Why do Amazon deposits not match my sales reports in QuickBooks?
The deposit you see in your bank account is not your sales. It’s what’s left after Amazon takes out everything they’re entitled to and holds back what they want to hold back. If you record the deposit as sales income, your books will be wrong in several directions at once.
Here’s what’s already been pulled out of that number before it hits your bank. Referral fees on every order. FBA fulfillment fees if you use FBA. Storage fees, long-term storage fees, and removal fees. Advertising spend through Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display. Refunds and refund administration fees. Chargebacks and A-to-Z claims. Subscription fees for your Professional Seller account. Shipping label costs if you buy them through Amazon. Inventory reimbursements work the other way and add to the deposit.
Amazon also withholds a reserve. New sellers and accounts with recent issues often see 7 to 14 days of sales held back. That reserve fluctuates every settlement period, which makes the deposit amount move around even when your sales are steady.
Then there’s sales tax. For most states, Amazon is a marketplace facilitator, which means they collect sales tax from the customer and remit it directly to the state. That tax shows up in the gross sales total on your reports but never lands in your bank account because Amazon never sent it to you. If you book the deposit as revenue, you’ve undercounted sales. If you book gross sales as revenue without backing out marketplace-collected tax, you’ve overcounted income and may end up paying tax on money that was already remitted.
The right approach is to pull each settlement report and split the deposit into its components. Gross sales as income, refunds as contra-revenue, each fee category as its own expense, advertising as a separate expense, reserves as a balance sheet item, and marketplace-collected tax flowing through a liability account that clears when Amazon remits. Done correctly, your sales numbers tie to your reports and your fees and ad spend show up where you can actually see them.
This is exactly what our ecommerce payment matching service is built for. We reconcile every Amazon, Shopify, and Walmart payout against the underlying settlement so the books reflect what actually happened, not just what hit the bank.
E-commerce accounting is our top specialty. If your Amazon books feel like a black box, that’s a fixable problem, and it’s the kind of work we do every day as part of small business accounting, bookkeeping and tax services in Jacksonville, NC.
Trusted Accounting for Small Businesses
First Step:
Start With a Call
Tell us about your business and what you need help with. We'll ask a few questions, evaluate your current situation, and let you know how GMJ can support your books, taxes, and day-to-day operations.
More Questions
How can bill payment support help avoid late fees and duplicate payments?
Bill payment support prevents late fees and duplicates through five control points. Approval workflows, due-date tracking, accurate vendor records, consistent payment recording, and monthly reconciliation. Each step catches problems before they cost you money.
Read answerWhat is the difference between Form 990, 990-EZ and the 990 postcard?
The three versions of Form 990 differ by the size of the nonprofit filing them. Small organizations file the postcard, mid-sized file 990-EZ, and larger ones file the full Form 990. The IRS sets thresholds based on gross receipts and total assets.
Read answerWhen does a restaurant need budgeting and cash flow forecasting?
Most restaurants need budgeting and cash flow forecasting once payroll runs high, traffic swings by season, or food costs jump unpredictably. Add a planned equipment purchase, a second location, or any debt and forecasting moves from useful to necessary.
Read answerHow should bars separate liquor sales, food sales, tips and merchant fees?
Set up distinct POS categories for liquor, beer, wine, and food that map to separate revenue accounts in your books. Keep sales tax and tips as liabilities until remitted or paid out, and book merchant fees as their own expense instead of netting them against sales. Apply the same category structure to COGS so you can calculate pour cost and food cost accurately.
Read answerWhat should a cash flow forecast include for a seasonal business?
A seasonal cash flow forecast needs to map expected receipts, payroll, vendor and inventory payments, debt service, taxes, and owner draws month by month, not as annual averages. The whole point is knowing in July whether you'll have cash to cover February.
Read answerWhat bookkeeping does a nonprofit need before filing Form 990?
Form 990 pulls from clean books that classify revenue by source, allocate expenses across program, management, and fundraising, and track net assets with and without donor restrictions. Reconciled accounts, donor records, and board documentation should all be ready before the return gets started.
Read answer
