Overview
This FAQ page answers many common questions about Sellercloud’s Financial Reporting Suite. If you’re entirely new to this, start with an introduction to the Sellercloud reports.
Report Data
Can Employees See My Company’s Report Data?
Not by default. A Sellercloud admin must set the appropriate security roles to grant employees access to reports.
How Do Sellercloud Reports Compare With Other Accounting Reports?
In accounting reports, two order records exist:
- Sales Order – This transaction occurs when a customer places an order. Typically non-posting.
- Invoice – This transaction occurs when an order ships. Typically used for reports.
In Sellercloud reports, one order record exists, and:
- Order Date – Is used in place of a Sales Order.
- Ship Date – Is used in place of an Invoice.
Is Report Data Available in Real-Time?
By default, not all inventory report data is available right away. The reports’ accuracy will vary depending on the time of day. Your server has built-in services that check for item changes and record daily inventory counts.
Here are two example scenarios where the order or product changes will not update in the Reports module until the services run:
- Order changes – A refund comes in on an order. The reports will not show the change until the services update the order.
- Product changes – You change a product’s default vendor. The reports will not show the change until the services update the product.
Note: The following reports have a Date Type filter, which you can set to Real-Time to reflect the most recent information available:
- Inventory by Warehouse Summary
- Inventory by Warehouse Detail
- Inventory by Product Summary
- Inventory by Product Detail
How Do I View Transactions That Are Not Order-Related?
You can see product and channel-related transactions in the following reports:
- Profit by Product reports (Summary and Detail) – These reports show product-related transactions, such as Warehouse Lost and Warehouse Damaged. Only available for Amazon/FBA and eBay channel transactions.
- Transaction Details by Date report – In addition to product-related transactions, this report shows transactions that are not related to products or orders, such as FBA Inbound Shipping Fees and Subscription Fees.
Differences
Why Are There Two Report Formats?
You can view reports in two ways: using the web interface or exporting the report data to an Excel or CSV file.
Exporting the data has the following advantages:
- Some reports have columns only available when you export the data.
- Some reports can show a limited number of columns with information when viewed on the web. However, the exported file always contains all available columns.
- You can use third-party software like Excel and Google Sheets to add more data manipulation functionality. For example, you can filter within a column, sort with advanced parameters, and even create custom bar graphs and pie charts to visualize data.
To view a report in Sellercloud’s Delta web interface:
- On the left, select Reports, and then click one of the reports.
- Set up the Default and Custom filters to have the report show what you need.
- Click Search. Each filter you apply gets highlighted in green. If a filter is gray or not displayed at all, it’s not active.
To export report data, you must first load a report on the web. Then, click Actions on the bottom right and select Export to Excel or Export to CSV.
What is the Difference Between Summary and Detail Reports?
Summary reports generally provide a more general overview of a topic. Detail reports usually go into more detail and provide additional information about a topic.
For example, the P&L Order Summary report shows profit totals for all orders by either channel or company, but the P&L Order Details report drills down to show the profit for each order.
Both versions are available in most Sellercloud report categories.
What is The Difference Between Orders and Sales Reports?
Orders reports are based on your orders’ order date, including pending orders and processed orders (unshipped and shipped).
Sales reports are based on your orders’ ship date and include only shipped orders.
Sellercloud uses the ship date for its Sales reports. If customers place orders during the weekend, and you run a Sales report on a Sunday afternoon, you won’t see the orders because you haven’t shipped them yet. To see all orders, use the Orders reports.
What is The Difference Between the Settlement Reconciliation Summary and Reconciliation Details Reports?
Reconciliation reports are intended to match the transactions recorded in an online store’s financial records to those processed by payment gateways and banks to ensure the reliability and accuracy of financial reporting.
These reports are used to ensure that all financial transactions have been recorded accurately and to identify and resolve any discrepancies between the online store’s records and the records of the payment gateway and banks. They help to ensure the reliability and accuracy of financial reporting.
For example, suppose your report shows a discrepancy in an order. Perhaps a discount came in, but the settlement doesn’t show it. You can go to the Reconciliation Details report, search for the Settlement ID, and filter by Status Type: Unreconciled. From here, you can either manually fix that data, or you can dismiss it for now, fully aware of the discrepancy.
