Reconciling your revenue reports with your own financial records is an important step in managing your studio’s finances. Sometimes, different reports may display data in slightly different ways, which can cause confusion. This article will walk you through best practices and a step-by-step process to ensure your reports align with your internal financials.
Why Reconciliation Matters
- Ensures your financial data is accurate and consistent.
- Helps you spot discrepancies early.
- Builds confidence when reporting to accountants, bookkeepers, or stakeholders.
Best Practices for Reconciling Revenue Reports
- Start with the right reports
Use the Sales and Payouts reports as your primary sources for reconciliation.
- Match by time period
Filter your Sales report by the month you want to reconcile.
Your Payouts report should be filtered with 7-10 days before and after the month you want to reconcile, as there can be delays between when the transaction starts and when the payment is received.
- Compare gross vs. net revenue
- Gross sales = total value of sales made during the selected period without adjusting for any of the costs related to those sales. These include transactions that are ‘pending’ and ‘successful’ .
- Net sales = total value of sales completed in the period selected, regardless of when the transaction started.
Make sure you’re comparing like with like.
- Account for payment delays
Keep in mind that bank deposits may not post on the same day as sales are recorded.
- Document your reconciliation process
Establish a simple step-by-step routine for your staff to follow each week or month.
Steps for Reconciling Reports
- Sales Report – Breakdown
- Go to Breakdown.
- Apply a filter for the month to be reconciled.
Navigate to Sales by Payment Method and check which payment methods were used.
- Sales Report – Overview
- Go to Overview.
- Apply a filter for the month to be reconciled.
- Filter further by Payment Methods – Direct Debit and Credit Card are the payment methods we track for customers using Glofox Payments. Cash payments should be removed.
- If you use GoCardless for Direct Debit, check your GoCardless account for your Direct Debit payments.
Note down the Net Sales total.
- Payouts Report
- Apply a custom time filter.
- Allow extra time for processing, especially for Direct Debit payments (extend from the end of the previous month into the middle of the next month).
- Select Completed reports.
Switch to View by Transactions and download the report.
- Downloaded File
- Open the file and apply filters to all column headings.
- In the Payment transitioned at column, remove everything except the month you are reconciling.
- Sum the Transaction gross amount column.
This total should match the Net Sales figure noted from the Sales Report.
Quick Checklist for Reconciliation
- Sales Report > Breakdown > Filter by month > Check Sales by Payment Method
- Sales Report > Overview > Filter by month > Filter by payment method > Note Net Sales total
- Payouts Report > Custom time filter (include extra time for Direct Debit) > Completed reports > View by Transactions > Download Excel
- Excel > Filter all columns > Filter Payment transitioned at to month > Sum Transaction gross amount
- Confirm total = Net Sales from Sales Report
Common Questions
Why don’t my report totals match my bank deposits?
This is often due to the timing of payouts, processing fees, or refunds. Always compare the Payouts report (Completed by Payouts) with your bank deposits for the most accurate match.
Which report should I use as my ‘source of truth’?
We recommend using the Payouts report when reconciling with your bank, as it reflects the actual funds transferred.
Disputes and chargebacks can lead to differences with reconciling as these are not 100% handled as expected in our Sales and Payouts reporting.
We do not advise to use the Transactions report to reconcile with the payouts report. The transactions report records all transactions including those not considered to be Sales (e.g. Wallet top-up).