Aeion Finance for E-Commerce
E-commerce finance is uniquely hard. Multi-channel reconciliation (Shopify + Amazon + retail POS + own storefront), inventory + COGS (FIFO/Average/LIFO), multi-state sales tax with destination-based rates and post-Wayfair nexus tracking, refunds + chargebacks + return reserves, marketplace facilitator rules (the marketplace already collected sales tax; don't double-tax), payout reconciliation (Amazon settles every 14 days; Shopify daily). Aeion's same-database integration between `/modules/commerce` and finance, plus Avalara for tax depth, gives you the ledger, invoicing, refund, and reconciliation primitives to build this — several of the mechanics (auto COGS costing, settlement-report ingestion, return-reserve accrual) currently need a custom Blueprint workflow rather than shipping as a built-in automation.
The E-Commerce Finance Stack
Seven activities that define e-commerce accounting:
Recommended E-Commerce Stack
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Inventory + COGS Mechanics
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Multi-Channel Settlement Reconciliation
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Marketplace Facilitator Compliance
Critical for sellers on Amazon, Etsy, Walmart, etc.
Returns + Chargebacks
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FAQ
No. Those tools exist because Shopify/Amazon → QuickBooks needs a translation layer. Aeion's commerce + finance are in one DB; settlement reports import directly; no $200-500/mo middleware.
FIFO is the common default model for US e-commerce (matches IRS expectations); Average and LIFO are standard alternatives. Aeion's chart of accounts and journal-entry service post whichever method you compute; automatic per-unit FIFO-layer costing isn't a built-in engine today.
With Avalara: yes. Aeion integrates with Avalara for destination-based tax and nexus monitoring. See the Avalara integration page for exactly what's wired up today.
Stripe Tax handles digital-goods VAT/GST for many countries; for complex multi-country physical goods, pair with Avalara.
Commerce's inventory module supports a "Drop Shipper"-style separate location type; treating FBA as its own pool and having COGS calculation respect fulfillment location is a configuration you set up, not an automatic distinction out of the box.
Commerce's inventory module has a drop-shipper location type. Full automation — order received auto-creating a vendor PO, COGS posting on vendor confirmation — is a custom Blueprint workflow on top of that, not a built-in flow today.
Different pricing tiers + different terms (wholesale: net 30 invoiced; retail: paid at checkout) are both supported by the commerce + finance collections; one customer can have both behaviors.
Aeion's ledger can hold a refund-reserve account, but the monthly accrual itself is a manual journal entry (or custom Blueprint automation) today — not a built-in accrual engine.
Model it as two journal entries — resalable returns go back to Inventory at original COGS; non-resalable returns post to an Inventory Loss Expense account. This is a manual/Blueprint-configured posting, not an automated re-inspection workflow.
Stripe handles FX at charge; Aeion records in base + foreign currency. Reports run in base currency consistently.