Explain every component of one checkout total

Choose one purchase and one price basis

Compare records from the same purchase: the selected product or variation, quantity, price shown at the time, cart summary and order totals if an order exists. Record whether the displayed product amount was a regular price or a sale price. A current product page cannot prove the price that accompanied an older order, especially when the selected variation or promotion has changed.

Keep unit price and quantity distinct from the extended line amount. Also label each figure as before or after discount and including or excluding tax, using the actual record. Without those labels, adding the visible figures can count a discount twice or add tax that is already included. If you do not have the earlier catalog view, leave that comparison unknown and reconcile the order's own components first.

A coupon amount needs an eligible item or cart

WooCommerce core distinguishes percentage, fixed-cart and fixed-product coupons. It also documents product restrictions, sale-item exclusions, individual-use restrictions and usage limits. An advertised coupon amount is therefore not automatically the discount on this order. Compare the actual coupon and eligible order lines with its type and restrictions, rather than subtracting the promotion's headline amount from every cart.

For a missing discount, record whether the coupon was applied and what message accompanied the attempt. If email eligibility matters, WooCommerce checks the billing email; record only whether the authorized comparison matched. Its minimum-spend rule uses cart subtotal plus tax. Free shipping also requires the linked shipping-method setup. These are useful checks for explaining the discount and shipping lines; detailed repair of a rejected coupon belongs to the coupon-specific investigation.

If the discount agrees with the configured coupon but disagrees with the offer the merchant intended, the arithmetic alone does not close the issue. Record the rule-versus-offer mismatch. If an extension changes coupon handling, name that extension and obtain its actual rule rather than assuming the core behavior explains its result.

Keep tax and shipping visible without adding them twice

WooCommerce separately configures whether prices are entered with tax, which address supplies the calculation basis, and how prices and tax totals are displayed. Read those settings alongside the order's recorded tax breakdown and the product's assigned tax class. A catalog amount and a checkout amount can be presented on different tax bases. Do not interpret an included-tax disclosure as another amount to add without checking the underlying breakdown.

For the selected WooCommerce Flat Rate method, the documented cost can include the method cost plus shipping-class costs. Per-class calculation charges each class, while per-order calculation uses the most expensive class. Its tax status determines whether tax applies to the shipping cost. Keep the shipping amount and any shipping tax separately identifiable even if the buyer sees a combined presentation.

Use these facts to locate the component responsible for the difference, not to redesign the tax or delivery rules from this overview. If the unexplained amount is confined to tax or shipping, carry that component and its inputs into the dedicated guide. The correct tax treatment requires the merchant's qualified advice; a tax amount appearing in software does not establish liability.

Name the fee source and reconcile the remainder

Copy every fee line actually present on the order. For each, find the extension, custom configuration or other record that supplied it and the conditions it used. A label that sounds like a gateway fee is not proof that the payment provider added it. If no record identifies the source, leave the fee unassigned rather than inventing a formula or using it to explain the remainder.

Compare the currency labels as well as the symbols. If a currency tool is installed, use its records to determine whether it changed the underlying amount or only the display. This worksheet does not supply an exchange rate. A payout amount or a customer's bank-statement figure is a different comparison from the store's checkout total and should not be used to balance it.

Reconcile with a consistent basis: use either recorded net item amounts and separately recorded taxes, or recorded gross amounts with included tax identified. Subtract only discounts not already reflected in the amounts you chose, and include shipping and evidenced fees once. Record any residual difference without rounding it away on an assumption. If the record cannot support that reconstruction, the missing breakdown is the next specific request.

Finish by marking each component explained, inconsistent with the intended rule, or unresolved. That gives support a factual explanation and gives the maintainer an exact line to investigate. For a Prism checkout-review consultation, describe the unresolved component and store platform. Agree the requested scope, responsibilities, fees and terms before work, and keep private order and payment records out of the public inquiry.

Total anatomy sheet

Use one real purchase. In the blank column record the actual amount, its inclusive/exclusive and before/after-discount basis, its evidence reference and the finding: explained, rule mismatch or unresolved. Count each component once. A mathematically balanced total can still contain an unintended rule.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.