Orders and support

Why the payout is not the sales total

They are different records. The store sales total sums orders in the store for a period you choose. A Stripe payout is funds sent from the Stripe available balance to the bank, and it can include charges, refunds, fees, and dispute adjustments from more than one sale. Match one payout, or one explicitly named period, to the provider transactions inside it. Keep any remainder as a timing or classification difference. Do not add a plug number to force the store total and the bank deposit to match. Describe the work you need. Prism will confirm scope, responsibilities, fees, and terms before work begins.

For: An owner or authorized representative of a research-use-only peptide business comparing a store sales total with money received from a payment provider.

Updated 2026-09-21

Name the period and the two systems first

A difference is not yet an error. It is a difference between two lists. Write the start and end you are using, including the time zone, and write which list is the store and which list is the provider. WooCommerce's order document says orders are the store's record of checkout, and that they are visible to administrator and shop manager roles. That list is not the provider payout.

Use the same window for every row in this reconciliation. An order placed on the last day of the window can belong in the store total and in a later payout. That is a timing difference to keep, not a missing sale to invent.

What a Stripe payout contains

Stripe says sending funds from the available balance to the bank creates a payout. Automatic payouts follow the account's payout schedule and can include funds from multiple transactions. The payout object has an amount and a status. Retrieving the payout does not itself list the transactions inside it. Stripe says to open the payout in the Dashboard, use the payout reconciliation report, or list the balance transactions for that payout.

Every funds movement in or out of the Stripe account creates a balance transaction. Stripe's examples of type include charge for a customer payment, refund for funds returned to the customer, stripe_fee for a Stripe fee, and payout for the transfer to the bank. A refund is a new balance transaction. It does not rewrite the original charge transaction.

Disputes are not labeled as ordinary refunds in that type list. Stripe says that when a customer disputes a charge, the deduction is a balance transaction of type adjustment whose source is the dispute. A won dispute can return funds as another adjustment. The reporting category separates those adjustments into disputes, dispute reversals, and failed refunds. A card refund uses type refund. A partial-capture reversal can also use type refund while its reporting category is partial_capture_reversal. Read both fields before calling every negative line a customer refund.

If the business creates manual payouts, Stripe says it cannot identify which transactions are included, and the business reconciles those payouts against its own transaction history. Do not expect an automatic payout report to explain a manual payout.

This is Stripe's ledger. A different provider's payout file uses that provider's names. Do not rename another provider's lines with Stripe's types.

How to compare without forcing a match

Pick one payout identifier, or one provider reporting period, and list the balance transactions that belong to it. Group them with the provider's own type or reporting category: charges, refunds, fees, dispute adjustments, and the payout itself. The payout amount is the provider's sum of the movements it included. It is not required to equal the store's gross order total for a calendar range.

Then match what you can. A store order can point to a provider charge. A store refund can point to a provider refund. A dispute may have no store refund at all, or a store refund that did not move money. Where an amount is in the store window but not in this payout, record it as not in this payout. Where a provider line has no store order, record the provider reference and leave the store side blank.

Refunds use the available Stripe balance. A refund can remain pending until that balance can cover it. A sale, a refund, and a dispute can therefore land in different payouts from the date on the store order. Keep those dates. The unexplained remainder is a list of unmatched references, not a number you create so the columns add up.

What you can resolve

You can decide whether the comparison used one payout or a mixed window, which lines are charges, refunds, fees, or dispute adjustments, and which store orders have no provider line in that payout. You can ask the provider about a payout or a balance transaction you cannot find in the document that provider says contains it.

The provider decides payout timing, fees, reserves, and whether a dispute debit stands. Prism can help you organize the records for a processing or checkout question. Confirm any reconciliation assistance separately; the relevant provider determines its account fees and payout records.

The fee schedule, reserve, and payout delay for this account are unknown unless the provider agreement or the live payout record states them. This page does not supply those figures.

One-period payout reconciliation

Choose one payout or one stated period before you fill a row. If a figure is not on the source record, leave the row blank instead of estimating it. Worksheet entries are not submitted by this worksheet or saved by this site. Use only non-sensitive summaries; do not enter credentials, government identifiers, card or bank-account numbers, private receipt links, or customer details.

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.

One-period payout reconciliation. The last column is for temporary notes.
Comparison	Why the totals can differ	Which record to use	Your figure or unmatched reference
Period and time zone	A store day and a provider payout day are not automatically the same window. Naming the window stops a later payout from being treated as a missing sale.	The date range on the store report and the payout date or identifier.	Period and time zone: Your figure or unmatched reference
Store sales total for that window	This is the store's order list, not the bank deposit. WooCommerce orders are the store record and are separate from the provider payout.	The store order export or report for the same window.	Store sales total for that window: Your figure or unmatched reference
Provider payout amount and status	Stripe's payout amount is what left the available balance. The payout object alone does not list the transactions inside it.	The provider payout screen or payout report.	Provider payout amount and status: Your figure or unmatched reference
Charges included in that payout	Automatic Stripe payouts can bundle many payments. A charge created in the window may still be outside this payout.	Balance transactions of type charge or payment for that payout.	Charges included in that payout: Your figure or unmatched reference
Refunds included in that payout	A refund is its own balance transaction. A partial-capture reversal can also use the refund type, with a different reporting category.	Balance transactions typed or categorized as refunds, checked against the reporting category.	Refunds included in that payout: Your figure or unmatched reference
Dispute adjustments and fees	Stripe records a dispute deduction as an adjustment, and a fee as its own balance transaction. Neither is the store's gross sales line.	Balance transactions for disputes, dispute reversals, and fees on that payout.	Dispute adjustments and fees: Your figure or unmatched reference
Remainder you will not plug	Unmatched store orders and unmatched provider lines stay listed. A made-up difference hides the line that still needs a source.	The references that did not match. Leave blank only if every line matched.	Remainder you will not plug: Your figure or unmatched reference

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. The consultation form does not include these entries.

Limits

A Prism consultation can help you organize the facts and discuss the website or processing question. The payment provider decides eligibility, pricing, reserves, and whether an account is opened or closed.
Payout, fee, and dispute line names on this page are Stripe's. Another provider's settlement file needs that provider's current definitions.
No fee, reserve, or payout delay is stated here. Those come from the provider agreement or the live payout, not from a consultation.
Do not send bank statements, card data, or customer lists through the public consultation form.

Related guides

Sources checked 2026-09-21

Payout reconciliation — checked 2026-09-21. A payout sends available-balance funds to the bank and can include multiple transactions. The payout object does not list those transactions. Each funds movement creates a balance transaction. Manual payouts are not matched to transactions by Stripe.
Balance transaction types — checked 2026-09-21. A card refund creates a refund balance transaction. A dispute deduction and a dispute reversal are adjustments. A failed refund can return funds as an adjustment.
Reporting categories — checked 2026-09-21. The reporting category separates adjustment types, including disputes, dispute reversals, and failed refunds. A partial-capture reversal can have type refund and category partial_capture_reversal.
Refund and cancel payments — checked 2026-09-21. Refunds use the available Stripe balance. If that balance does not cover a card refund, Stripe holds the refund as pending until the balance is sufficient.
WooCommerce managing orders — checked 2026-09-21. Orders are the store's record of checkout activity and are visible to administrator and shop manager roles.
Prism solutions — checked 2026-09-21. Scope, fees, and terms are discussed before work. The provider decides whether it can support the business. A review does not establish processing eligibility.

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