Hi All,
Well, I almost made it a full day without asking a question...
I'm still working on understanding the financial accounting of a bookseller. I'm wondering if the way I want to account for an eBay account is proper?
When I list a book on an eBay auction, I incur a listing fee. This is incurred as soon as the listing is placed, making me want to record the expense. What do I record it against, though? It's not really out of my cash (bank) account, as I won't be physically paying it until after the auction closes. At this point, it's more like an accounts payable.
When the book sells, however, the proceeds will more than cover the listing expense and the further sales fees and commisions paid to eBay. Now this account carries a positive balance I can draw to my bank account.
My gut tells me that, even though it will usually have a zero balance, and even an occasional negative balance, I should treat the eBay account as a cash (asset) account. Cash transfers between it and my regular bank account or credit card will handle balances to be paid to or drawn from it.
Does this sound reasonable? Is there another, better method for accounting these types of "e-accounts?"
Regards, Max