software or bookkeeping automation?
It is an ecommerce bookkeeping automation tool. It connects marketplace and store data to accounting software such as QuickBooks Online or Xero. Those systems remain your accounting ledgers; Link My Books does not replace them.
Does Link My Books work with QuickBooks and Xero?
Yes. It sends categorized settlement information to either accounting platform. The posting format differs: a sales journal in QuickBooks and a summary invoice in Xero. You should review the corresponding bank reconciliation after posting.
Can I use Link My Books with more than one ecommerce channel?
Yes. The number of connected stores depends on your plan. Current documented tiers include Lite for one channel, Plus for two, Pro for five, and Premium for ten. Amazon regions and merchant IDs may count separately. Review the channel-count guidance before subscribing.
Does Link My Books calculate profit automatically?
It offers financial analytics and optional COGS tracking, but the usefulness of profit figures depends on correctly entered product costs, account mappings, taxes and any other expenses you need to include. An automated payout is not automatically the same as net profit.
How long is the free trial, and how does VOVA20 work?
Link My Books advertises a 14-day free trial. To use my offer, start from the Link My Books trial link, then enter VOVA20 when subscribing to an eligible monthly plan. The advertised offer is 50% off the first three months for new customers. Check the applied price and ongoing rate before paying.
For an ecommerce business, good bookkeeping means understanding your sales, fees, refunds and cash flow without recreating every statement by hand. Link My Books can remove much of that repetitive work when the channels and accounting software you use are supported. Start by testing one settlement, confirm the mappings, and let automation handle the repeatable part once you trust the results.