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Latest edition of the IL newsletter inside! [InventoryLab Newsletter] Read time: 2 minutes Hey there, IL fam! Did you know that groundhogs don’t need an alarm clock to wake up early? It’s because they have an innate ability to SPRING forward! 🌸 It might not be spring quite yet, but we are leaping with excitement for this edition of the IL newsletter! In today’s email: - Brain Break - Take a breath with a winter meditation - Reviews - Hear what our customers are saying - Black Business Accelerator Program - Amazon helps  - Customer Coaching - Meet the newest IL member of our coaching team - Taxes Checklist - A helpful tool for tax season - Blog - 2D Barcodes and Black History Month Keep Calm and…Amazon On? Finding moments of peace amidst the chaos of being an ecommerce seller is crucial for mental health and well-being. Check out this article from Forbes with [7 Surprising Advantages For Entrepreneurs Who Meditate]( Take a moment for yourself with this [Winter Restoration meditation]( Designed to help you find inner calm, reduce stress, and focus on what matters. We LOVE hearing your feedback! Here are a few recent notes we’ve received from folks after interacting with our Customer Champion team. 💥“You were lovely. :) IL has unparalleled customer service and streamlined processes, yall are worth every penny!” - Amy 💥”Quick response. Made me feel like my concern was noted.” - Andrew 💥”Kelley was a pleasure to speak with. She was very easy to communicate with, and helped me understand features of Inventorylab I did know exist.” - Luke 💥”It's rare you get really good customer service, but Austin was a huge help.  I didn't feel like I was bothering Austin when I emailed back asking for additional information.  So very helpful.  Wish more support online were like Austin!” - David Thank you for your support and for sharing your experience! Your feedback really does motivate us to continuously improve and provide exceptional service. Celebrate Black History Month with Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator Program The Amazon Black Business Accelerator program is designed to support Black entrepreneurs and business owners in growing their ventures on Amazon's platform. Through this initiative, participants get access to various resources like business training, mentorship, and help with marketing and promotions.  The program aims to empower Black-owned businesses by providing them with the tools and guidance needed to succeed in e-commerce. By leveraging Amazon's reach and infrastructure, participants can expand their customer base, increase sales, and build sustainable businesses. Overall, the Amazon Black Business Accelerator program seeks to foster economic empowerment and promote diversity in the online marketplace. Learn more here: [Black Business Accelerator]( It’s tax time - here’s a checklist to help This can be a stressful time of year as you work on gathering information for tax preparations. In case it helps, we’ve whipped up a checklist for you if you plan to use InventoryLab's reports for your schedule C filing! Note: The 1099-K that is issued every year will not match your Profit & Loss report in Stratify, or your Payment Reports in Seller Central. This is because Amazon uses Gross Sales figures as opposed to Payments figures in the 1099-K. For details, please see- [How can I Compare InventoryLab to my 1099-K?](  1. Get your inventory value by going to the Reports>[Inventory Valuation](. You are not required to export this on the last day of the year, but you will need to change the date in the upper right-hand corner to 12/31 if you run it on a different date. Change the Status in the top right-hand corner to All and click View for the 12/31 date. These two articles can help if you were not a subscriber before the end of the year, in order to manually calculate your Inventory Valuation totals: - [Inventory Valuation: I wasn't a subscriber as of the end of last year so I don't have my Inventory Valuation!]( - [Inventory Valuation: I didn't add all of my buy costs before December 31st!](  2. Before reviewing or exporting your [Profit & Loss]( report, make sure that MFN returns and removals/disposals for items you have had removed from Amazon have been marked as either Sellable or Defective on the Accounting>[Disposition Management]( page. Keep in mind that removal orders during peak times can take up to 30 days to process by Amazon. The below information on removals is from Seller Central: "Typically, removal orders are processed and leave the FC within 14 business days. Please allow an additional two weeks for the carrier to deliver after the shipment has left the FC. If there are problems with delivery, the carrier will attempt to contact you to resolve the problem. However, during the holiday season and peak removal periods, processing may take 30 business days or more. This process cannot be expedited. The FCs process each kind of removal in the order that they are created. We cannot expedite or prioritize any removal over the others. Large scale events like natural disasters and pandemics could also cause the removals process to take longer than expected." Note: If you are running reports for refunds dated prior to July 1st, 2019, you'll also want to make sure that you have your Refunds marked [Sellable or Defective]( accordingly. You can find your dispositions in Seller Central by going to Reports>Fulfillment>Customer Concessions>Returns.  3. Check and address any [inventory alerts]( on the Inventory>FBA and Merchant pages and make sure that a cost/unit has been entered for all your inventory items.  4. Make sure all of your completed sales transactions on the Accounting>[FBA & Merchant SalesÂ]( are Reconciled for the entire year. If any of your completed sales transactions for the year are showing Estimated, or you are missing any Inbound Shipping fees, storage fees, subscription fees, etc., take the steps in our help article to request historical reports that will sync the rest of your data- [How do I get data from before I signed up for InventoryLab?]( [Customer Coaching] Meet Austin, Customer Coach We are thrilled to introduce Austin as our newest addition to the Customer Coaching Team! Austin has been doing an incredible job helping sellers enhance their IL game. Before joining his next class, let's get to know him better with some fun facts! - Austin is not only a Customer Coach but also an NCAA Women's Basketball referee. - Austin is a proud father of two daughters. - When he's not coaching or working, you might catch him playing the guitar - Austin has explored 40 out of 50 states in the US. Join Austin and the rest of the coaching team for a free class to level up your InventoryLab experience! Just click the link below to sign up. [Sign Up for Customer Coaching]( Customer Coaching: Advanced Shipping Course Keep an eye out for the next addition to our Customer Coaching catalog! In this course, you’ll learn how to streamline your logistics and take their shipment management to the next level. You can expect to learn: - The ins and outs of 2D barcodes - How to upload and use shipping plan files - Helpful shipping workflow techniques - How to troubleshoot common shipping issues We hope to have this class up and running by the end of the quarter, and will be sure to announce it via email and in-app notification. [On the Blog] No more juggling multiple tools! You can now complete your entire workflow within InventoryLab - without moving over to Seller Central. This blog post has the breakdown for the entire process: [2D Barcodes and Purchase Shipping Workflow Now in Stratify!]( February is Black History Month in the United States, a time when we recognize, celebrate, and honor the achievements, contributions, legacy, and past and current struggles of all Black Americans. Learn more about it here: [Celebrating Black History Month]( Thanks for reading and being part of the IL huddle! (Did you know a group of penguins is called a “huddle”?) As always, our team is standing by to help in any way we can! Just shoot us an email as support@inventorylab.com with your questions or concerns. [Instagram icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Facebook icon]( [YouTube icon]( [Email icon](mailto:admin@inventorylab.com) © 2024 · InventoryLab Inc. · 9218 Metcalf Ave #102 · Overland Park, Kansas 66212 · USA You are receiving this email because you signed up for InventoryLab or its Newsletter. Want to change how you receive these emails? 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