"There's an App for That" Amazon Seller Edition: Part Three
There's literally an app for everything - sourcing, savings, managing a business, etc. You name it and there's an app for it, which is how "There's an App for That" Amazon Seller Edition came to life! In this three-part series, I will share the apps and programs I utilize to run my online business.
Business Management
Part three of "There's an App for That" will focus on the apps I use day to day to manage my business. From bookkeeping to inventory management, organization is critical if you want to be a successful Amazon Seller and business owner. Listed below, in no particular order, are the apps I utilize to run my business without completely losing my mind!
1. Inventory Lab
I'm pretty sure I mentioned Inventory Lab in another part of this series, but I have to mention it again! Before Inventory Lab, managing my business, tracking my COGs, and monitoring my profits were so time consuming. I used to enjoy entering my data to figure out my profits, but because I did this manually, I eventually started to dread it. This led to me falling way behind in my bookkeeping, which is one of the reasons why I took the leap of faith and subscribed to Inventory Lab!
While Inventory Lab isn't a bookkeeping software like QuickBooks, I feel like it does everything I need to run a successful Amazon business. You can run a variety of reports on Inventory Lab to get a closer look at your business. My personal favorite is the Profit & Loss report, which gives you a full overview of money spent, income, and profit.
Here's an example of what Inventory Lab looks like and how it can help you track your total income, profit, and expenses.
Unfortunately, there isn't an app for Inventory Lab; however, you can access it via the web browser on your mobile device.
If you're interested in trying out Inventory Lab, click on the link below and get a 30-day free trial!
Disclaimer: This is an affiliate link. If you click through or make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Appreciate the support!
2. Stride
Tracking mileage is a critical part in managing a business, especially as an Amazon Seller. You should track mileage for every business-related trip taken. The mileage can then be used as a tax deduction at the end of the year!
When I first started my business in 2021, I didn't track my mileage. I was about 6 months in before I started to take my business serious. When I realized how much money I saved on mileage alone, I was so mad at myself! In just 4 months, I was able to deduct over $500 from my taxes!
Moral of the story? Don't sleep on tracking mileage!
I use Stride to track my mileage and love it because it's so user friendly! Just click on "track my miles" when you're ready to go somewhere and it will do its thing. If you forget to start the tracker, don't worry! You can manually enter trips with the date, time, location, and miles travelled when you return home.
You can download the Stride App here:
3. Dropbox
As I mentioned before, organization is key, which is why I started using Dropbox at the beginning of this year. I found that the way I was previously saving my business documents and receipts were a bit chaotic.
I now scan my receipts using the Dropbox app and save them in a separate folder by month. Once the receipt is saved, I rename it with the date and store name. This allows me to easily filter through the documents and quickly find the one that I'm looking for. Because the documents are saved in the cloud using your email address, they can be accessed on any mobile device or computer after logging in.
Here's how I save my receipts in Dropbox:
After I save the receipt in Dropbox, I make sure that I scan it using the Fetch Appso I can get points for a reward! Then, I file it in a folder and store it away (probably overkill, but I like to keep them just in case!).
Disclaimer: This is an affiliate link. If you click through or make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Appreciate the support!
4. Microsoft Excel
The last app or software I use to help manage my business is Microsoft Excel. I use Excel to estimate the net worth of my business each month.
I track basically everything in Inventory Lab (expenses, income, profit, etc.); however, it doesn't give a true snapshot of what your business is really worth because it's unable to account for the money in your business bank account.
If you know how to use Excel, it can be a beautiful thing. But, if you don't, then it can be an absolute nightmare. So, shoutout to my husband for listening to my ideas and making this spreadsheet for me!
In this spreadsheet, I add the cost of my available inventory (pulled from Inventory Lab), my Amazon balance, and my bank account balance to give me a rough estimate of the value of my business. While this number won't be 100% accurate, it at least gives me a better idea of where my business stands at the end of each month.
Here's what the spreadsheet looks like:
You can download the Microsoft Excel App here:
To be a successful business owner, I believe that it's important to stay organized, know your numbers and net worth, and do what you can to save money on taxes at the end of the year. And yes, this means staying diligent on tracking mileage for business-related trips!
What apps or software do you use to run your business?
Be sure to check out part one and part two of "There's an App for That" Amazon Seller Edition to find out which apps I use for sourcing and savings/rewards!