From the shops and boutiques across Kailua town, Kailua Rd, Lanikai, and Enchanted Lake to windward Oʻahu makers shipping ‘Made in Hawaiʻi’ goods to the mainland, retail in Kailua means juggling POS, multiple sales channels, high inbound freight, inventory, and Hawaii's General Excise Tax (GET) — the ~4% (4.5% on Oʻahu with the county surcharge) gross-receipts tax that applies to nearly all business income, not just retail sales. Tides keeps every channel reconciled, your GET liability current, and your true margins visible — every month.
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Whether you're selling online, in a store, or on marketplaces — we understand how retail finances actually work.
Shopify, WooCommerce, and direct-to-consumer brands need COGS tracking, platform fee reconciliation, and multi-channel consolidation.
Physical stores with POS systems, inventory, and vendor relationships have their own bookkeeping demands — especially when combined with an online presence.
Marketplace platforms take fees, hold reserves, and pay out on varying schedules. Reconciling payouts against sales is a full-time job — unless you have us.
E-commerce and retail businesses face financial challenges that general bookkeepers routinely miss. Here's what we hear from nearly every new client.
Knowing your true cost of goods sold across products, variants, and channels is the difference between a profitable product line and one that's quietly losing money.
Shopify, Amazon, PayPal, Stripe — every platform takes a cut, plus processing fees, plus monthly subscriptions. Without tracking it all, your margin analysis is useless.
Selling in multiple states means navigating different sales tax rules in each one. We monitor your nexus exposure and make sure your records are ready for compliance.
Shopify says one number. Amazon says another. Your bank account says something else. We consolidate every channel into one clean monthly picture.
Every Tides plan includes all seven core services. E-commerce and retail clients get specific treatment for COGS tracking, multi-channel reconciliation, and inventory cost management.
Every account reconciled, every transaction categorized, every month — without exception. You receive a clean P&L and balance sheet with COGS broken out so you always know your true margins.
Monthly reports showing revenue, COGS, gross margin, and operating expenses — so you can see exactly where your business stands.
Every business account and credit card matched and verified each month. No mystery charges. No unresolved transactions. No surprises.
We track vendor payments, supplier invoices, and outstanding balances so your cash flow stays healthy and nothing gets missed.
Months or years behind? We clean it all up before we start your regular monthly service — no matter how far back the backlog goes.
If you have employees, we coordinate payroll processing and keep your tax filings clean and on schedule.
"I had no idea how much Shopify and Amazon fees were eating into my margins until Tides laid it all out. Total game changer."
Questions we hear from retail and e-commerce business owners before they sign on with Tides.
Kailua's retail runs from walkable storefronts to the makers packing ‘Made in Hawaiʻi’ orders for shoppers across the mainland. And because Hawaii charges no sales tax, sellers instead owe Hawaii's General Excise Tax (GET) — the ~4% (4.5% on Oʻahu with the county surcharge) gross-receipts tax that applies to nearly all business income, not just retail sales on gross receipts. Here's how Tides supports retailers and e-commerce brands across the City & County of Honolulu.
Lanikai and the surrounding commercial corridors anchor a strong independent retail scene — apparel and aloha-wear boutiques, home and gift shops, surf and outdoor retailers, and specialty stores running on tight margins and high transaction counts. Freight matters here: most inventory arrives by container, so landed cost and shrink hit harder than on the mainland. Tides reconciles your POS (Square, Clover, Shopify POS, Lightspeed) against bank deposits, keeps inventory and COGS clean by category, tracks gift-card liability, and keeps your GET accrual accurate so the pass-through you collect actually matches what you remit.
Kailua's maker community has built a real Shopify and DTC scene — Kona coffee, macadamia and food products, apparel, jewelry, beauty, and ‘Made in Hawaiʻi’ brands shipping from windward Oʻahu to customers nationwide. The design-and-ship model means multi-state sales-tax exposure on the mainland side, Shopify Payments and Stripe fee reconciliation, high outbound shipping from the islands, ad spend tracked against CAC, and — layered on top — Hawaii GET on the gross. We build books that show what each channel actually earns after fees, freight, and GET.
The retail across Lanikai, Enchanted Lake, Waimanalo, Kāneʻohe, and Kailua town is full of brands running a Shopify storefront plus an in-person shop, a farmers-market booth, or a resort-lobby pop-up. That split between online and in-person is where bookkeeping usually breaks down — different platforms, different fee structures, one set of inventory, and one GET liability underneath all of it. Tides consolidates everything into one monthly P&L, with GET reconciled to the G-49 at year-end. Want the full local picture? See our Kailua bookkeeping services page.
100% remote bookkeeping for small businesses across Hawaii and throughout the United States.
Tides Bookkeeping specializes in bookkeeping across 12 distinct industries. Industry-specific expertise means fewer errors, better categorization, and a bookkeeper who already understands how your business makes money.
Schedule a free 15-minute call. We'll review your current setup, answer your questions, and give you a flat monthly quote — no pressure.
No credit card required · No long-term contracts · Cancel anytime