Black Friday Checklist: Get Holiday Season Ready

You’re the pilot of a 747, and Black Friday is your takeoff into the busiest air traffic of the year. Would you wait until you’re on the runway to check your fuel (inventory), flight plan (financials), and engine sync (channel automation)?

Absolutely not. Every successful flight starts with a pre-flight check.

And just like any seasoned pilot, you don’t have to fly solo. Webgility is your co-pilot and flight system, giving you full visibility and control across all your ecommerce channels. It automates your accounting, syncs orders and inventory in real time, and provides the insights you need to make data-driven decisions before the rush begins.

With everything connected and running smoothly, you can navigate the turbulence of holiday selling with confidence.

Before your busiest shopping season takes off, this Black Friday checklist is your essential pre-flight procedure to ensure you reach your destination, a profitable, stress-free Q4, safely and efficiently.

Let’s get you cleared for takeoff.

Pre-Black Friday foundation (4-6 weeks out)

Before order volume explodes, you need your systems to be automated, accurate, and built to scale without breaking under pressure.

1. Accounting & financial systems audit

Make sure your financial foundation is solid before the sales surge hits. Accurate, automated accounting keeps your numbers reliable when orders multiply overnight.

Ecommerce reconciliation aligns sales, inventory, and financial data across all channels before the holiday rush.

Checklist items:

✓ Audit your Chart of Accounts: ensure you have separate revenue, cost, fee, clearing and expense accounts for each sales channel (Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop, POS system- if any).

✓ Enable automation scheduling & rule-setting: Set up your automation schedule (e.g., hourly/daily) and define posting rules (order level or summary) so your reconciliation runs automatically.

✓ Map payment-gateway clearing accounts: Create dedicated clearing accounts for each payment processor (Shopify Payments, PayPal, Stripe) and set rules so ecommerce accounting automation platforms like Webgility posts deposits properly and simplify bank reconciliation.

✓ Automate refunds/returns posting: Ensure your return/refund transactions are automatically recorded, and inventory is adjusted accordingly. This prevents manual cleanup after Q4.

✓ Set up granular fee/expense tracking by channel/payment type: Beyond just “fee tracking,” break out marketplace settlement fees, shipping costs, and payment-processor fees by channel/payment type so you can analyze margins by channel.

✓ Clean up backlogs & reconcile historical transactions: Clear outstanding orders, fees and deposits from Q3 (or earlier) so your books are up to date before Q4 rush

✓ Run a “zero-baseline” closing test: Before the main rush hits, run a test close (one week of orders) through your system to confirm that postings, fees, deposits and reconciliation all align without manual intervention.

Why this matters: Without a clean foundation, your books will be a mess by January. Manual processes that work for 100 orders/day will definitely collapse at 1,000 orders/day.

Webgility solution: Webgility automatically syncs sales, fees, refunds, and taxes from all channels directly into QuickBooks, Xero, or NetSuite, preventing double-counting and reconciliation nightmares.

A unified dashboard provides real-time insights into cash flow, channel revenue, and profitability.

Bonus Read: Optimize Accounting for Black Friday Cyber Monday Sales

2. Inventory management setup

Stockouts and overselling during BFCM don't just mean cancelled orders; they mean angry customers who will never buy from you again, negative reviews that tank your conversion rates, and lost revenue at the most critical time of year. Having said, building a BFCM strategy that supports real-time inventory sync across all channels and locations is non-negotiable.

A successful holiday inventory plan covers tasks before, during, and after the sales peak.

Checklist items:

✓ Conduct full inventory audit: Perform a cycle count at all locations you control (warehouse, retail store). Compare this against your FBA and 3PL dashboard data.

✓ Ensure SKU-consistency across platforms: Standardise your SKUs and mapping rules so the inventory management platform like Webgility can match or map items seamlessly across sales channels and your accounting system.

✓ Map/transfer any missing SKUs: Identify sales-channel items not yet in your accounting system and map or transfer them in so inventory sync can happen properly.

✓ Enable multi-location inventory tracking: If you fulfill from multiple warehouses, FBA, 3PLs, or geographic sites, set up Webgility’s advanced inventory rules to track by site/bin.

✓ Automate purchasing workflows / reorder triggers: Configure inventory rules so when stock falls below thresholds, purchase orders can be generated automatically (via Webgility) to avoid stockouts.

✓ Monitor real-time inventory & pricing across channels: Ensure that stock levels and pricing updates flow live across all channels and your accounting hub so what you see is what you can sell.

✓ Plan your reverse logistics: A 300% spike in sales means a 300% spike in returns. Have your return labels and dedicated inspection area ready before January.

Why this matters: Overselling during BFCM creates a customer service nightmare. Scattered inventory across FBA, 3PL partners, and your own warehouse creates blind spots where you think you have stock when you don't.

