422 : Anna Hill – Managing Debt and Cost of goods while selling on Amazon takes intention

eCommerce Momentum Podcast

Our annual year end/new year restart episode where Anna helps us understand what "Best practices" she sees with her top clients. This business takes twists and turns and the very best are able to adapt as needed. Get your books in order so you are ready to take advantage of the market changes.

Mentioned:

Anna's previous episodes:

Anna's Group- Accounting we will go

Anna's Quickbooks for Amazon Sellers training course- Amazon Accounting Simplified (You get a recommended chart of accounts, 30 day money back guarantee and the example CPA deep-dive walk through)

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Transcript:

Anna: 00:00 My recommendation is to go slowly and work with intention because if this is going to be a business that's healthy, there's no rush and it is so easy to get into this mentality of I must buy this deal. It's now or never, it's Q4, there'll never be another Q4 again. I need to go for it. The price, my tank, let me do this. And there's this false sense of urgency I think that takes over and it's almost like this panic feeling and try to remove emotion and is robotic about business decisions as possible. Don't fall in love with your inventory. Don't you know, fall for, I don't want to say fall for it, but don't be wooed by someone on,

Cool voice guy: 00:39 welcome to the e-commerce momentum podcast where we focus on the people, the products, and the process of e-commerce selling. Today. Here's your host, Steven Peterson.

Stephen: 00:53 You know, I have a bunch of sponsors for the podcast and they're all wonderful people, but this one stands out for me because, um, she so believes in what she's doing. Um, a, she's an e-commerce seller, okay? But she's also a CPA. And I'm talking about Anna Hill. And, uh, when you think about your business, when she talks about her business, when she talks about the top performers that she has his clients and she's got lots of clients and are all e-commerce sellers. Um, the, the number one thing is they know their numbers. And so you hear, you're going to hear her say it, you're going to hear me say it. And what's key is that you actually can then pivot and adjust, um, as your business changes and evolves and it will change and evolve, you will not be in control of it. It's going to change.

Stephen: 01:37 The marketplaces are going to change. And so the key is to get, uh, get control of it. So she offers a course, um, Amazon accounting simplified and I have a link, um, then she does pay me. So again, you know, don't want to hide that, but, um, she includes a couple things with my link that she doesn't include another's. Let me just tell you about this again, she's going to help you with a, an example of a recommended chart of accounts. Now think about that. What accounts do you need? And she's going to give you the ones that most people are using the best of the best are using. Because again, you want to make it, I always say make it where you're going to make decisions. That's how deep you should go. In our case, we have warehouse services, so we have to go deeper in our chart of accounts.

Stephen: 02:17 Then maybe somebody else does, but, and maybe your business is a little different, but if it doesn't need that, don't waste your time. You're not going to make decisions. It doesn't help you. And so, uh, she recommends, uh, QuickBooks online, which is what we use. And uh, for me it's phenomenal. Um, because I can use classes, I can use all these different tools and you can go deeper as you need, but she's going to help you get that set up. The other thing that, what I really liked that she's going to do is she's stealing a CPA deep dive into an existing eCommerce business. One of her clients, and she's going to show you what you can expect from your CPA. What is a deep dive, what they should be going through. And that's rare to actually see what you should be getting. Then can compare what you're getting from your tax professional.

Stephen: 03:01 And again, we don't do our own taxes here either. Um, and so get monthly financial statements. She's going to help you figure that out. And what I love about her courts is it's a pause, rewind of dating myself using tape, but go back till you get it and then go forward. It's not a, Oh my God, the course is going to end. I'm going to be out of it now. Hers is a lifetime membership. Also, they put you in a special, uh, Facebook group, private Facebook group where you can ask questions. Um, you can get, um, you know, you'll get other feedback, but you can see other people asking questions. So you don't feel so stupid when you're like, wait, I wondered that too. Yeah, duh. Most people do. And that's what, again, her heart is like a teacher. And so her course is the Amazon accounting simplified course.

