You make dozens of purchases from Amazon for your business. But tracking and organizing those purchases is often a challenge. After all, you can purchase almost anything from Amazon! You know there must be a better way to manage your Amazon purchases.
Amazon offers a Business Edition. What is Amazon Business? Is it a better choice than a standard Amazon account? How will using this version help you manage your purchases? We discuss the benefits of using Amazon Business and why you should consider using it for your small business.
Manage all company purchases from a single account
Amazon Business allows multiple users the ability to purchase through the same Amazon account. Instead of chasing individual employees for Amazon receipts, all your company’s orders are in one centralized location. Users can also be organized into groups within your account. This can be useful if you want to organize purchasers by a department or project team.
You can gain more transparency on orders by enabling Purchase Order (PO) numbers in your account. Each time an order is placed, you can require users to provide a number or description in the PO field. We have seen use cases where companies use the PO feature to track expenses purchased for a particular client or project.
Each business account comes with Business Analytics, a report engine that can give you greater insight into company purchases. Do you need to generate detailed spending for a specific department or project? Perhaps you need to track the status of all refunded orders from the previous month. Business Analytics can create reports to help you do that and more!
Control purchasing with Buying Policies
In addition to tracking all your orders in one place, Amazon Business gives you the ability to establish policies to control purchasing. Buying Policies give you the ability to control purchasing through one of two methods:
- Spending Limits: Set a limit on how much a user or group of users can spend on Amazon
- Approvals: Require purchases of a specific amount to be approved by one or more individuals in your organization before the order is completed
You can create as many policies as needed for your company’s needs. Create separate approval policies by department, or establish a budget threshold for all orders associated with a particular project. Using policies can encourage good purchase behavior and reduce fraud.
Integrate Amazon with your accounting software
Amazon Business can communicate with your accounting software both directly and indirectly, depending on the system you use. Here are some examples:
Direct – If you use QuickBooks Online (QBO), you can directly connect your Amazon Business account to your QBO account. QBO will import all Amazon Business purchases automatically, including product descriptions, item costs, and fees. Once these orders are in QBO, you can match your Amazon purchases to transactions in your bank or credit card feeds.
Indirect – Various expense management apps support integrations with Amazon Business. For example, with Dext Prepare, you can connect your Amazon account using Invoice Fetch to extract purchases. Once purchases have been uploaded, simply review and publish the expenses to your accounting system.
Amazon Business is free!
There is no cost to set up an Amazon Business account. All the features mentioned above are available at no additional cost. Users receive other perks as well, including:
- Business pricing and quantity discounts
- Recurring delivery discounts on eligible products
- Free shipping on qualifying orders over $25
There is a paid Prime Membership available for Amazon Business customers. While it’s not a requirement, it is worth considering. Here are some of the additional incentives that come with a Business Prime Membership:
- Free shipping – similar to traditional Amazon Prime members, including 1-day shipping on qualifying orders
- Enhanced buying policies – create spending limits on specific product categories or require approvals when purchases are made from a particular seller
- Guided buying – show employees the products and sellers you want them to purchase from and restrict the ones you don’t
- Pay by invoice – set payment terms with sellers of between 45-60 days on eligible purchases
If you use Amazon to purchase products for your small business, an Amazon Business account is an excellent way to monitor and track expenses efficiently. Looking for additional ways to track expenses and save time? Check out our article on how to use Dext for effective expense management.