Amazon is inviting sellers to use QuickBooks accounting in Seller Central, something it had promised to do last year. It’s a somewhat surprising move since sellers have long been suspicious of sharing information with Amazon over fears it will use the information for competitive purposes. Amazon already requires sellers to provide their supplier invoices for verification; reimbursement; appeals of policy violations; and ungating purposes.
Intuit had announced the feature would be coming to Amazon in a blog post in December of 2024. Intuit called the agreement “a multi-year strategic partnership to empower millions of Amazon sellers to manage their finances, stay compliant, access capital, and grow their business.” In the announcement, Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi was quoted saying the following about the partnership:
“Intuit and Amazon are providing financial tools for millions of Amazon sellers to thrive in Amazon’s store. We know businesses that use Intuit’s QuickBooks platform have a nearly 20-point higher success rate than those who don’t. We’re proud to partner with Amazon to bring the benefits of our AI-driven expert platform to help sellers boost their revenue and profitability, save time, and grow with confidence.”
Last week, Amazon officially announced the feature, telling sellers they could bring their financial data into one place by using QuickBooks Online directly in Seller Central, “helping you track your Amazon business performance alongside your other sales channels.”
“You can use this embedded app to view profit and loss trends, track performance changes across sales, fees, and expenses, and see your payout details with transaction breakdowns for all of your sales channels. You can also monitor your inventory levels to make sure your products stay stocked.”
Amazon is not offering the service for free, explaining that first-time QuickBooks users are eligible for a free three-month trial. One seller commenting on the post warned, “Warning to any US business owner signing up for Quickbooks Online, using the Seller Central integration or on your own: Intuit will relentlessly jack up the price on your subscription every year or two, usually by 25%-50% a pop. So, whatever your rate is in the first year, assume it will be 2x-4x five years from now.”
One seller voiced concerns about sharing their data with Amazon (“….why so Amazon can drain us of our last dime by seeing exactly how much money we make? LOL”), while another countered with, “This is basic accounting software. Not everything is a conspiracy.”
