How to Connect Xero to Walmart: The Complete Guide

Recent years have seen an increase in Walmart sellers as the popular U.S-based eCommerce platform gains traction worldwide. From the UK and China to Canada and Mexico, more and more international sellers are joining the Walmart marketplace. To put this into perspective, 2021 saw a massive 66% increase in Walmart sellers from the previous year, bringing the number to over 150,000.

One problem with worldwide sales though is the complexities of tax compliance. And, with the huge potential for sales that Walmart offers, keeping your books straight can quickly become a chore.

This is why Walmart sellers are seeking a solution to integrate Walmart with their accounting software. Specifically, Xero. Connecting Walmart and Xero not only saves you time, but it also helps with accurate accounting.

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Today, I'm walking you through the simple step-by-step process of how to connect Walmart and Xero with Link My Books.  

What is a Xero and Walmart Integration?

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A Xero and Walmart integration is the process of connecting your Walmart account to your Xero accounting software. Its purpose is to simplify Walmart bookkeeping so that it's quicker, more accurate, and less complicated.

Rather than manually inputting financial data into your Xero account, using a third-party integration like Link My Books automates this process so that all sales data is broken down, consolidated, and sent over to Xero with minimum effort on your part.

Why Automate Your Walmart Accounting?

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We've worked with thousands of eCommerce sellers over the years and these are the common reasons why Walmart sellers automate their accounting:

• Save time: I think most people would agree that data entry is a long and tedious task. It makes Walmart bookkeeping take up a considerable chunk of your time and is very repetitive. In contrast, automating your Walmart bookkeeping makes it super quick. With Link My Books, you only need to spend 10 minutes per month on your bookkeeping rather than hours.
• Accurate accounting: With all that sales data, it's likely that mistakes will creep into your books now and again. If these mistakes aren't spotted right away, they can be hard to identify and correct. This means your reports and projections could be skewed. As a result, you'll be basing business decisions on incorrect data.

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• Tax calculations: As mentioned at the beginning, selling internationally means keeping on top of different tax rules and regulations. Failure to do so could result in overpaying in taxes. Or, underpaying and facing penalties. Link My Books correctly calculates taxes on every item you sell. You can be confident that you remain tax compliant regardless of where your customers are based.
• Enhanced efficiency: Automating Walmart accounting enhances efficiency within eCommerce businesses. You'll have more time to focus on analysing your sales data and growing your business. Plus, you'll have the confidence of knowing you're working with accurate data that you don't need to keep second guessing.

Integrate Walmart and Xero for Accurate Accounting

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There's a reason why Xero is a top choice amongst Walmart businesses. In contrast to QuickBooks Online, it's fairly easy to learn the ropes and it has a smooth, user-friendly interface. Xero is also packed with features that cover a variety of accounting processes, such as bank reconciliation, paying bills, and tracking projects.

Xero on its own may be great. But, you also need a software to auto sync your data. You need a software that enables you to integrate Walmart with Xero so that your Walmart transactions are automatically recorded in your Walmart accounting software. Link My Books is the answer.

Xero Walmart Integration: Seamlessly Connect, Reconcile, and Succeed With Link My Books

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Link My Books is an automated eCommerce bookkeeping software that is perfect for Walmart businesses. It integrates seamlessly with Walmart Seller Center. As such, your Walmart transactions are synced and recorded accurately, both in Link My Books and your accounting software.

Link My Books automatically sends data from your sales channel over to your Xero account, and categorises it accordingly.

Link My Books Best Features for Walmart Sellers

Here are some of the best features that Link My Books has to offer:

Accurate Summaries

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Link My Books syncs with your Walmart account data and compresses it into accurate summaries of your transactions. Our software gathers and breaks down revenue and expenses to give an overview of your Walmart sales, fees, refunds, and shipping fees, amongst other metrics.

You can view these in Link My Books, manually send them to Xero, or turn on the powerful auto post feature so this information is automatically posted to Xero.

Taxes and COGS

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Tax calculations and COGS tracking are two big plus-points of Link My Books. When you sign up, answer a few questions in our Guided Tax Wizard (more on this later), and every time you sell an item your taxes will be automatically calculated. Taxes are included in the summaries too so you can send this data to Xero with the rest of your sales data.

