Shopify brands tend to meet finance problems in roughly this order. Start at the first one you can't answer yourself.
1. Books that match reality. Payouts are net of fees, refunds and chargebacks, gift cards aren't sales until they're redeemed, and stock is an asset until it sells. Getting that right every month is bookkeeping, and every job below depends on it.
2. Sales tax and VAT. Shopify Tax calculates and collects US sales tax at checkout; registering with states and filing returns stay with you. Once you sell into several states or abroad, a sales tax and VAT specialist handles both.
3. The year-end return. Income tax returns, including reconciling the Form 1099-K from Shopify Payments, go to a tax preparer. Some bookkeeping firms prepare returns too.
4. Decisions about the numbers. How much cash the next inventory buy needs, which channels earn their margin, whether to take on financing. A model and forecast is financial planning; ongoing senior judgement is a fractional CFO.
5. A transaction. Raising money or selling the store needs a valuation and books a buyer or investor can check, which is specialist work of its own.
6. Narrower jobs. Chargeback disputes, pricing in several currencies, finance dashboards that join Shopify with ad and accounting data, and advice on loans or advances each have their own specialists. Stock counts, locations and reorder rules are inventory management, an operations job rather than an accounting one.
Bookkeeping and the annual return often sit with one firm, and many CFO firms keep the books as well. Sales tax filing across several states often goes to a separate specialist or a filing service. Wherever the work lands, tax judgement needs a qualified professional in your state or country.
