Growing a business often means facing an overwhelming number of tasks, which can shift your focus away from core aspects like product quality and company values. With each new platform you add, the accounting demands spiral, stretching your resources and requiring significant effort.
Luckily, automation offers a solution to lighten this load significantly for your business. Today we’ll explore how Synder transformed TJAYZ’s operations by automating their accounting processes, which saves them a whopping 40 hours each month that they can reinvest into advancing their business and promoting cultural authenticity.
TJAYZ: A company that celebrates and preserves cultural heritage
TJAYZ began in 2015 when a husband-and-wife team, Tony and Kissandra, decided to create a platform that could offer something truly special—handcrafted goods from Mexico. Unlike many businesses focusing on mass-produced items from overseas, they chose to source authentic, artisan-made products that each tells a unique story. This choice wasn’t just about selling products; it was about celebrating and preserving cultural heritage.
The mission at TJAYZ is clear: connect customers with more than just items, but with pieces of cultural artistry. Each item, whether a hand-tooled leather holster, boots or a beautifully embroidered blouse, is made by skilled artisans who infuse their creations with tradition and love.
As the business has grown, TJAYZ stayed focused on niche products that aren’t overrun by larger market competitors. This strategy has not only allowed them to support smaller-scale craftsmen but also to carve out a distinct place in the market. Although based primarily in the United States, TJAYZ has reached customers in Canada, the UK, Switzerland, and even a cowboy park in Sweden, spreading the influence and love for Mexican crafts worldwide.
Struggle with accounting: Being swamped with entering data manually for multiple stores
Managing multiple online stores brought its fair share of challenges for TJAYZ. They expanded to platforms like Shopify, Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and Etsy, and initially, Tony could handle the accounting in QuickBooks Desktop himself. However, as the business started to grow, the volume of transactions became too big to manage manually.
Tony recalls, “As our volume started ticking up, I had to find a solution because it just wasn’t feasible for me to be able to keep up. I’d spend at least two hours a day five days a week in the beginning. And then as the business grew, it got to the point where I felt so overwhelmed that I’d just put it to the side. Then the next thing I knew, it was like, I can’t leave this to the side. I have to update my records, my books, and spend weeks trying to catch up just so I can get back online with everything.”
Come to think of it, two hours a day, that’s ten hours weekly and forty hours monthly just spent on entering data into your accounting system!
The challenge wasn’t just the volume—it was also about ensuring accuracy across refunds, fees, shipping costs, and keeping historical data aligned for proper reconciliation. It was evident that Tony needed an automated solution to streamline this process and nip most problems in the bud.
He explored several options but kept running into limitations. “There were lots of companies that were offering the same thing”, Tony says. “But every time you went into the details, there was always some issue that didn’t work with us. They’d cover eBay and Amazon, but they won’t do Etsy. They’d do one but not the other. ”
Running a small family business, it was also important for Tony to find a solution that he could manage without the need to hire a full-time accountant, which would greatly increase their overheads.
As Tony puts it, “The biggest task at the time for me personally was managing the accounting software. We don’t use an accountant. We try to keep our costs down as much as we can.”
Discovering Synder
Tony’s search led him to Synder’s official YouTube channel. After a few tutorial videos and the 15-day free trial, Tony was convinced that Synder was the right choice.
What won his heart was how Synder team approached the setup process and helped him configure the software to fit TJAYZ’s needs:
“Synder provided the top-notch customer service during my initial setup. Their support not only ensured a smooth setup process but also gave me valuable insights into Synder’s functionalities.”
Synder could handle all their platforms efficiently and fit perfectly with their need to keep operational costs down. This was a big change for TJAYZ, making their accounting easier and giving Tony the much-needed relief from doing everything by hand.
Automating data recording across multiple platforms with Synder
Synder has truly transformed how TJAYZ handles its data across multiple online platforms. But how?
Connecting all sales platforms in QuickBooks Desktop
By integrating Synder Sync with their QuickBooks Desktop, TJAYZ has unified all its sales channels into one consolidated system. This integration means that every transaction from Shopify, Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and Etsy flows directly into QuickBooks without the need for any manual intervention or the hassle of using multiple apps.
