How we work inside your finance function
Reconcile Shopify, Stripe, and marketplace payouts to your books and your bank
Close the books and report gross margin by channel
Are we recognizing revenue correctly across annual, monthly, and usage-based contracts?
Update a 13-week cash forecast against actual bank activity
Monitor accounts payable and receivable, ensuring timely payments and collections.
Analyze operating expenses and identify opportunities to improve cash flow and profitability.
Retail Industry
Retail Accounting and CPA Services for Growing Retailers
Inventory and COGS, channel reconciliations, lender reporting, and cash forecasting, from a CPA team that works inside your finance function every week.
We work with e-commerce, direct-to-consumer, wholesale, and traditional retail businesses that have outgrown basic bookkeeping but are not ready to build a full internal finance department.
The Real Challenge
Common Retail Accounting Problems We Fix
The same handful of problems show up again and again when a retailer outgrows basic bookkeeping.
Inventory and cost of goods sold that do not match the warehouse or the sales platform make gross margin unreliable.
How we fix it: We reconcile inventory across your accounting system, warehouse, and sales platforms, then apply one valuation policy every month.
Inventory and COGS that do not tie out
Netting hides refunds and fees, and the wrong period distorts every monthly result.
How we fix it: We start from gross sales and walk down through refunds, discounts, sales tax, and fees, so each lands where it belongs.
Sales and refunds recorded incorrectly
Payment processor and marketplace deposits that were never matched to the bank leave open balances nobody can explain.
How we fix it: We match each settlement to its bank deposit and run down timing differences and open balances.
Deposits nobody has reconciled
Processing fees, off-invoice discounts, and double charges disappear into the sales line, so revenue and margin do not show the real picture.
How we fix it: We record merchant fees separately, catch early-pay discounts customers took, and flag duplicate charges early.
Fees and Discounts Hidden in Revenue
When the same cost lands in different accounts from one month to the next, trends and budget comparisons stop meaning anything.
How we fix it: We apply consistent classification each month and review the P&L before it goes to management.
Expenses coded differently every month
Without a dependable close, most owners cannot see profitability by channel, so decisions rest on revenue and the bank balance.
How we fix it: A monthly package that shows revenue and gross margin by channel: D2C, wholesale, and marketplace.
No reliable monthly reporting
Who We Help
Retailers We Work With
We add the most value for growing small and middle-market retailers that have outgrown basic bookkeeping but are not ready to build a full internal finance department. Our experience covers footwear, apparel, fashion accessories, and consumer products.
Sales arrive from Shopify and marketplaces, each with its own fees, refunds, and timing. We reconcile every channel to your books and your bank.
E-commerce and D2C brands
Selling direct and to wholesale accounts at the same time? We tie wholesale payouts back to invoices and report revenue and margin by channel.
Wholesale and multi-channel sellers
We handle inventory accounting, day-to-day accounting operations, and financial reporting for traditional retail businesses.
Traditional retailers
If you borrow against your receivables or inventory, we prepare the borrowing base certificate and lender reporting your availability depends on.
Retailers with a credit line
Weighing a second location or new financing? We look at store or channel level profitability, added fixed costs, working capital needs, and payback time.
Retailers planning expansion or financing
Our Services
Retail Accounting, Tax, and CFO Services
One team covers the finance function, from reconciliations and the monthly close to lender reporting and cash planning.
Day-to-day accounting operations, bank and balance sheet reconciliations, and a dependable monthly close.
Accounting and Monthly Close
Reconciliations across your accounting system, warehouse, and sales platforms, plus an inventory policy that fits the business, such as average cost or standard cost, applied consistently every month.
Inventory Accounting and COGS
Shopify, Stripe, and marketplace settlements matched to invoices, the general ledger, and the bank, with fees, refunds, and liabilities recorded where they belong.
Sales Channel and Payout Reconciliation
Nexus review, sales by state, and reconciliation of the tax collected on your platforms to your books. Filings are prepared directly or coordinated with a specialized sales tax provider, depending on jurisdiction and volume.
Sales Tax Review and Compliance
Freight, duties, tariffs, and related fees built into inventory valuation as part of the monthly close, so you can see the effect on product margins, pricing, and the cash needed to fund purchases. With tariff rates changing quickly, this is often where owners find that a best-selling product is far less profitable than it looks.
Landed Cost and Tariff Tracking
Weekly borrowing base certificates, lender account reconciliations, correct recording of draws, collections, and interest, and data uploads on the lender's schedule.
Lender and Borrowing Base Reporting
A 13-week cash flow model updated weekly against actual bank activity, so you can see a cash gap weeks before it arrives and place inventory orders ahead of peak season with confidence.
Cash Flow Forecasting
Controller support for the close, reconciliations, and stronger processes. CFO support for forecasting, financing, margin improvement, and expansion planning. Many retail clients start at controller level and add CFO support as the business grows.
Controller and Fractional CFO Services
A standard package includes
P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statement
Budget-to-actual comparison with commentary on the variances that matter
Revenue and gross margin by channel (D2C, wholesale, marketplace)
Inventory balances, COGS, and fulfillment costs
Working capital and key operating metrics
Sales performance and profitability analysis by product and category
Reporting
What You Get in a Monthly Retail Reporting Package
Clear monthly visibility into your margins, inventory costs, and cash flow, so you always know where your business stands.
Optional Add-Ons: 13-week rolling cash forecast, Custom KPI dashboard, Lender reporting.
Systems
We Work in the Systems Retailers Already Use
Your accounting is only as good as the data feeding it. We work hands-on in the systems your sales and payments flow through, so nobody re-keys numbers or guesses at what a payout covers.
Why Litrivis
Why Retailers Choose Litrivis CPA
A bookkeeper records transactions. A traditional CPA firm often sees your numbers once a year, at tax time. We work inside your finance function every week: reconciling sales channels, closing the books, reporting to your lender, and helping you plan cash.
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Hands-on accounting with CFO-level judgment. John Litrivis, CPA, and David Vivanco each bring more than 20 years of accounting and finance experience, so you get CFO-level thinking without the cost of a full-time hire. Meet the team
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One team from close to strategy. The same team does controller and CFO work, so nothing gets lost in the hand-off.
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Advice grounded in how you operate. Ongoing involvement is what lets us advise based on how your business actually runs.
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We work alongside your auditor. We provide accounting and advisory services, not audit or review engagements. When an audit or review is required, we coordinate with your external CPA firm and help prepare the schedules and documentation they need.
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Confidential by design. Client data stays in each client's own systems, access is limited to the assigned team, and we never share one client's pricing, margins, or vendor terms with another.
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Flexible monthly engagements. Most clients work with us on a monthly arrangement sized to the work, and scope can flex with your seasons.
Onboarding
How Onboarding Works
Onboarding typically takes 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the complexity of the business and the condition of the books.
Once we have what we need, we review your processes, fix the most pressing cleanup items, and set a monthly close and reporting calendar.
Ready to Get Clear on Your Retail Numbers?
Request a free consultation. We will review your current accounting setup, your sales channels, and where your biggest finance questions are.