The Link My Books COGS (cost of goods sold) tracking feature can be switched on for enhanced bookkeeping. Understanding your COGS will help you produce accurate reports so you can work on increasing the profitability of your business. Plus, they'll help you ensure your tax returns are based on the correct figures.

Benchmarking

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Benchmarking is a new Link My Books feature that gives users a solid understanding of their business's performance compared to others. This first-of-its-kind innovative tool uses cohort analysis of anonymised data to give Link My Books customers a percentile ranking for their business.

These are the metrics Link My Books Benchmarking measures and tracks:

• Sales growth percentage
• Fee ratio
• Advertising fee ratio
• Refund ratio
• Refund ratio growth trend

With this information, Walmart businesses can gain an understanding of industry trends, their business's potential, and how their decisions impact business performance.

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For example, if you get a significant spike in refund requests, you can determine whether or not the trend is industry-wide. If it's not, you can look into recent changes in your business that might be impacting refunds. For instance, a change in supplier might mean lower quality goods.

Payout and Bank Reconciliation

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Payout and bank account reconciliation is the process of ensuring your bank deposits and Walmart account payouts match the figures you have in your books. Its purpose is to identify any discrepancies and fix them asap. Some people forget about transactions and consequently leave them out of their records. Other people accidentally record credits as debits, for example.

Frequent bank and payout reconciliation ensures that mistakes like these are spotted quickly. If you leave it too long before noticing your accounts don't match up, it can be difficult to pinpoint the origin of the mistake. eCommerce payment reconciliation software makes this time consuming task quick and easy.

Because Link My Books auto-syncs data, it facilitates easy reconciliation. We understand that accuracy is key to reconciliation and our software ensures your transaction data in your Xero account accurately reflects the true deposit amounts.

Powerful Analytics

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As I'm sure you'll agree, analytics are essential for improving the accounting process and growing a business. They enable you to judge the success of your business decisions and marketing efforts. They can also be used for producing reports, like cash flow forecasts, to judge the trajectory of your Walmart business.

With Link My Books analytical tools, your transaction data is compiled to give you a clear overview of metrics like profit, fees, and ROI. These are presented in easy-to-read graphs. You can compare different time periods too and understand how figures have changed over time.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Integrate Walmart and Xero With Link My Books

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With Link My Books, you can set up a Walmart Xero integration in just four simple steps, plus an optional extra:

1. Bag your free Link My Books trial and create your account.
2. Connect to Walmart Marketplace and your Xero software.
3. Choose Guided Tax Wizard or book a free 1:1 onboarding session.
4. Review your setup and send your first settlement.
5. (Optional) Turn on COGS tracking.

Step 1. Bag Your Free Link My Books Trial and Create Your Account

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This first step couldn't be easier and it takes just a couple of minutes. Many software with free trials require all kinds of information from you, including payment details for when your trial ends. But not us.

Link My Books accepts signups through Xero so you can use your Xero login details to create your account. This means that at this point we don't need any personal information, not even your name.

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1. Click on the 'Free Trial' button at the top right of the Link My Books website.
2. Fill in the short form which asks questions like what channel you sell on and what accounting platform you use.
3. Once you've clicked 'Next', click on the 'SIGN UP WITH XERO' button and enter your details.
4. The next page will ask you whether you're a business owner or an accountant/bookkeeper. Select the appropriate option.

Step 2. Connect Walmart Marketplace and Your Xero Software

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On the next page you can choose what marketplace or sales channel you want to connect to first.

1. Select Walmart and name your account. You can now connect to Walmart.
2. You'll be taken to a page where you need to sign in to your Walmart account and grant Link My Books access to the necessary data.
3. Once you've connected your sales channel, you'll be prompted to connect your bookkeeping or accounting platform. Click on Xero and follow the instructions to sign in. And again, grant Link My Books access.

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Rest assured you can rescind access at any time through your account.

Step 3. Choose Guided Tax Wizard or Free 1:1 Onboarding Session

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From here, you have two choices; you can either go through the Guided Tax Wizard to set your tax rates. Or, you can choose a free onboarding session where we can help you get set up correctly. If you want to take advantage of the onboarding session, click the box. You'll be taken to a page where you can arrange a Google Meet call with a member of our expert support team.

Alternatively, you can set your taxes up yourself. Here's how:

1. Select the Guided Setup Wizard box.
2. Either keep the default account name for each transaction category or change them as required. Click 'Next'.

