Multi-channel selling through Bol.com and your own webshop: how do you keep track?

Two channels, two worlds

You sell through your own webshop. The orders come in, the bookkeeping runs. And then you decide to start selling on Bol.com too, because that is where the customers are. Makes sense. Bol.com is the largest online platform in the Benelux and gives you direct access to millions of buyers.

But as soon as the first Bol.com orders arrive, you notice the difference. The financial handling works in a fundamentally different way than with your own webshop. And your bookkeeping has to process both flows. Read more here about the financial processing and how our Bol.com connector can support you with it.

How Bol.com works financially

With your own webshop you receive the full amount from the customer. Through Mollie, Stripe or another payment provider the money lands in your account. Simple. With Bol.com it works differently.

Commission per category

Bol.com deducts a commission on every sale. You receive the net amount, the sales amount minus the Bol.com commission. That commission varies per product category. Electronics have different percentages than clothing, toys or books. So the percentage can differ from one order to the next.

In your bookkeeping you have to split this. The gross amount is your revenue, the commission is a cost item. If you lump everything together, your margins will not add up.

Returns and commission refunds

Bol.com applies a standard 30-day return policy. When there is a return you get the withheld commission back, but not as a separate transfer. The refund is settled against your next payout. That means a weekly payment from Bol.com is a mix of new sales, commissions, and settlements of earlier returns.

Figuring out manually which amount belongs to which order? That is a puzzle your bookkeeper will not enjoy.

Payment rhythm

Bol.com pays out weekly or fortnightly, depending on your seller account. That is a different rhythm than your webshop, where payments often come in daily. So when processing your bank transactions you are dealing with bundled amounts that you have to break down into individual orders.

VAT remains your responsibility

An important point that entrepreneurs sometimes forget: Bol.com does not remit VAT for you. You are responsible yourself for the VAT return on your Bol.com sales, just like with your own webshop. The difference is that you have to calculate the VAT on the gross amount, the amount the customer pays, and not on the net amount that Bol.com pays out to you.

The combination makes it complex

One sales channel is manageable. The complexity lies in the combination. Your own webshop and Bol.com each have their own order flow, payment schedule and cost structure. Those are two income streams with different rules that you have to bring together in your bookkeeping.

A few examples of what you run into daily:

• Monday morning: A Bol.com payout of €3,200 lands in your account. How much of that is revenue? How much commission? Is there a return settlement in there?
• Tuesday: Webshop orders through Mollie, with transaction fees that differ per payment method.
• Wednesday: A customer returns a Bol.com order. The commission is only settled next week.
• Friday: VAT return deadline. You have to add up the revenue from both channels, but filter out the Bol.com commissions.

Without automation you lose hours processing these transactions. With two channels that is annoying. With three, if you add Amazon, it becomes unworkable.

What a Bol.com Exact Online connector solves

A good Bol.com Exact Online connector automates the financial translation between the platform and your administration. Not just the orders, but especially the complex financial handling around them.

Automatic booking of commissions

The connector splits each Bol.com payout into the right components. Revenue is booked as revenue, commission as costs, and return settlements as credit entries. Everything on the right general ledger accounts, without manual work.

Return processing

When a customer returns a product, the connector processes the credit automatically. The commission refund, which Bol.com settles against the next payment, is booked off correctly. You no longer have to figure out by hand which amount belongs to which return.

VAT calculation

The connector calculates the VAT over the right amount, the gross sales price, and books this on the correct VAT codes. For sales to Belgium through Bol.com the right VAT rules are applied automatically.

Synchronisation with your webshop connector

Do you also sell through your own webshop? Then the Bol.com connector runs alongside your webshop connector with Exact Online. Both streams come together in the same administration, on separate general ledger accounts. This way you see at a glance what each channel brings in, without the figures getting mixed up.

Amazon as a third channel

Alongside Bol.com, more and more Dutch entrepreneurs are considering selling through Amazon as well. The financial complexity increases further as a result: Amazon uses its own commission structures, different payment cycles and settlement reports that look different from those of Bol.com.

A separate Amazon Exact Online connector works in the same way. Orders, commissions and returns are automatically translated into entries in Exact Online. Combine all three channels, your own webshop, Bol.com and Amazon, and you have three connectors running in parallel that together give a complete financial picture.

What to look out for in a connector

Not every connector works the same way. When choosing, pay attention to a few points.

Synchronization frequency: A connector that synchronizes once a day gives you outdated data. At iWebDevelopment the connectors synchronize every five minutes. That means your bookkeeping runs almost in real time alongside your sales.

Commission processing: Does the connector post commissions separately, or does it lump everything onto one entry? A separate entry per commission category gives you insight into what each product type really costs.

Return logic: How does the connector handle the settlement that Bol.com applies to subsequent payments? This is where most manual errors arise.

Scalability: With ten orders a day it makes little difference. With a hundred or more you want a connector that reliably processes large volumes. iWebDevelopment processes data for more than 2,000 companies and is ISO 27001 certified.

The value of overview

The goal of a Bol.com-Exact Online connector is not just saving time. It is overview. As an entrepreneur you want to know: what does Bol.com net me? How do the margins compare to my own webshop? Where are the hidden costs?

You can only answer those questions once the data is clean and split in your administration. Registering this by hand is not sustainable. Automation makes sure your bookkeeping grows along with your channels, without the quality suffering.

Multi-channel selling has become the standard. Your administration should not lag behind.

Do you want to connect Bol.com to Exact Online? View our Bol.com connector →