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πŸ“Œ Cost of Goods Sold – Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked questions about Cost Of Goods Sold

Daniel Little avatar
Written by Daniel Little
Updated this week

Here are some of the most common questions we receive about Cost of Goods Sold in Link My Books.



❓ I’ve adjusted the values for my COGS data in Link My Books – why aren’t they updating in my accounting software?

Answer:

There could be several reasons:

  • βœ… Check COGS is turned on: Go to Settings > Settlement Settings > Cost of Goods Sold and ensure it’s enabled.

  • βœ… Check all costs are entered:

    • Monthly uploads: Verify your bulk upload shows the month in green.

    • Average costs: Go to Inventory > Product Costs and ensure there are no zero values.

  • βœ… Check settlements sent before enabling COGS:

    • Refresh the settlement in the View screen, then send the COGS data manually.

    • Or rollback and resend both Sales & COGS data together.


❓ How do we reconcile the COGS amount with invoices from suppliers and freight forwarders?

Answer:
When COGS tracking is turned on in Link My Books, we calculate the total cost of products sold each settlement and move that value from your chosen Inventory Asset account to your COGS account.

To avoid double‑counting:

  • Post all purchase invoices to the same Inventory Asset account you’ve selected in Link My Books.

  • As stock is sold, Link My Books will correctly reduce that balance and move costs into COGS.



​❓Can I choose which currency to enter my product costs in?

Answer:
βœ… Yes. On the Product Costs page, you can choose the currency for each product.


πŸ’‘ Best practice: match the currency to your Xero/QuickBooks home currency.



​❓ How do I account for refunds with COGS?

Answer:


Refunds can be tricky because items may:

  • Go back into inventory (sellable or unsellable),

  • Be returned but not resold, or

  • Be destroyed.

πŸ‘‰ Settlement reports don’t include enough detail to track all this immediately.


​Recommendation: do a quarterly or annual inventory valuation to adjust for these scenarios.


❓ Can I use Cost of Goods Sold with Seller ToolKit?

Answer:


βœ… Yes! Seller ToolKit syncs product costs automatically with Link My Books.
Please see: Seller ToolKit Guide



❓ I only want to send Sales data (not COGS) to Xero/QuickBooks. How can I achieve this?

Answer:

  • Open each settlement on your dashboard.

  • Send only the Sales tab manually (ensure automation is off in Settings > Settlement Settings).

  • Or enable Show COGS in Analytics only in Settings > Settlement Settings > Cost of Goods Sold.
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❓ Should I enter my product costs with or without VAT?

Answer:


πŸ’‘ It depends on whether you are VAT registered:

  • βœ… If you are VAT registered:
    Enter your product costs without VAT (net), because your accounting software will handle VAT separately.

  • βœ… If you are not VAT registered:
    Enter your product costs with VAT (gross), because VAT is part of your actual cost.


If you have any questions about this article or feedback on how we could make it better please reach out to the support team via the blue chat icon on the bottom right of the page or via email to [email protected].


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