Webgility solution: Webgility unifies inventory across all locations and channels, updating quantities in real-time to virtually eliminate overselling and stockouts.

3. Sales tax & compliance preparation

A successful Black Friday can push you over economic nexus thresholds in multiple states overnight, triggering new tax collection and filing obligations you didn't have in October. Failing to collect the correct sales tax leads to audits, penalties, and fines that can erase your entire holiday profit margin.

Checklist items:

✓ Review and register: Check your state-by-state sales against economic nexus thresholds and register in new states before BFCM triggers new obligations.

✓ Automate tax mapping and posting: Use Webgility to map collected taxes by jurisdiction and post them to the correct liability accounts in your accounting system.

✓ Generate audit-ready reports: Run state-level summaries to reconcile collections and prepare for post-holiday filings.

✓ Integrate with Avalara: Connect Webgility with Avalara (your tax engine) for real-time validation, calculation, and filing accuracy.

✓ Set up international VAT/GST (If applicable): Confirm VAT/GST registration for global sales.

Why this matters: A sales spike can push you into new tax jurisdictions overnight. Failing to collect the correct tax leads to audits, penalties, and fines that erase holiday profits.

 Automating sales tax is critical, as holiday sales spikes can trigger new nexus obligations.

Webgility solution: Webgility maps and validates sales tax collected from every channel by jurisdiction, posting exact amounts into your accounting system.

The 2-week sprint: Final preparations

With your foundation locked in, it’s time for a 2-week sprint to test every system, finalise your setup, and ensure peak performance when the surge arrives:

A multi-channel strategy unifies data from all sales points, like online stores and marketplaces, into one system.

1. Payment processor setup

Your checkout process needs to be frictionless and failproof. A quick system check now prevents failed payments and lost conversions later.

Checklist items:

✓ Test every checkout flow: Run test purchases across Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop, and POS to catch any friction or failed payments early.

✓ Verify processor readiness: Confirm Stripe, PayPal, or Square can handle 5–10× normal volume and that all payment gateways sync correctly with Webgility.

✓ Map payment methods: Ensure each payment type (Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Afterpay, etc.) posts accurately into your accounting system for unified reporting.

✓ Enable fraud protection & partial payments: Review fraud settings and configure systems for gift cards, pre-orders, and split payments without disrupting checkout flow.

✓ Enable multi-currency/international payments (if applicable): Confirm payment processor and Webgility are configured for foreign currencies, proper mapping and accurate accounting of international transactions.

Bonus read: The Best Online Payments Solutions and Ecommerce Payment Processors

2. Promotion & pricing strategy

Discounts drive traffic, but margins drive profit. Set smart pricing rules and trackable promotions that boost sales without eroding your bottom line.

 It's essential to track promotion performance to ensure sales are boosted without hurting profit margins.

Checklist items:

✓ Calculate break-even for each discount: Use the profit projection framework (Current Net Margin - Discount = New Profit Per Sale)

✓ Set unique promo codes: Create trackable codes (BFCM25, BUNDLE30, EARLYBIRD) for accurate ROI analysis

✓ Map discount rules in automation: Ensure discounts are recorded separately from gross sales for accurate margin tracking

✓ Test bundle pricing: Verify that discounted sales and bundles post correctly into inventory, COGS and accounting.

✓ Schedule promotional campaigns: Set up email sequences, social ads, and site banners with exact timing, then use Webgility analytics to track margin by channel after discounts

Bonus read: 21 Effective Strategies to Increase Ecommerce Sales

3. Operations & fulfillment readiness

Getting the sale is only half the battle. Your fulfillment and support teams need to be ready for the surge, or your brand reputation will suffer.

Checklist items:

✓ Confirm carrier capacity: Negotiate rates and confirm pickup schedules with FedEx, UPS, ShipStation, ShippingEasy or Endicia.

Note: All of these platforms can be integrated with Webgility.

✓ Stock packaging supplies: Order boxes, tape, labels, and inserts at bulk rates before peak demand.

✓ Brief 3PL partners: Share forecasts, confirm surge capacity, review SLAs for peak period.

✓ Set up shipping automation: Auto-generate labels, send tracking emails, update customers proactively.

✓ Prepare return process: Create self-service portal, print return labels, define refund vs. exchange policies, set up chatbots for FAQs and create templated responses for seamless return and customer support.

Visual: Operations checklist or 3PL coordination graphic

Black Friday week: Real-time monitoring

This is game time. You've prepared for the rush, and now it's time to manage with a real-time dashboard to make critical adjustments on the fly.

Checklist items:

✓ Track sales by channel: Monitor Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop revenue in real-time.

