The VA Playbook for AliExpress Invoice Collection: SOPs, permissions, and QA checklists for hands-off bookkeeping

If you run a dropshipping store, you probably do not want to spend your evenings chasing AliExpress receipts, renaming PDFs, and matching totals in your accounting software. You are not alone. The 2024 Intuit QuickBooks Business Solutions Report found that on average, businesses spend 25 hours each week on manual data entry and reconciling data across apps, which respondents say undermines profitability and growth, according to the QuickBooks survey. With the global dropshipping market already valued at 365.67 billion dollars in 2024 and projected to grow at a 22 percent CAGR, noted by Grand View Research, this manual paperwork burden will only increase.

This playbook shows you exactly how to delegate AliExpress invoice collection to a virtual assistant, using AliBilling’s one click invoice generator inside AliExpress My Orders, with clear SOPs, airtight permissions, and proactive QA so your books stay audit ready while you stay hands off.

Why invoices matter for dropshippers and their bookkeepers

Clean purchase records are the backbone of accurate cost of goods sold, VAT tracking, and profit analysis. Record keeping rules can be strict. For EU sellers using the One Stop Shop regime, records must be kept for 10 years, and they must be made available electronically on request, as the European Commission’s OSS record keeping guidance explains. In the UK, VAT records are generally required to be kept for at least 6 years, according to HMRC’s record keeping notice.

Here is the practical challenge. AliExpress can provide a receipt and, in some cases, an invoice when the marketplace collects VAT at checkout within the EU. Yet store owners often still need standardized, printer friendly invoices with consistent naming, correct company details, and reliable date formats to satisfy accounting workflows, export for auditors, and speed reconciliation across platforms. That is where a tool like AliBilling fills the gap by putting a Download Invoice button next to each order and producing customizable PDFs directly on AliExpress My Orders. You can see the step by step setup in this AliBilling guide and in the related blog tutorial on downloading an invoice.

The toolkit that makes hands off bookkeeping possible

AliBilling is a Chrome extension built specifically for AliExpress invoice generation. After you sign in and open My Orders, a Download Invoice button appears next to every order, including older ones. In a click, you get a printer friendly PDF that you can tailor with your company name, address, tax or VAT IDs, supplier information, currency, and date format. Because unlimited downloads are included on affordable plans, it is realistic to standardize an entire historical order archive without worrying about usage caps. Pricing is flexible and low cost, with a plan shown on the website at 29 dollars per user per year and other options available on the Chrome Web Store. You can compare plan options on the AliBilling pricing page. Live support is available if a VA gets stuck or a workflow needs tuning.

If you are working on broader tax hygiene, AliBilling also curates primers like Tax Obligations 101 for Dropshippers and a practical perspective on staying compliant in Dropshipping the Legal Way. For product news and how tos, the AliBilling blog is a helpful resource.

Before you hire a VA: access and security prerequisites

A reliable invoice collection process starts with safe, predictable access. Set these guardrails before delegating.

• Use a dedicated Chrome profile for the business AliExpress buyer account so the VA does not see personal browsing or cookies. If you use a password manager, share access through a vault rather than sending raw credentials.
• Turn on two step verification wherever possible for the email tied to AliExpress and for any cloud storage that will hold invoices. Following Google’s rollout of auto enrollment in two step verification, there was a 50 percent decrease in account compromise among those users, as outlined in Google’s 2SV update.
• Give your VA the least privilege that works. That usually means AliExpress sign in, the AliBilling extension seat, and a shared drive folder. Hold back access to banking or accounting system settings until needed. If your accountant needs to match invoices to platform sales reports, Shopify’s collaborator roles and exports can help without full admin access. If you are just getting started with ecommerce, Shopify remains a go to storefront with robust order management and export tools your finance team will appreciate.

The core SOP your VA will follow each week

This is the standard operating procedure you can paste into your VA handbook and adapt to your storefront.

1) Log in and prep

• Sign in to AliExpress in the business Chrome profile and confirm the correct account. Open AliExpress My Orders. Ensure the AliBilling extension icon is visible in the toolbar and shows as active.
• Set filters to the target date range and include delivered, shipped, and open orders if you capture deposits or partial shipments. Note any pending refunds.

2) Configure invoice details once

• In AliBilling settings, set company legal name, address, VAT or tax IDs, email, and standard supplier fields if you need them printed. Choose currency and date format to match your accounting system. The AliBilling how to download guide walks through initial setup.

3) Generate invoices in one click

• For each order, click Download Invoice and preview the PDF. Confirm that the order number, order date, product items, unit price, taxes, and totals are present. If AliExpress split the order into multiple shipments, check that line items still align to the original order ID.
• Use a consistent filename convention, for example: YYYYMMDDAE-Order-NumberSupplier_Total.pdf. Place files into a Year > Month structure in your cloud drive, with a separate Refunds folder for negative invoices.

4) Reconcile to storefront sales

• Export the weekly orders report from your storefront. In Shopify, use the Orders export with financial status and net totals. Match each storefront order tied to an AliExpress purchase by SKU or order tag if you track supplier IDs. Spot check totals on a sample of 5 to 10 orders and flag mismatches.

5) Update the invoice log

• Maintain a Google Sheet named Invoice Register with columns for Order ID, Supplier, Product summary, AliExpress total, VAT, PDF filename, and Status. Mark any exceptions and add a comment for the owner when action is needed.

