Importing E-Commerce Settlements into Sage

Why Sage Users Get Left Behind

If you use Sage Accounting (formerly Sage One or Sage Business Cloud Accounting), you've probably noticed a gap in the e-commerce accounting tool ecosystem. A2X supports QuickBooks and Xero. Link My Books supports QuickBooks and Xero. Most settlement automation tools support QuickBooks and Xero.

Sage? Not so much.

This is frustrating for the thousands of bookkeepers and small businesses — especially in the UK, Ireland, and Europe — who use Sage as their primary accounting software. You're left with manual data entry or clunky workarounds.

This guide shows you how to convert marketplace settlement reports into Sage's journal import format. We cover the format requirements, Nominal Code mapping, and worked examples for Amazon and Shopify. And we'll show you how SettleBooks can automate the entire process — because we're one of the few settlement tools that actually supports Sage.

Understanding Sage's Journal Import Format

Sage Accounting accepts journal imports via CSV. The format is straightforward but strict — get one column wrong and the import fails silently or with a cryptic error.

Required Columns

Column	Description	Example
Reference	Journal reference (max 30 chars)	AMZN-2025-0115
Date	Transaction date (DD/MM/YYYY)	15/01/2025
Nominal Code	The Sage account code	4000
Description	Line description	Product Sales
Debit	Debit amount (blank if credit)	150.00
Credit	Credit amount (blank if debit)
Include on VAT Return	Y or N (UK/EU only)	N

Critical Formatting Rules

Date format is DD/MM/YYYY — This is non-negotiable. Sage always expects DD/MM/YYYY regardless of your locale settings. This is the single most common import error.

UTF-8 with BOM — Save your CSV as UTF-8 with BOM (Byte Order Mark). Without the BOM, Sage may misinterpret special characters like £, €, or accented names.

Nominal Codes must exist — Every Nominal Code in your CSV must already exist in your Sage chart of accounts. If you reference code 7102 but haven't created it, the import will fail.

Debits and Credits in separate columns — Unlike Xero (which uses signed amounts), Sage expects separate Debit and Credit columns. Each line should have a value in one column and the other blank.

Journal must balance — Total debits must equal total credits. Sage will reject an unbalanced journal.

Mapping Marketplace Fees to Sage Nominal Codes

Here's a recommended mapping for e-commerce settlements. These use Sage's standard Nominal Code ranges:

Category	Nominal Code	Account Name	Type
Product Sales	4000	Sales	Revenue
Shipping Revenue	4001	Shipping Revenue	Revenue
Marketplace Commission	7100	Marketplace Commission	Expense
Fulfillment Fees	7102	Fulfillment Fees	Expense
Storage Fees	7103	Storage Fees	Expense
Payment Processing Fees	7104	Payment Processing Fees	Expense
Advertising/Marketing	7105	Marketplace Advertising	Expense
Refunds Issued	4002	Refunds (Contra-Revenue)	Revenue
Bank Account (Payout)	1200	Current Account	Asset
Marketplace Reserve	1101	Marketplace Reserve	Asset

Customizing for Your Practice

These codes are suggestions. If your client already has an established chart of accounts, map the settlement categories to their existing Nominal Codes. Consistency within the client's books is more important than following a template.

For firms managing multiple e-commerce clients, consider standardizing your Nominal Code mapping across clients. This makes training staff and reviewing work much easier.

Converting an Amazon Settlement for Sage

Let's walk through a real example. You have an Amazon V2 settlement report with these aggregated figures:

Category	Amount
Product Sales (Principal)	$12,340.00
Shipping Revenue	$890.00
Referral Fees (Commission)	-$1,975.50
FBA Fulfillment Fees	-$1,480.00
FBA Storage Fees	-$125.00
Refunds (Principal)	-$450.00
Promotion Discounts	-$180.00
Net Payout	$9,019.50

Sage CSV Output

Reference,Date,Nominal Code,Description,Debit,Credit,Include on VAT Return
AMZN-2025-0115,15/01/2025,1200,Amazon Payout - Settlement 12345,9019.50,,N
AMZN-2025-0115,15/01/2025,7100,Amazon Referral Fees,1975.50,,N
AMZN-2025-0115,15/01/2025,7102,FBA Fulfillment Fees,1480.00,,N
AMZN-2025-0115,15/01/2025,7103,FBA Storage Fees,125.00,,N
AMZN-2025-0115,15/01/2025,4002,Customer Refunds,450.00,,N
AMZN-2025-0115,15/01/2025,7100,Promotional Discounts,180.00,,N
AMZN-2025-0115,15/01/2025,4000,Product Sales,,12340.00,N
AMZN-2025-0115,15/01/2025,4001,Shipping Revenue,,890.00,N

Balance check: Debits = $9,019.50 + $1,975.50 + $1,480.00 + $125.00 + $450.00 + $180.00 = $13,230.00. Credits = $12,340.00 + $890.00 = $13,230.00. ✓

Building this CSV manually from an Amazon settlement report takes 30-45 minutes per settlement, including downloading, aggregating in Excel, mapping to Nominal Codes, formatting dates, and verifying the balance. Multiply that by biweekly settlements across multiple clients, and you're looking at hours of repetitive work every month.

