How to get a yearly summary of your shipping costs
It's easy to get a summary of your shipping costs for taxes! Just head to your Reports page here: https://ship.pirateship.com/reports
Selecting the Date Range: You can change the Date Range at the top of the page to adjust those reports. This will update all the numbers & charts, and give you a total that you can use for your accounting 👍
Here's where you can change the date range:
Total Shipping Costs: The "Total Shipping Costs" section of your Reports page will show the total spent on shipping labels over the selected date range:
See a Line-Item Report: If you need to export a line-item report, click the "View Transactions" link underneath Total Shipping Costs:
Filtering Transaction History: You can filter the Transaction History for the date range you need. Just click on the Date column header to apply that filter.
For instance, in this example, if you want to see everything from 2019, set the range as January 1st, 2019 - January 1st, 2020:
Exporting to a Spreadsheet: Once you have the date range you want, you can use this Export button to get a copy of those transactions in a spreadsheet:
What if my Total Shipping Costs are higher than my total payments for the year?
Total Shipping Costs vs. Total Payments: When looking at your Reports page, you may notice that your Total Shipping Costs are slightly higher than the amount listed in your Total Payments field. This can happen sometimes due to fees you incur or credits you receive outside of your actual label purchases, such as:
Refunds
Pickup fees
Carrier adjustments (positive or negative)
Insurance claim payouts
For cash-based accounting, use your "Total Payments" field on your Reports page
Use Total Payments for Cash-Based Accounting: If your business uses cash-based accounting, the easiest way to tally your expenses for the year is to simply use the number shown in your Total Payments.
Here's how that looks:
For accrual-based accounting, segment different categories in your Transaction History using the "Type" column and export to a spreadsheet
Use Your Transaction History for Accrual-Based Accounting: If your business uses accrual-basis accounting, or if you want to specifically itemize the different categories of your expenses (such as label costs, pickups, carrier adjustments, insurance claim payouts, etc), here's how to do that:
Using the "Type" column in your Transaction History, segment the different categories in your Transaction History grid
Make sure "Payments" is not selected
Export your Transaction History categories minus your "Payments" into a spreadsheet by clicking the blue "Export" button
Be Mindful of Rollover Account Balances: When using accrual-based accounting, you'll also need to be mindful of any rollover Account Balances from 2022 > 2023 or 2023 >2024.
Do I need a W-9 to send a 1099 to Pirate Ship?
No 1099 Necessary: The IRS has an exception for payments for freight, so it's not necessary to issue Pirate Ship a 1099 form.
See this screenshot for context:
Use Certified Mail to send taxes to the IRS, not a package service
Certified Mail vs. Shipping Services: The IRS prefers you use Certified Mail service to send your tax returns to the IRS, and not a shipping service like the ones we sell on Pirate Ship.
When you purchase a "Certificate of Mailing," USPS assigns you a tracking number that allows you to track First-Class Mail similar to how you can track packages 👍
Unfortunately, Pirate Ship doesn't offer Certified Mail service! You'll need to visit your local Post Office for that. For more info on mailing your tax return to the IRS, visit the USPS website.
Shipping Government Documents: Read more about shipping government documents.
Chat with ARrrr Support Crew if you have any questions
If you have any questions about year-end taxes, feel free to chat with us! Click the blue chat icon and one of our deckhands will be happy to help get you sailing in the right direction! 😃