✓ Watch inventory levels: Set alerts for best-sellers approaching stockout.

✓ Monitor cash flow: Track deposits, fees, and refunds as they hit your bank.

✓ Review SKU-level profitability: Identify winners and losers before the weekend is over.

✓ Check reconciliation status: Ensure transactions are posted correctly without backlogs.

✓ Analyze promotion performance: Calculate ROI by discount code (BFCM25 vs. BUNDLE30).

✓ Track customer acquisition cost: Monitor ad spend vs. new customer value by channel.

Why this Matters: Without real-time visibility, you're making million-dollar decisions on outdated numbers. By the time you discover a problem in January, the opportunity is gone.

Webgility solution: Webgility's live dashboards provide SKU-level profitability, channel performance, and cash flow visibility so that you can adjust strategy during the holiday rush, not months later.

Post-Black Friday: The work that matters most

The sales may have slowed, but the most important work, securing your profit, has just begun.

1. Immediate close-out (Week of Nov 25-Dec 1)

Your post-sale cleanup is just as important as your preparation. Reconcile, restock, and reset your systems while the data is still fresh.

Checklist items:

✓ Reconcile all BFCM transactions: Match bank deposits to sales, fees, and refunds.

✓ Update inventory counts: Conduct physical counts to verify system accuracy.

✓ Process returns and exchanges: Ensure all returns and exchanges are captured, posted and inventory adjusted in your accounting system.

✓ Close BFCM campaign accounting: Finalize all promotion codes, track final costs after discounts/shipments/fees, and post into your accounting software (this will be taken care of by Webgility automatically).

✓ Generate margin report and preliminary P&L: Use Webgility analytics to break down net profit by channel, product and promo to inform your next-phase strategy.

Bonus read: Top Post-BFCM Customer Retention Strategies Every Store Must Try

2. January analysis (Turn data into strategy)

The real value of BFCM isn't just the revenue, it's the data. January is when you transform that data into strategic insights that drive growth all year.

This ROI calculation shows how automation saves thousands monthly by eliminating costly manual errors.

Checklist items:

✓ Run financial performance analysis: Calculate Revenue vs. Net Profit, CAC vs. LTV, true margins by SKU.

✓ Segment customers: Analyze new vs. returning, discount-driven vs. full-price buyers.

✓ Evaluate channel performance: Compare conversion rates, ROAS, and profitability by channel.

✓ Analyze abandoned carts: Identify friction points in the checkout process.

✓ Review return rates by SKU: Find products with high returns eating into margins.

✓ Calculate final holiday ROI: Total revenue vs. total expenses (ads, fulfillment, fees, discounts).

✓ Document lessons learned: What broke? What worked? What will you do differently next year?

Manual expense management leads to inefficiency, from data entry errors and lost productivity to compliance risks.

Automate to dominate with Webgility!

If that checklist looks overwhelming, you're starting to see the problem. The manual process nightmare involves living in a dozen spreadsheets, manually downloading CSVs, and spending all of January trying to figure out if you actually made money. It's a recipe for burnout, errors, and lost profit.

This is what automation solves. It provides:

• Real-time sync so your inventory is always synced across every channel you sell
• Accurate categorization so your fees, taxes, and discounts are always tracked
• Instant reconciliation so you know your true cash position every day

The Webgility difference: 

• Connects 70+ sales channels (Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, TikTok Shop, POS systems, and more) to your accounting in QuickBooks, Xero, or NetSuite
• Syncs inventory and orders in real time across every channel and warehouse for total visibility
• Maps fees, taxes, and discounts automatically so your P&L is always accurate
• Delivers SKU and channel-level profitability insights to drive smarter decisions
• Eliminates manual data entry and reconciliation, freeing you to focus on growth

See how Webgility helped BeeCure save 40 hours a month!

Like many sellers, skincare brand BeeCure was losing a full week each month to manual reconciliation. By implementing Webgility, they automated their Amazon and Shopify accounting, cutting that week-long process down to just a few hours. This saved them 40+ hours a month, allowing them to focus on strategy instead of spreadsheets.

Wrapping up

You’ve completed your pre-flight checks, adjusted your instruments, and taken off into the busiest shopping skies of the year. Now, it’s time to fly steady.

This Black Friday checklist isn’t just about surviving the turbulence; it’s about reaching your destination smoothly, confidently, and profitably.

With every system in sync and every process automated, your business runs with precision and control. Webgility keeps your operations connected, bringing your sales, accounting, and inventory into perfect alignment. Real-time visibility, accurate data, and effortless reconciliation give you the confidence to make smarter, faster decisions when it matters most.

Download Webgility's Holiday Ecommerce Operations & Accounting Guide to discover advanced automation strategies and financial frameworks that turn holiday season stress into scalable profit.