Total Payout for 2024 is Thousands Less Than Net Sales - Never Got Payouts

[way_out_west]

Can someone please help me.
Just had my accountants go through last years finances and gather my P&L. At first glance I knew something was way off. After digging further I found that the difference between my total payouts for 2024, and the total amount that was supposed to be paid out ((net sales + shipping charges) - processing fees ) was roughly 15% of my total sales from last year. Customer paid the money, just was never given to me.

Tried to get shopify customer support to help, but they weren't very knowledgeable. All they could tell me is that Shopify would never make a mistake like this and I must be missing something.

I have checked these numbers for hours now and can't see anything. 

Please help me!

(P.S. it's not PayPal or other processors either; checked that and not only is PayPal process and paid out by shopify i.e. in their payout report, but even if it wasn't it is far less than what is missing.)

[jadequeen1403]

Steps to Investigate Missing Payouts:

1. Compare Shopify Reports to Your Own Data

• Pull the "Payouts" report from Shopify.
• Pull the "Sales" and "Payments" reports from Shopify.
• Manually calculate (Net Sales + Shipping - Fees) and compare it to actual payouts received.

2. Check for Holds, Reserves, or Failed Payouts

• Go to Settings → Payments → Shopify Payments → Payouts
• Look for Failed or Held Payouts. Shopify may have delayed or held funds due to security reviews or chargebacks.

[way_out_west]

Sadly all of this has been done with nothing to show.

The payout report provides the same number roughly as I found before. Calculated everything and am still missing 15% of my net sales that were never paid out.
Went to check for holds and reserves with no luck there either. 

[Promer]

Hi @way_out_west 

That sounds incredibly frustrating, and you're absolutely right to dig deeper. Here’s what I recommend:

1. Check your Shopify payout reports – Go to Settings > Payments > View Payouts and download your full payout report for 2024. Compare this with your Net Sales Report from Analytics > Reports > Sales Finance Summary to identify any discrepancies.
2. Look for held or failed payouts – Sometimes, Shopify Payments may hold or fail certain payouts due to compliance reviews or banking issues. Check your payout status for any withheld amounts.
3. Check for third-party payment gateways – Even if PayPal is accounted for, if you use other gateways (like Stripe, Klarna, or Afterpay), those payouts won’t show in Shopify's total.
4. Verify refunds, chargebacks & fees – Ensure that large refunds, chargebacks, or processing fees (e.g., foreign transaction fees) aren’t causing the shortfall. Check Analytics > Reports > Finances Summary > Fees & Adjustments.
5. Request a detailed Shopify finance audit – If everything checks out but funds are still missing, ask Shopify Support to escalate to their finance team for a deeper investigation

[way_out_west]

I have done all of these steps and the money is still up in the air and no one from shopify support can account for it. They just continue to give me the same answer you just gave me and then say they will escalate the ticket when there is nothing found, only to have nobody from Shopify ever get back to me.

[WarwickRalston]

Hi Tucker,

I'm currently having the same issue, so naturally, I went searching and found this post.
I found the reason my payouts are significantly less compared to total sales... I hope you're sitting down.
Shopify has not been payout out the taxes and shipping revenue charged to my customers. They've been paying out the pre-tax amount for the products only. 

So far, I have found they owe me and my business approx AUD$30,000.

Now the fun part begins. They're claiming that the "Shipping Revenue" is actually shipping charges, which I fully dispute because I receive separate bills if I create a shipping label in Shopify (I no longer do this, but at the time, I was).
They're also claiming to pay the tax on my behalf to the Australian Tax Office. However, this is nearly impossible because they do not have my Aust. Business Number. They also don't know how much to pay... 

Funny isn't it... they got caught, and I've proved it several different ways... but they're still fighting!

I hope you don't have the issues anymore, but if you do, I hope this helps.

[way_out_west]

Oh no..... you've got to be kidding me. Those numbers actually look like they line out based off of the shipping.
I think Shopify does pay the taxes since we are technically selling through a "marketplace" but please keep me posted on what happens with your case. I'm about to reach out to them right now and make sure they have actually been paying me my shipping and will keep you posted as well.

[WarwickRalston]

Are you based in Australia?
There is no way they can pay tax to the Australian Government without an ABN. It also says on their website that they don't pay taxes on the merchants behalf... I'd be checking this too.

In order to check whether you've been paid for shipping revenue, you'd need to provide the proof. I've provided the proof and I still can get a resolution! Note, I've only had issues with the Shopify payment gateway, PayPal has paid correctly.