6) Escalate exceptions the same day

• If the invoice button is missing, the PDF has empty fields, or totals do not match, capture a screenshot and link it in the register, then alert the owner in your agreed channel. For technical issues with downloads, consult the AliBilling FAQs or reach out via AliBilling support.

Permissions and roles that keep your data safe

Think of access as a matrix you can audit.

• Owner. Full access to AliExpress account, AliBilling subscription, cloud drive, storefront, and accounting. Approves exceptions and signs off on monthly close.
• VA. Access to AliExpress buyer account, AliBilling extension, shared drive folder for invoices, storefront reports export permissions. No access to banking or accounting settings.
• Bookkeeper or accountant. View access to invoice drive, storefront exports, and accounting system. Optional AliExpress access if they handle returns or refunds.
• Backup admin. One other trusted person who can revoke access, rotate passwords, and manage licenses.

Document where credentials are stored, who holds the recovery keys, and how 2FA is handled if a device is lost. This reduces onboarding time for new VAs and avoids lockouts.

The QA checklists that prevent rework at tax time

Quality assurance is what separates a working process from a scramble in March.

Weekly QA

• Completeness. Total number of invoices equals total AliExpress orders in the date range, excluding canceled orders that received no charge.
• Accuracy. Spot check 5 to 10 invoices against AliExpress order details for totals, tax amounts, and date formats.
• Naming and filing. Confirm this week’s PDFs follow the naming convention and are stored in the correct Year > Month folder.
• Exceptions cleared. Ensure all open exceptions in the invoice register are either resolved or escalated.

Month end QA

• Reconciliation. Confirm that AliExpress spend by month matches accounting ledger entries for COGS and that refunds are recorded in the Refunds folder and ledger.
• VAT and tax. If you recover VAT or report under EU special schemes, verify that invoice fields contain the correct tax IDs and the amounts tie to your return schedule. The European Commission’s OSS invoicing overview notes that invoices are not always mandatory under the schemes, but 10 year record keeping is, so PDFs and registers remain valuable evidence.
• Retention. Confirm the cloud drive retention policy meets your jurisdiction’s timeline, such as 10 years for OSS traders per the EU page and 6 years in the UK per HMRC guidance.

Release management

• Verify the AliBilling extension is current. If a new version adds fields you want on invoices, document the change and update the SOP so your VA applies the setting once.

Handling common edge cases without breaking stride

Invoice button missing. If the Download Invoice button does not render, refresh the My Orders page and confirm the extension is active in the current profile. If the order is pending or just placed, try later. If it persists, check the AliBilling FAQs or contact 24/7 support.

Partial shipments or split orders. Use the original AliExpress order ID in the PDF file name and log, even if shipments split later. This keeps storefront to supplier mapping clean.

Refunds and disputes. Move refunded invoices and credit notes into the Refunds folder and update the invoice register. This makes negative adjustments easy to track during monthly close.

Cross border VAT and customs. Marketplaces can be deemed suppliers in the EU for certain B2C sales, with VAT collected at checkout and reporting via OSS or IOSS, as explained in the EU OSS overview. Even when an invoice is not legally required under a special scheme, you still need durable records for audits, freight documentation, and internal accounting. If your tax position is complex, get advice from a qualified professional and use the AliBilling PDFs as structured evidence.

SLAs, KPIs, and reporting to keep everyone aligned

Set simple targets that create confidence.

• SLA. All invoices for the prior week generated and filed by Monday 2 p.m. local time. All exceptions acknowledged within 1 business day.
• KPIs. Missing invoice rate under 1 percent. Median download to file time under 30 seconds per order. Zero deviations from the naming convention in monthly sample.
• Reporting. A one page weekly summary with counts, exceptions, and any blockers. At month end, include a reconciliation snapshot against storefront exports.

Cost and ROI: why automation plus a VA pays for itself

If a typical dropshipping store places 400 supplier orders per month and you spend even 2 minutes per invoice hoping AliExpress exposes a usable document, you are already looking at 13 hours monthly for the owner or bookkeeper. Pairing a VA with one click invoice generation drops the time-to-file dramatically. Since respondents reported 25 hours per week on manual data entry and reconciliation in the QuickBooks study, removing an entire category of repetitive work is an immediate win.

AliBilling’s low price point keeps the license expense a rounding error compared to the hours saved. You can review options on the pricing page and the team can confirm plan details if you reach out by contacting support. When you consider the EU’s 10 year record retention for OSS traders, shown on the record keeping page, having clean, searchable PDFs for every order is a meaningful risk reducer too.

Getting started in 15 minutes

• Install the extension and follow the how to download guide.
• Create your cloud folder structure and the Invoice Register spreadsheet template.
• Add your company details and tax fields in AliBilling, then capture a sample invoice for sign off.
• Share this SOP with your VA, enable 2 step verification on critical accounts as advised in Google’s 2SV update, and schedule your first weekly QA.

If you want a broader refresh on tax and compliance as you scale, bookmark Tax Obligations 101 for Dropshippers and Dropshipping the Legal Way. For ongoing tips, the AliBilling blog is a handy place to check, and if you need help at any point, the team is available on live support.

With this playbook in place, you can put invoice collection on autopilot, give your accountant a clean monthly package, and get back to the higher leverage work of growing your store.