United States
Why your Stripe or Shopify payout never matches your sales
Gross sales, processor fees, refunds, disputes and settlement timing explained, with the bookkeeping entries that make payouts reconcile.
In short
- A payout is a transfer of your own money from the processor to your bank, not income.
- Book each sale at its gross amount into a “processor balance” account, fees and refunds against that balance, and the payout from that balance to the bank.
- When the processor balance returns to zero after each payout, your books reconcile.
Four reasons the numbers differ
- Fees: the processor keeps its fee from each charge.
- Refunds and disputes: they reduce the balance, sometimes weeks after the sale.
- Timing: sales on the 30th may be paid out in the next month.
- Tax collected: sales tax you charged belongs to the state, not to your income.
The entries, step by step
A $100 order with $8.25 sales tax, a $3.44 fee, and a payout of the rest:
| Event | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Sale | Stripe balance $108.25 | Sales $100.00 · Sales tax payable $8.25 |
| Fee | Payment processing fees $3.44 | Stripe balance $3.44 |
| Payout | Checking $104.81 | Stripe balance $104.81 |
After the payout the Stripe balance account is back to zero. If it is not, something is missing: a refund, a dispute, or a payout that included other days.
Shopify orders paid through Stripe
If your store sends payments through Stripe, the same sale shows up twice: once as a Shopify order (with tax and shipping detail) and once as a Stripe charge. Record revenue once — from the order — and use Stripe only for fees and payouts. Otherwise your income doubles.
Let the import do it, but review
Our books import Stripe movements and Shopify or WooCommerce orders, skip the duplicate, and draft exactly these entries. Anything uncertain — a dispute, a sale in another currency, a sale with no tax information — is flagged for you. Nothing is posted until you approve it.
Official sources
Sources checked on November 12, 2026 · General information, not legal or tax advice for your situation.
Related guides
- United StatesBookkeeping for US creators and freelancers: the minimum that keeps you safeSeparate money, record gross income (not payouts), keep receipts for at least three years and set aside estimated tax. A practical routine.en
- United StatesSole proprietor or LLC? Doing business under your own name in the USYou can sell, invoice and get paid without forming a company. What changes for taxes when you add a single-member LLC, and what does not.en
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