[SL] Retail business accounting, from scratch

[Matt J. <sir...@gm...>]

Hello, all.

I have been forum digging (or mailing list digging) for the last hour or so
and am having a hard time finding information.

I am new to SQL-Ledger, and do not know if people on this list are generally
hostile towards those (such as myself) who have not purchased the commercial
Reference Manual (business can't afford it at this time), but any help would
be appreciated.

I have a functional knowledge of double-entry, accrual-basis accounting. For
example, when I sell something and get paid by PayPal (which is most often
the case), I debit PayPal Account (the asset account) and credit inventory.
Similarly, I would debit inentory and credit cash when I purchase something,
etc.


Here are my concerns:

1. I have both a website and eBay sales presence. This means that:
- My sale prices are not always the same.
- Shipping costs are not always the same (eBay customers pay shipping,
website customers do not)
- and also, my product costs are not always the same.

How do I enter products in my system to track, but not put a price on them
until I actually purchase them from my suppliers? Each time I buy, the price
of the product and shipping fluctuates, meaning my Cost of Goods Sold
fluctuates.

I partially started with SQL-Ledger in order to have a FIFO inventory
accounting system for cost of goods sold for tax reporting purposes.

How do I accomplish this? I am afraid right now of starting down one path
and then it being wrong.

2. A fine point I am confused about: I assume to enter a new order, I would
go to "POS" and select "Sale", enter the sale and save it. However, the only
"Record in" option I see is "Accounts Receivable." I was taught that when
you have already received payment (cash or, say, PayPal), it goes in your
cash or PayPal account respectively. How do I add those options to the
"Record in" drop-down box in the POS page.

3. Why is there the "Checking Account/Petty Cash" drop-down box below the
box in question one, on that same POS page? I thought that, for example, a
sale was supposed to credit inventory and debit cash. Or debit checking
account. I have no accounts receivable, only received payment (paypal, check
or cash) and inventory to send out.

4. Inventory: I understand I can enter inventory items, however, I purchase
the same items that fluctuate in price all the time. I wanted to use
SQL-Ledger partially as a way to calculate Cost of Goods Sold for the tax
year. I purchase items in batches as item types but with a "custom" price
each time. Am I supposed to go entering products like this, by order, each
time with a different price? How do I do this, if so?

Also, my "sell" price changes. On the website it is one price, though that
might be adjusted, and on eBay the sell price is almost always different.
How do I account for this?

Thank you for any help!


-- 
Regards,
Matt Jackson