Etsy Bookkeeping: the Simplest System That Actually Works

Most Etsy sellers do bookkeeping one of two ways: not at all, or by drowning in software built for real corporations. There's a middle path that takes ten minutes a week.

Track exactly five things

1. Orders — date, item, what the buyer paid
2. Etsy's fees — all of them, per order (they're 10–25% of revenue; see our fee breakdown)
3. Cost of goods — what each item costs you to make, per unit
4. Expenses — supplies, software, shipping labels, ads
5. Net profit — what's left. This is the only number that matters.

The weekly routine

Sunday, coffee in hand: open your spreadsheet, log the week's orders and any receipts, glance at the month's profit. Done. The trick is that fees and profit should calculate themselves — if you're typing fee math by hand you'll quit by February.

What about taxes?

Set aside 25–30% of net profit (not revenue!) every quarter. US quarterly due dates for 2026: April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15, 2027. A separate savings account named "taxes" is the difference between a bill and a crisis.

Why a spreadsheet beats an app for most shops

Under roughly $50k/yr, bookkeeping apps are paying $20+/month to re-enter the same five numbers with extra steps. A well-built spreadsheet does the math automatically, costs once, and you own it. (We make one — the Etsy Seller Bookkeeping & Profit Tracker — but the system above works in any spreadsheet you build.)