NZ Ecommerce Chart of Accounts for Xero: Import GST + Platform Fees

Selling online turns tax into a question of where each thing comes from. Goods cross the border, fees come from overseas platforms, and the GST treatment swings on the value of a consignment and whether a supplier is registered for New Zealand GST. A generic chart cannot show any of that. This is a New Zealand ecommerce chart of accounts for Xero built around imports, fees and inventory, as a readable reference CSV and a Xero import CSV.

Imports turn on the NZ$1,000 line

New Zealand splits imported goods at NZ$1,000, and the chart follows the rule rather than hiding it:

• Imported goods for resale is the cost account. Since 1 December 2019, offshore suppliers charge 15% GST on low-value consignments (NZ$1,000 or less), so you keep their GST evidence and code the cost on 15% GST on Expenses.
• For consignments over NZ$1,000, the New Zealand Customs Service collects the GST at the border. You record that with GST on Imports against the customs entry, listed as the alternative code on the import account, so the GST comes from the customs documentation and not the supplier invoice.

Customs, duty and freight kept separate

Border costs are not the cost of the goods, so customs duty and freight is its own account. Import duty and inbound freight land here, and the GST on the customs entry is claimed via GST on Imports. Keeping it apart makes true landed cost visible and stops the border GST being counted twice.

Platform and processing fees

Online selling runs on third-party fees, and their GST depends on the supplier. Merchant and payment fees and marketplace and platform fees each default to 15% GST on Expenses for New Zealand-registered providers, and each lists Zero Rated as the alternative for an offshore supplier that charges no New Zealand GST. For some businesses an imported service like that can fall under the reverse charge, so the note flags it rather than assuming. Splitting merchant fees from marketplace commissions keeps the true cost of each sales channel readable.

Inventory and fulfilment

Inventory on hand holds stock as an asset coded No GST, because the GST sits on the purchase, not the balance. Packaging and fulfilment and shipping and courier capture the cost of getting orders out the door, both standard-rated at 15%. If you also ship to customers overseas, those export sales are zero-rated, so keep them on a separate revenue line from your domestic 15% sales; the split makes the zero-rated and standard-rated boxes of the GST return obvious rather than something to unpick later.

How to use it

1. Open the CSV: each account shows its class, default Xero GST code, the alternatives, and a note. The import, customs and fee accounts are the ecommerce additions.
2. In Xero go to Accounting, then Chart of accounts, then Import, and upload the CSV into a demo organisation first.
3. Confirm the New Zealand GST rates, including GST on Imports, exist in your organisation.
4. Decide a rule for low-value versus over-threshold imports so the team codes each consignment consistently.

The recurring work is coding each cost to the right place as orders and bills flow in:

• Hubdoc pulls recurring supplier and platform invoices into the file.
• ExpenseFlow reads each receipt, bill and customs document, applies the right New Zealand GST treatment including the import and reverse-charge cases, and posts it into Xero against the correct account, so channel costs and landed cost stay accurate as you scale.
• Dext applies supplier rules for repeat freight and packaging suppliers.

On QuickBooks instead? See the NZ ecommerce chart of accounts for QuickBooks. For the detail on import GST and the NZ$1,000 threshold, see the New Zealand ecommerce expenses guide.