An Amazon India settlement report lists every credit and debit in a payout cycle. Header fields identify the settlement and its dates. Row-level columns such as order ID, transaction type, amount type, amount description and amount show what each line is. Add up the amount column, and it should match the total and your bank credit. Exact names vary by report version.
Which settlement report are you reading?
Amazon offers more than one payments report in Seller Central, and the column names differ between them. The flat-file settlement report is the most detailed one. The date-range payments report is easier to read but groups amounts into summary columns. Before you build any reconciliation, decide which one you will use every cycle and stick to it.
Important: the names below are common ones, but Amazon can change layouts. Always check the headers in your own download and confirm against the current Seller Central help pages.
Header-level fields: identifying the payout
The first rows or fields describe the settlement as a whole.
- Settlement ID: the reference for one payout cycle. Use it as the key when you book the bank credit.
- Settlement start and end date: the period of transactions included. Orders placed earlier can appear here if they were released or adjusted later.
- Deposit date: when Amazon initiated the transfer. Your bank may show it a day or more later.
- Total amount: the net of all lines in the report. This is the figure that should match your bank credit.
Transaction-level columns that do the real work
Every row after the header is one financial event. These are the columns to understand first.
| Column | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| order-id | Amazon order reference. Blank on some non-order lines such as account-level fees. |
| transaction-type | The broad event, such as an order, a refund or an adjustment. |
| amount-type | The bucket the amount belongs to, such as item price, item fees or promotion. |
| amount-description | The specific line, such as principal, shipping, a commission or a fee component. |
| amount | The signed value. Credits are positive and deductions are negative. |
| posted-date | When the event was recorded. Use it for period cut-offs. |
| sku and quantity | Lets you check item-level economics and match returns to the original sale. |
Read transaction-type, amount-type and amount-description together. One column alone rarely tells you whether a line is a sale, a fee or a reversal.
Fee and tax lines: what to expect and what to verify
Within amount-description you will usually see sale value, shipping-related lines, referral or commission charges, closing or fixed fees, fulfilment or shipping fees, and tax components on those fees. Labels differ by programme and report version.
Do not rely on memory for rates. Your fee percentages sit in your seller agreement and the current Amazon India rate card for your category. For GST and TCS treatment, check the tax lines against the latest rules with your tax adviser. A fee line is only correct if you can point to the rule that produced it.
Tying the report to your bank credit
- Sum the amount column for the settlement ID and compare it to the header total amount.
- Compare that total to the bank credit for the deposit date, allowing for transfer delay.
- Group the lines by transaction-type and amount-description to see sales, refunds, fees and adjustments separately.
- Match refunds to the original order-id and SKU.
- List anything unmatched, such as reserves, carried-forward balances or one-off adjustments, with its reference.
If your total is off, the cause is usually a line category you did not include, not a calculation error.
Common mismatches worth checking each cycle
- Refund lines posted in a later settlement than the sale.
- Fee lines that look higher than your agreed terms for that SKU or category.
- Adjustments with no clear order-id.
- Orders delivered in one period but settled in another.
- Negative closing balances carried to the next payout.
Doing this in spreadsheets works at low volumes. At higher volumes, a tool such as MarketplaceMetrics by Fundle can reconcile sales and settlements and check fees against agreed terms. Myntra Excel reports are reviewed today, and Amazon coverage is a scope discussion, so confirm before you plan around it.
Worked example
Illustrative example only. These figures are made up to show the arithmetic and are not real fee rates.
| Line (amount-description) | Amount (₹, illustrative) |
|---|---|
| Item principal | 1,000 |
| Shipping credit | 50 |
| Commission-type fee | -120 |
| Fixed or closing fee | -20 |
| Tax on fees | -25 |
| Net for this order | 885 |
If a second order in the same settlement was refunded for ₹500 (illustrative) with a ₹100 fee reversal, its net effect is -400. The settlement total is 885 - 400 = ₹485. That should equal the header total amount and then your bank credit.
Questions and answers
Why does my settlement total not match my bank credit?
Common causes are transfer timing, a different settlement ID, reserves or carried-forward balances, and lines you left out of your sum. Match the header total amount first, then check the deposit date and any adjustments.
Is a negative amount always a fee?
No. Negative values can be fees, refunds, reversals, taxes on fees or adjustments. Use transaction-type, amount-type and amount-description together to classify the line, and match it to an order-id where one exists.
Why do refunds appear in a different settlement from the sale?
Refunds are posted when the return or refund event is recorded, which can fall in a later cycle than the original payment. Match them using order-id and SKU rather than by settlement period.
Where do I confirm the correct fee rates?
Check your seller agreement and the current Amazon India rate card for your category. Confirm GST and TCS treatment with your tax adviser, because rates and rules can change and should not be taken from old reports.