Converting a Shopify Payout for Sage

Shopify payouts are simpler because there's only one fee type (payment processing). Here's an example:

Category	Amount
Gross Sales	$3,200.00
Payment Processing Fees	-$96.50
Refunds	-$125.00
Net Payout	$2,978.50

Sage CSV Output

Reference,Date,Nominal Code,Description,Debit,Credit,Include on VAT Return
SHOP-2025-0115,15/01/2025,1200,Shopify Payout - Jan 15,2978.50,,N
SHOP-2025-0115,15/01/2025,7104,Shopify Processing Fees,96.50,,N
SHOP-2025-0115,15/01/2025,4002,Customer Refunds,125.00,,N
SHOP-2025-0115,15/01/2025,4000,Product Sales,,3200.00,N

Balance check: Debits = $2,978.50 + $96.50 + $125.00 = $3,200.00. Credits = $3,200.00. ✓

Other Marketplaces

The same process applies to Etsy, Walmart, and eBay settlements. The categories differ (Etsy has listing fees, Walmart has commission tiers, eBay has Final Value Fees), but the Sage format is identical.

For marketplace-specific guides and automatic conversion:

• Convert Etsy payments for Sage →
• Convert Walmart settlements for Sage →
• Convert eBay payouts for Sage →

How to Import the CSV into Sage

1. Log in to Sage Accounting
2. Navigate to Settings > Import Data (or Banking > Import depending on version)
3. Select Journal Entries as the import type
4. Upload your CSV file
5. Map columns if Sage doesn't auto-detect them
6. Review the preview — check that Nominal Codes, dates, and amounts look correct
7. Click Import

Common Import Errors

"Nominal Code not found" — You referenced a code that doesn't exist in your chart of accounts. Fix: create the account first, or change the code in your CSV.

"Invalid date" — Your date isn't in DD/MM/YYYY format. This is the #1 error. Even if your computer uses MM/DD/YYYY, Sage's import always expects DD/MM/YYYY.

"Journal out of balance" — Total debits don't equal total credits. Fix: verify your amounts. A common cause is a rounding discrepancy of a few pence/cents.

"Duplicate reference" — Sage warns if a journal with the same reference exists. Update the reference or confirm you want a new journal with the same ref.

Automating With SettleBooks

SettleBooks is one of the few e-commerce settlement tools that includes a dedicated Sage CSV exporter. Here's what it handles automatically:

• DD/MM/YYYY date formatting — no more date format errors
• Nominal Code mapping — configurable per client, with sensible defaults
• Separate Debit/Credit columns — correctly formatted for Sage's requirements
• UTF-8 with BOM encoding — special characters render correctly
• Balance verification — every journal is validated before export
• VAT Return column — included with configurable defaults

Upload any marketplace settlement file (Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, Walmart, or eBay), review the journal entry, and download a Sage-ready CSV. The entire process takes under a minute.

For firms with multiple clients, you can save custom Nominal Code mappings per client. Client A uses 4000 for Sales and 7100 for Commission; Client B uses 4100 and 7200. SettleBooks remembers.

VAT Considerations for UK/EU Sellers

The "Include on VAT Return" column in Sage's journal import is important for UK and EU sellers. Here's guidance:

When to Set "Y" (Include on VAT Return)

• Product Sales lines where you're registered for VAT and selling B2C
• Any transaction where VAT has been charged and you need to report it

When to Set "N" (Exclude from VAT Return)

• Marketplace facilitator sales where the marketplace (Amazon, eBay) collected and remitted VAT on your behalf
• Fee lines (commission, fulfillment) — these typically have VAT already included or are treated as outside-scope services
• Bank/payout lines

The Marketplace Facilitator Complication

Since July 2021, online marketplaces are required to collect and remit VAT on certain B2C sales in the UK and EU. This means:

• For sales where the marketplace collects VAT, set "Include on VAT Return" to "N" on the sales line — you're not responsible for reporting it
• For sales where you collect VAT directly (e.g., via your own Shopify store), set to "Y"

This is a complex area and the rules differ by country, seller location, and sale value. Always consult with a VAT specialist for multi-country e-commerce sellers.

SettleBooks and VAT

SettleBooks' Sage exporter lets you configure the VAT return flag per category. Set it once for each client, and every exported journal entry uses the correct flags.

Summary

Sage users have been underserved by the e-commerce accounting tool ecosystem, but the manual import process is straightforward once you understand the format. Key requirements: DD/MM/YYYY dates, separate Debit/Credit columns, valid Nominal Codes, UTF-8 BOM encoding, and balanced totals. For an automated workflow that handles all of these requirements, SettleBooks' Sage CSV exporter converts any marketplace settlement into a ready-to-import Sage journal in under a minute.