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Why sales and the bank payout are different numbers

Last materially reviewed 2026-09-30

Quick answerCompare the same period, currency and transaction population before treating a difference as an error.
What to know

Start with the question the number answers

An order report describes selling activity. A payout report describes money released through a payment service. A bank line describes money arriving in an account. Those are related views, not interchangeable totals. Write the question beside each number: orders placed, payments captured, transactions settled, or funds received. A label such as “net sales” is not a complete definition.

What to know

Build a comparison note

Record the source, date field, time zone, currency, included payment services and status filters. Keep a copy of the report settings with the export in your own approved storage. Link My Books documents several reasons why accounting and sales-channel totals differ; that is a reason to inspect scope, not an explanation for your particular difference.

What to know

A fictional mismatch

Suppose a sales report shows 1,000 units of currency and the bank receives 820. Listing “180 fees” would be a guess. The difference might contain refunds, fees, reserves, another payment service or a different settlement period. Create a line for each supported component and leave the unexplained remainder visible. Do not invent an adjustment to force agreement.

What to know

When to stop comparing

If one report covers orders created this month and another covers settlements paid this month, matching their totals is not the acceptance test. First identify the transactions or settlement IDs that connect them. When records cannot support that connection, preserve the discrepancy and ask the responsible bookkeeper or provider for the missing evidence. The payout bridge is an arithmetic aid for this next step, not an accounting entry.

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Next: Payout bridge

Explain the movement from gross activity to a payout with supported components and an explicit unexplained difference.

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Keep exploring

Related guides

Payout bridgeExplain the movement from gross activity to a payout with supported components and an explicit unexplained difference.Month-end splitsSeparate the settlement’s activity dates from its final payout date before comparing month-end totals.

Sources used for this page

These records support the facts and comparisons above. Merchant-controlled records are labelled so you can separate product claims from independent evidence.

  1. Report differences — Merchant documentation · help.linkmybooks.com · Merchant-controlled · checked 2026-09-30
  2. eBay payout stages — Merchant documentation · ebay.com · Merchant-controlled · checked 2026-09-30