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Guide

Why a Stripe refund comes out of a later payout

You refunded $340 at the end of the month. Your sales report for the next week looks fine, but the deposit is $340 short. Nothing is missing; it is in a different week than you expected.

How Stripe funds a refund

Stripe does not claw a refund back from the payout that carried the original charge, because that money already left for your bank. It deducts the refund from your current Stripe balance, which means from the next payout that goes out after the refund is issued.

What that looks like in the books

The sale sits in one period and the refund in another. If you record payouts as revenue, the first period is overstated and the second is understated by the same amount. If you record charges and refunds on their own dates, both periods are right and the payout is simply the cash movement.

The fee is not refunded

When you refund a charge, Stripe keeps the processing fee on the original charge. The refund line in the payout is the full refund amount, so the net effect of a sale plus its refund is a loss equal to the fee.

How to tell timing from a real problem

Line the refund inside the payout up with its original charge. If the charge was paid out in an earlier deposit, the gap is timing and will not recur. If you cannot find an original charge, or the refund is larger than the charge, that needs a look.

A worked example

On the 28th you sell $2,400 across eight charges, paid out on the 30th as $2,328.00 after $72.00 of fees. On the 30th a customer from the 12th asks for $340 back and you refund it. The payout on the 2nd carries the first days of the new month, say $1,900 of charges and $57 of fees, and the $340 refund, so it lands as $1,503.00. Your sales report for those days says $1,900. The $397 difference is $57 of fees you expected plus $340 of a sale that happened in the previous month.

Stop doing this by hand

Conciliq marks a payout that carries refunds or disputes from earlier sales as Timing, with the amount, so you can stop treating a short deposit as an emergency.

Check yours

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Questions people ask

Can a refund make a payout negative?
Yes. If refunds exceed the charges available, Stripe debits your bank account or carries the negative balance forward. Either way it shows as a payout line you should read.
Why did my refund take days to reach the customer?
The customer's bank posts it. Stripe deducts it from your balance at once, so your side moves before theirs.
Does this apply to disputes too?
Yes. A dispute is deducted from the next payout the same way, plus a dispute fee.

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