Guide: Reconciling ecommerce payments in your ERP

Managing ecommerce payments can be a complex task, especially as your business grows. Reconciling these payments within your ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system is essential to ensure accurate financial records and smooth operations. This step-by-step guide will walk you through the process of reconciling ecommerce payments in your ERP system, helping you maintain financial integrity and streamline your business processes.

Step 1: Choose a robust ERP system

Select an ERP system that offers comprehensive financial and inventory management functionality. Popular ERP systems that are compatible with Stock2Shop’s ecommerce integration include SAP Business One, SYSPRO, Microsoft Dynamics, and many of the Sage Pastel solutions.

Step 2: Integrate your systems

First, ensure your ecommerce website has a suitable payment gateway installed. This will give your customers a way to pay via credit card (or instant EFT) online, instantly updating the order status to “paid” on your website.

Second, ensure that your ERP is integrated with your ecommerce platform. Stock2Shop’s integration service ensures that all retail ecommerce orders are automatically raised into your accounting system as invoices (or sales orders), with the website order reference synced to the invoice reference field.

Step 3: Configure settings

In your ERP system, configure the settings related to ecommerce transactions. This includes specifying taxes rates and default accounts for sales revenue and shipping fees.

Step 4: Monitor incoming orders

As customers place orders on your ecommerce platform, the order data will flow into your ERP system via Stock2Shop.

Step 5: Match payments

• Receive payment data: When customers make payments, the payment details should also be transmitted to your ERP system. You should be able to download a transaction report from your payment gateway, which would include information such as payment amount, date, method, website order reference, payment deductions (eg gateway and credit card fees) and the net amount left over.
• Compare to orders: Match each payment with the corresponding order in your ERP. Ensure that the payment amount matches the total order amount, considering any taxes, discounts, and shipping fees. Depending on the accounting system you’re using, you may be able to import your payment gateway report (as a CSV), otherwise you will have to allocate funds one by one. Ask your ERP consultant or accountant to advise.

Step 6: Reconcile payment processing fees

Payment gateways charge fees for processing transactions which will be listed in your payment gateway reports. They should be reconciled when importing your report to your ERP, otherwise you may have to account for this manually.

These entries should appropriately reduce your sales revenue and reflect the fees as expenses.

Step 7: Regular reconciliation

Perform ecommerce payment reconciliation regularly, ideally on a weekly or monthly basis. This prevents discrepancies from accumulating and ensures accurate financial reporting.

Step 8: Financial reporting

Utilise your ERP’s reporting capabilities to generate accurate financial statements. These reports should reflect reconciled ecommerce payment data, providing insights into sales, expenses, profits, and other key metrics.

The above steps are a guide on how to effectively reconcile ecommerce payments in your ERP system. This process enhances financial accuracy, improves decision-making, and enables you to focus on growing your eCommerce business with confidence.

Important: Each ERP, ecommerce platform and payment gateway will have different functionality and capabilites. Please consult experts on the specific systems you are using to for the most accurate and up to date advice.