How do I make sure I get accurate financial data?

Making sure your Chart of Accounts and Item List are set up correctly is critical when creating the accounting foundation of your business. Every business is different, but the key areas are:

• Income Accounts — Make sure the Sales (Income) accounts are defined before you start downloading orders. If you want to track sales by different product lines of business or product type, consider using sub-accounts for your main sales account or perhaps using classes (in Premier or Enterprise) to separate product sales by type.
• Cost of Goods Sold — Much like Sales, if you wish to separate the product cost by type, use sub-accounts or classes to distinguish them. Also, any cost related to the product (i.e. shipping costs) should have its own sub-account.
• Sales Taxes — This can be a complete discussion in itself, but make sure you are capturing sales tax correctly and that you have the reporting necessary to provide accurate sales tax reporting. Every state is different and the rules are constantly changing, so you may to solicit advice from a local CPA or other reputable source.