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1. You must now select which countries your Walmart business is VAT registered in. If none, choose 'My business is not VAT registered in any country' and click 'Next' again.
2. If you've told us your business is registered for VAT, the next page will ask if you sell any zero or reduced rated products. Choose the correct options for your business. If you do sell these, you'll be able to let us know which products apply to these groups once you're all set up.
3. The next page contains the details you've provided. Check them over and confirm them.

This process will take around 5-7 minutes. It's a good idea to get your accountant involved at this stage if you're uncertain of your tax rates.

Step 4. Review Your Setup and Send Your First Settlement

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Now you're into the Link My Books platform, you'll notice your data has automatically synced with the software. You can start by sending your first settlement to Xero. This can be done individually or you can set it to auto post.

It's good practice to send one or two individually first, just so you can see how it all works and check the details. After this, feel free to put it on autopilot for automated accounting.

Here's how to do both in just a few clicks:

• Send individual settlements: On the 'Settlements' page, you'll see your Walmart sales data. On the right side of this, you'll see a button labelled 'ACTION' with a little white arrow next to it. The arrow is for a short drop-down menu. Click on the arrow and select 'Send to Xero'. You can also view the settlement first through this menu and send individual sections of your settlement.

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• Send automatically: To set up the auto post feature, head over to your Settlement Settings. This can be accessed via the drop-down menu next to 'Settings' at the top right of the platform. Navigate to 'Automation' and tick the box next to 'Auto Post Settlements'. Now, choose the dates from when you want them to send.

Optional Step 5: Turn on COGS Tracking

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Walmart accounting becomes simpler when you turn on COGS tracking. You can get a better grip on your business expenses, and use the information to enhance the profitability of your business by lowering your COGS.

So although this feature is optional, it really is advisable for your Walmart and Xero integration setup. Thankfully, like the previous steps, this step is pretty easy too:

• Once you've familiarised yourself with the Link My Books platform, go the the 'Products' page. Now add a cost for each of your products. There's also an option to bulk upload product costs to save time if you sell lots of different items.
• Now go to Settlement Settings and navigate to the Cost of Goods Sold page. Select 'Turn on Cost of Goods Sold' and choose a credit and debit account. Save this and you're good to go.  

What if You Sell on Multiple Channels?

Are you a Walmart Seller operating a multi-channel online business? Perhaps you run an eBay and Shopify store alongside Walmart. Or maybe you've branched out into Amazon and Etsy. If so, you'll understand that multi-channel eCommerce accounting is considerably more complex than selling on one channel alone.

Different platforms have different fee structures. And, you have to keep a detailed record of data from multiple platforms, payment processors, and marketplaces. Link My Books helps greatly in this regard. You can connect multiple sales channels to our one platform. Our software gathers all the data, consolidates it, and sends it all across to Xero.

Link My Books Integrations

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Link My Books integrates with:

• Walmart
• Amazon
• Shopify
• eBay
• Etsy
• WooCommerce
• Square
• TikTok Shop

It also integrates with all the major payment processors, such as PayPal and Clearpay, in addition to QuickBooks Online. All these integrations make for a smooth, unified, and accurate eCommerce accounting system for multi-channel sellers. You can create efficient accounting workflows to save hours of time every month.

Profit and Loss by Channel

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When you use Link My Books to integrate Walmart and Xero with multiple sales channels, like your Shopify store and eBay account, you can take advantage of Profit and Loss by Channel. This is a business-boosting feature that enables you to compare performance across your channels.

P and L by Channel give you a clear picture of your whole operation, from Walmart orders to eBay transactions and settlement deposits. With this feature, you can generate reports and compare your channels side-by-side.

Start Accurately Accounting for Your Walmart Sales

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Without the use of specialised software, Walmart accounting will take time, particularly if you also sell on other marketplaces. If you're a Walmart seller looking for a way to manage your transaction data, maintain accurate books, and reduce the chance of human error within your eCommerce accounting system, a Walmart to Xero connection is the way forward.

Link My Books facilitates such a connection by linking your accounts together and ensuring your data is accurately reconciled. It provides in-depth analytics to help you scale your business while keeping on top of your accounting tasks.

If you're keen to connect your Walmart store with Xero, sign up for your two week Link My Books trial for free today. Follow the steps outlined in this guide and manage your accounts like a pro.

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