Scale your eCommerce business

When revenue rises, cash, margin and stock control are the first things to break. Take control and drive growth.

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The eCommerce Playbook

Download the Playbook

Our master guide: 50 pages of everything we know about scaling online brands profitably

AT A GLANCE
Ascendant Accountants is a leading UK accountancy firm for eCommerce businesses
  • Services: statutory accounts, bookkeeping, audit, VAT & marketplace tax, R&D tax relief, and EMI share schemes. Everything you need.
  • Client size: From start up to to £20m+ in annual revenue.
  • Integrations: Shopify, Amazon, A2X, inventory and 3PL systems, connected via Xero. We work with what you have.
  • Smart Finance Function™: Your end goal – a fully outsourced finance department covering month-end reporting, margin analysis, and stock and cashflow forecasting — from £2,000/month.

E-COMMERCE HUB

The Founder’s Guide

A seven-part series on running a profitable online brand — start with article one.

01

Business Model and Metrics

02

Working Capital and Inventory

03

Amazon, DTC and Wholesale

04

Trading Margin, ROAS and Repeat Purchase

05

Brand-Led vs Smash-and-Grab

06

Promotions, Bundles and Margin Leakage

07

Forecasting, Seasonality and Growth Pacing

08

Services

Ecommerce Model Problems We Help With

Problem 1

Sales up. Cash down.

More orders do not always mean more money in the bank”

More orders do not always mean more money in the bank. Stock, VAT, ads, shipping, returns, supplier payments and platform fees can drain cash before profit turns into usable cash.

Problem 2

Margins are unclear

“Many eCommerce brands do not have a clean view of gross margin”

Many e-commerce brands do not have a clean view of gross margin or trading margin. Product costs, shipping, returns, discounts, payment fees and marketing spend all blur the real picture.

Problem 3

Stock is feast or famine

Too much stock traps cash. Too little stock loses sales”

Too much stock traps cash. Too little stock loses sales. Without accurate numbers, buying decisions become a constant balancing act between demand, timing and available cash.

Finance That Helps You Grow Profitably

Good e-commerce finance turns data into insight, insight into better decisions, and better decisions into more profit, more cash and fewer expensive surprises.

Margin Clarity

Know your real gross and trading margins after product costs, shipping, returns, payment fees, discounts and variable marketing spend.

Cash Confidence

Forecast stock buys, VAT, payroll, tax, ads and supplier payments before cash gets tight. Growth should be paced by cash capacity, not guesswork.

Stock Control

Treat inventory as working capital. See what is moving, what is stuck, what needs reordering and what is quietly eating cash.

Clean Numbers.
Clear Visibility.

Connect Shopify, Amazon, payment platforms, inventory tools, 3PL and cloud accounting so the numbers are accurate, reconciled and usable.

Tax Sorted Early

VAT, imports, corporation tax and e-commerce tax complexity should be handled before they become expensive clean-up work.

Founder Focus

Founders should spend more time trading, growing and leading — not untangling spreadsheets, reconciliations and finance admin.

Results from our eCommerce clients

+6pts

of gross margin identified for a £4m DTC brand within 90 days of taking over the numbers.

£310k

of cash released from slow-moving stock for a multi-channel Amazon / Shopify seller.

5 days

month-end close for a brand previously waiting six weeks for management accounts.

The eCommerce Playbook
Flagship Guide — Free Download

The eCommerce Playbook

Our master guide: 50 pages of everything we know about scaling online brands profitably — channel economics, ROAS, margin design, stock, cash and exit value.

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Our eCommerce Services

NATIONWIDE, ON YOUR DOORSTEP

Find your local team

Ten offices across three regions. Choose a pin on the map or select your nearest office from the list. Each office is led by a local managing director.

PART OF THE ASCENDANT FAMILY

Respected firms across the UK have chosen to grow with us. Their teams, clients and names live on — now with more behind them.

Nunns Accounting Services
Flinder
Next Level Business
Crouchers Chartered Accountants

Talk to an expert about your eCommerce challenge

We have hundreds of online brands supported across Shopify, Amazon and wholesale. Whether it’s for help with cash, margin, stock or messy numbers, please book in.