Syncing fees, shipping costs, tax amounts, refunds and more
The sales data comes into QuickBooks Desktop automatically with all the essential details such as fees, shipping costs, tax amounts, refunds and more.
Tony explains the impact: “With Synder Sync, I see the shipping charges or fees for these marketplaces and our sales. It’s being tracked really well. The same thing with our refunds. Our refunds were a big task, not just to process them, but to be able to put the inventory back up for sale. With Synder now, as soon as a refund is processed, it’s right back into our inventory to be resold, which is helping our cash flow.”
And this turns out to be of great help since marketplaces also often prioritize stores with available stock. If the store shows that it’s out of products, the platform may start favoring the competitors. But from the moment TJAYZ trusted Synder, the software made sure that they never faced this problem again.
→ Here’s a small walkthrough of how Synder Sync imports Shopify online sales to QuickBooks Desktop for everyone interested in a detailed workflow:
Importing historical refunds data
A major stress reliever for Tony was the ability to import all refund data for the year, even when he was behind.
“I didn’t input all of our refunds for the whole year of 2023. That’s how far behind I was. And so when I brought that up, Synder told me, yeah, we could definitely import the whole sales annual refunds and everything. And that went well.”
This comprehensive syncing means that all of TJAYZ’s data is up-to-date and accurately reflected in QuickBooks Desktop at all times, making Tony’s financial reports always ready for review and ensuring that he has a clear view of the business’s financial health.
Winning extra 40 hours monthly to focus on other facets of the business
Synder covered almost every problem the TJAYZ had, providing the company with even more options to optimize their accounting workflows.
By automating the recording of sales data across multiple platforms, Synder has eliminated the frequent errors that come with manual data entry. QuickBooks Desktop has become the central hub for all of TJAYZ’s financial information, giving Tony a comprehensive view of the company’s finances across all sales channels. This means he can oversee the whole process and understand what’s happening in his books and only consults his accountant when specific questions arise.
“I don’t have to come back and babysit Synder; there’s nothing I need to worry about. Reflecting on it now, with our business expanding, I estimate that the time saved amounts to over 40 hours per month.”
Thus, Tony saves 40+ hours monthly, which he can use to analyze product performance and focus on advancing TJAYZ stores on social media. Plus, he doesn’t have an accountant on payroll and can use this money to advance his business as well.
Tony shares his relief, “I think the best part about Synder is the cost savings of not having an accountant full-time on your payroll. Especially with the options that Synder offers, such as being able to capture all of our fees that are constantly changing with all these marketplaces. I don’t need to track that anymore every time eBay or Amazon does things differently. Synder is on top of that. If I have any questions, I just go to my accountant, and she helps me. But it’s not someone I need to keep on the payroll every month. So what I pay Synder monthly is a lot less than I would’ve had to pay an accountant to be part of the team.”
The efficiency Synder brought has helped TJAYZ keep their prices the same since they started, giving them an advantage as other companies increase their prices.
“By using applications like Synder, we’ve been able to keep our costs extremely low. As our business also has grown, it’s allowed us to do things and make purchases in bulk. And that’s giving us the edge against our competitors because their prices have grown. As our volume picks up, I don’t feel like now I gotta find another app company that can handle our volume or that provides different things that I might require. I think this alone hits on everything that’s important for us, and that’s a big saving of time and money.”
With 30+ integrations available, Tony is confident that Synder will continue to support TJAYZ’s mission of connecting customers to culture, improving their ability to manage growth effectively and sustainably.
Eager to start saving 40+ hours monthly for your business?
Synder Sync has eased TJAYZ’s accounting workflow, opening up more opportunities for business development. And we can do so for many businesses across various industries such as retail, technology, professional services, car parts, and many more.
Want to start saving time and money for your business? Test Synder on a 15-day free trial, and check how we can optimize your accounting workflow! For a guided tour with an expert, visit Synder’s Weekly Public Demo.
Thanks for the article!
Thank you, David!