Stephen: 03:44 And if you go to accounting, we will go.com, forward slash momentum click on that link, fill it out, you'll get a 30 day money back guarantee. So you know, she changed that because she's like Steve, some people start and then life happens and they can't get to it. So I didn't want him to have to run to finish it. Now give them a chance. Again, that's the kind of person she is. And so if you're looking to really get control of your business, if you're looking for a way to really know your numbers, to know all the different things that really matter, and then get that prepared and boom, you can hand it right off to your tax person. Might matter of fact, my tax person signs into my, um, QuickBooks online account, which is awesome. I don't think of anything. And they were able to finish the stuff right there and make entries and that kind of thing.

Stephen: 04:31 Um, and she's going to help you get there. So, uh, accounting we will grow is Anna's group, um, counting. We will grow.com forward slash momentum. We'll get you to this link and check out this course again, 30 day money back guarantee. You're going to get those two extra things, which is the recommended chart of accounts. Don't get complicated. Keep it simple, stupid, right as they say. Um, this is an example of what you, what other sellers have used specifically in her business. And again, she's a CPA and she's also going to do that walkthrough. It's really a deep dive so you can understand what each of those accounts mean and how, how, uh, what a CPA should be doing for you and going through your books and helping you understand what you need. So accounting, we will go.com, forward slash. Momentum. Welcome back to the e-commerce momentum podcast.

Stephen: 05:19 This is episode 422 Anna Hill. Yes. It's that time a year, year end. Beginning of a new year. It's my time to talk with Anna and his two accounting nerds. We're S we're still nervous. I mean it just comes across. You can hear it and you're probably gonna laugh and say, Hmm. He's definitely like talking about this stuff. But I'll be honest with ya, I mean in the after call, cause we could talk for 10 minutes afterwards too, is we definitely build on each other because you know, you've seen so much over the top, over, over the years, you know, and what she's got a great perspective cause she's got hundreds of clients, so she seen the best and the worst. And so, um, it's very to talk about what's working, um, and also what's working now, not necessarily what was working before because the world has changed. Uh, the accounting hasn't, but you know, we get into specifics on cost of goods and debt and stuff like that.

Stephen: 06:10 That stuff is, and so it's really important. Um, she does a great job and she has a course and I do pitch it at the end. Um, and it is a pitch. Uh, so she does pay me, so I don't want to hide that. Uh, but if, if you're thinking about, you know, really getting to know your numbers, um, I think it's really worth listening to and considering. Um, and again, I caution new sellers. I'm not sure it's right for you. Please. Um, I'm just not so sure. Um, so take a listen to see what you think, but reach out to me if I can help you in any way and of course join Anna's group, um, and listen to her podcast, which we get into to also, let's get into the podcast. All right, welcome back to the e-commerce momentum podcast. Very excited about by guest today because this is our annual thing.

Stephen: 06:51 It's definitely become an annual thing where we sit and talk about closing out prior year and starting up the new year. And it's funny, you know, I do a lot of speaking around and attend to end up speaking about accounting and bookkeeping and stuff like that. And I always see, I at least, I always have people come up to me and say, I'm struggling. I want to pull the trigger. I just don't know where to start. Um, and I'm assuming our guest today is going to help us figure out how to start and a hell welcome back and a Hill.

Anna: 07:19 Thank you for having me again this year. This has been our annual event and I look forward to it. And I think we're going to have a lot of helpful discussion today. You know, I look forward to it

Stephen: 07:28 too because you say the same and we speak the same language. Um, cause we're both nerds. Um, but it's, it's the truth. All right, so first let me say, and as a CPA, if you don't know that, um, go back and listen to episode three 69 and you can get some of the backstory and you'll hear what we talked about last year. But my CPA friend is also a e-commerce seller and has been for a long time. So you feel the pain, don't you?

Anna: 07:51 I do, I do. I felt the changes over many years and it really helps me connect with those. I'm trying to help by sharing my knowledge and it's, it's tough. It's really tough. It's tough and it's getting tougher,