Marketplace sellers & custom goods
Books and taxes for dropshipping stores.
A Shopify payout, a supplier invoice that pays the day an order comes in, an ad bill that moves daily, and a refund that lags weeks behind the sale. Your own bookkeeper keeps it straight, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
May came in at $6,700. Your supplier raised per-unit pricing mid-month, so I flagged it before it quietly ate more of your margin.
- Shopify Payments payoutStore sales
- CJdropshipping invoiceSupplier costs
- Meta adsAdvertising
- TikTok adsAdvertising
- Customer refund batchRefunds and chargebacks
Why your books are different
Dropshipping books go wrong in a few specific spots.
A generalist sees a payout and an ad bill. Your business is a supplier who bills per order the moment a customer buys, ad spend that changes by the day, and a refund that takes weeks to work its way back through both the store and the supplier. When the books do not know that, a real margin problem hides in plain sight.
-
1
A supplier refund does not match a customer refund
A customer refund goes out the day they complain, but the matching refund from your supplier for the same item can take weeks, land in a different amount, or never come at all if the item already shipped.
What we doTracks customer refunds against supplier refunds as they come in, so a mismatch gets caught instead of quietly eating margin. -
2
Ad spend and sales land in different months
A week of heavy Meta or TikTok ad spend testing a new product can land in one month while the sales it drives show up the next, making a single month look far worse than the quarter actually was.
What we doFlags spend tied to a product test and keeps it visible against the sales that follow, so one heavy ad week does not read as a loss. -
3
Chargebacks hit without warning
Dropshipping runs a higher chargeback rate than most retail, since customers sometimes do not recognize the charge or the shipping takes longer than expected. A wave of them can land in one bank statement with no clear pattern.
What we doKeeps chargebacks in their own line and flags a rising rate, so it gets a look before it becomes a habit. -
4
Supplier price changes go unnoticed
An overseas supplier can raise per-unit cost with little notice, and if your price stays the same, margin quietly disappears order by order until a month looks thin for no obvious reason.
What we doWatches supplier cost per order against sales, so a quiet price increase on their end gets caught early.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a dropshipping store.
Set up once for how you sell and what a supplier charges. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Store salesCheckout on your Shopify or WooCommerce storefront.
- Marketplace salesAmazon or eBay listings running the same products.
- Upsell and bundle salesAdd-on offers made at checkout or after purchase.
- Affiliate and influencer salesSales tracked back to a paid promoter's link or code.
Money out
- Supplier costsPer-order invoices from CJdropshipping, a Spocket supplier, or a domestic wholesaler.
- AdvertisingMeta, TikTok, and Google ad spend testing and scaling products.
- Payment processingWhat Shopify Payments, Stripe, or PayPal keeps before you get paid.
- Refunds and chargebacksCustomer refunds and disputed charges, tracked against supplier refunds where they exist.
- App and software subscriptionsProduct research tools, order fulfillment apps, and page builders.
- Customer service toolsHelp desk software and outsourced support for order issues.
What we watch for you
- Landed margin per order
Sale price against supplier cost and shipping, so a quiet supplier price hike gets caught.
- Ad spend against sales
What you spent to sell what you sold, so a product that stopped paying for itself gets noticed.
- Chargeback rate
How often a sale gets disputed, since a rising rate can put your payment processing account at risk.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things dropshipping owners ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
Your supplier raised per-unit pricing three weeks ago and your price did not move. I flagged the margin drop so you can decide what to do about it.
A few is common in this business, but yours is running higher than last quarter. Worth a look at what is driving it before your payment processor takes notice.
That is a call for the accountant based on how you are structured. I will make sure it gets asked before it becomes a problem.
The tax side
The tax side of a dropshipping store.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing and margin visibility, not complicated rules. A refund that does not match, an ad spike that lands in the wrong month, and profit that looks thinner than it is.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- No inventory, but real cost of goodsYou never hold stock, but every supplier invoice is still the direct cost of the sale it belongs to. Keeping that tied together is what makes a monthly profit number honest.
- Form 1099-K from payment processorsShopify Payments, Stripe, and PayPal issue a 1099-K once you cross $20,000 and 200 transactions. All income is taxable whether or not the form arrives.
- Contractor 1099s for outside helpA virtual assistant, customer service contractor, or freelance ad manager paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
Deductions dropshipping stores miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Supplier per-order costs
- Meta and TikTok ad spend
- Payment processing fees
- Shopify or WooCommerce app fees
- Product research subscriptions
- Customer service tools
- Chargeback and dispute fees
- Sample products for testing
- Virtual assistant pay
- Domain and hosting fees
- Business insurance
- Home office space
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
A dropshipping year, kept every month.
Product tests happen whenever a trend does. Your taxes come on a schedule. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, any contractor or virtual assistant pay from the year is on the 1099 list, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether ad spend is still bringing back more than it costs.
- October
Before the holiday rush
Holiday shopping means a spike in orders and often a spike in supplier delays too. Before it hits, Gus looks at what a heavier ad push will do to your numbers.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for dropshipping stores. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions dropshipping owners ask first.
My supplier is overseas. Does that change how the books work?
Not much for the books themselves. Gus tracks what you paid the supplier and what you sold for, same as any other cost. Customs and import duties are a separate matter from bookkeeping.
Do I owe sales tax on dropshipped products?
Usually, depending on where your customers are and how you sell. If you sell through a marketplace, it may collect and remit for you. A direct storefront sale is usually still your job to register and collect.
A customer refund came through before my supplier refunded me. Is that a loss?
It might be temporary. Gus tracks both sides so you can see whether the supplier eventually made it right or whether it is a real cost you should account for.
My ad spend and sales never seem to land in the same month. Is that a problem for the books?
It is normal in this business. Gus keeps a heavy ad week visible against the sales that follow, so one month does not read worse than it actually was.
How does Gus handle a wave of chargebacks?
They are kept in their own line, separate from normal refunds, and flagged if the rate climbs, since that can put your payment processing account at risk.
My books are a mess from switching suppliers twice this year. Can that get cleaned up?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts out which supplier belongs to which sale, and most owners know where they stand within a week.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
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What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever