Money Holes in Your Current Financial Structure

Balancing your checkbook and keeping the balance sheets for your eCommerce store is about far more than just tracking purchases and receipts.
You may be surprised to find that you have less in your accounts than you estimated or even calculated. Most of the time, this happens because of money holes in your current business structure.
Transaction Fees
As you work with various vendors and lending institutions, you will wind up running into transaction fees. These may or may not be disclosed upfront. In some cases, they will be added to your bill directly while in others they will be charged separately.
If you’re like most eCommerce store owners though, you’ll only notice them when you actually go through your transactions, and realize that they are for more than what you originally estimated or thought you were paying. You can’t get out of these transaction fees in most cases, though it is worth it to call the other business to see if you can get them waived. If you can’t, adjust your budget and your accounts accordingly.
Access Fees
Not all eCommerce transaction terminals and portals are actually cost-efficient. Some will allow you to access your financial records or conduct a number of financial transactions before applying charges. Then you may be charged anywhere from fifty cents to a dollar for every subsequent transaction in that period. Again, these won’t show up in your online accounting system for budgeting if you don’t know that they’re there.
Add-ons and Subscriptions
Always make sure that you check what you are paying for each month. Sometimes when you make a purchase for your eCommerce store, you might agree to a trial for a certain product. However, if you aren’t careful, you could wind up signing up for a paid subscription. Those subscriptions can quickly eat away at your savings, even if they are only for a few dozen dollars a month.
Remember that some scams also involve sending out test subscriptions that you never signed up for. Watch out for these and then unsubscribe immediately. They count on you not noticing. After all, as an eCommerce store owner, you have many things on your mind. You can’t always remember all the little things that must get done. So get on these right away and unsubscribe before it costs your business any more money.
Keeping in the black can be a full time-challenge for most businesses. It’s just as challenging for eCommerce stores, even when they have a lower overhead cost. The problem often comes because of money holes.
You need to watch out for these as they can keep your business from remaining solvent. One at a time, they aren’t that big a deal. Transaction fees, access fees, and subscriptions rarely cost that much on their own. But when you combine them, they become very expensive. Make sure that you track these down and account for them. This way your budget can be adapted and you can save money as well.