Note that the settlement filters work only for Amazon/FBA, Jet, eBay, Newegg, and Walmart Marketplace settlements.
Customization
Are All Report Columns Sortable?
You can sort the data within reports in the Delta web interface based on a specific column using the Sort by drop-down menu.
Export the report to Excel for advanced sorting and data manipulation functions.
Can I Update the Grid to See Only the Data I Want?
You can add, remove, and even re-order report columns. When viewing a report, click the three dots icon on the top right and select Customize Columns.
Now you can:
- Reorder columns by dragging them up or down in the list;
- Hide columns by clicking the Trash icons;
- Add columns by clicking Add column.
Filters
How Do Filters Work?
Report filters offer multiple-choice selection lists or allow you to enter specific values. Your filter choices build on each other. Each subsequent choice narrows the scope of your search results further and affects what the report displays.
Each filter you apply gets highlighted in orange, and after you click Search, it turns green. If a filter is gray or not displayed at all, it means the filter is not active.
Can I Change Filters After Running a Report?
You can update the currently applied filters or add extra ones. Make any changes, then click Search to re-generate the report.
To update a spreadsheet, re-run the search with your new filters and then export again.
How Do I Use a Report’s SKU Filter to Find an Item?
Some reports have a custom filter that allows you to search for specific items. Click Custom filters and look for “SKU.” Click the filter and search for SKUs, then click to add them to your search. You can add multiple SKUs one at a time.
If you often need to run a report on specific items, consider creating a custom product group. Then you can use the custom filter called Product Groups.
What Are the Date Type Filters in the Profit & Loss and Transaction Reports?
Typically, order history comprises two aspects:
- The initial transaction – The actual order, which you can reference either by its order date or ship date.
- Subsequent activity – The order’s associated transactions, such as refunds, returns, and adjustments, which you can reference by order date, ship date, or transaction date.
The Date Type filter lets you reflect shipped orders and their associated activity:
- By ship date – View all orders and their associated activity where the ship date is in your selected range.
- By order date – View all shipped orders and their associated activity where the order date is in your selected range.
- By transaction date – View all order activity within your selected date range and use the ship date for sales (debit) transactions.
What Are the Settlement Filters?
Settlement is the process of transferring funds from a payment processor or acquiring bank to a merchant’s bank account. The settlement process reconciles the transactions and ensures that the funds from the customer’s payment are accurately credited to the merchant’s account.
Some channels send settlement reports on a regular basis, including all information about orders, including order-related fees, commissions, and taxes.
Some Sellercloud reports can show settlement information based on a settlement ID. Simply enter the settlement ID to review all related transactions for that settlement. However, note that this filter works only for Amazon/FBA, Jet, eBay, Newegg, and Walmart Marketplace settlements.
Additionally, some reports let you filter by Settlement Status to include only Amazon and FBA orders in one of two ways:
- All Orders – Shows profit for all orders regardless of settlement status.
- Settled – Shows profit only for orders that have settlement data.
Report Columns
What is the Payment Column?
The Payment column in reports shows the actual amount the buyer paid. This is usually the same amount that the Grand Total column shows unless there was an underpayment or overpayment.
What Are Subtotal and Grand Total?
Subtotal is the total amount of the items before any discounts, shipping, tax, etc.
Grand Total shows the total order amount, calculated as (Subtotal + Shipping Total + Handling + Insurance + Gift Wrap + Tax) – (Discount + Shipping Discount).
What Are Item Cost and Item Cost Total?
Item Cost Shows the total amount paid to purchase all items, including refunds and other fees. This amount is based on the item cost on the date of the order, and the calculation method selected in the client setting Order Profit & Loss Calculated Using. This setting lets you calculate by Average Cost, Site Cost, or Last Cost. To get more information, go to Order Item Cost Calculation.
Item Cost Total shows the total item cost, calculated as such: Item Cost – Rebate + Shipping Cost + Commission + Transaction Fee + Posting Fee + Dropship Fee + Co-Op Fee + Tax Payable.
What Are Item Cost Total and Order Cost Total?
Item Cost Total shows the total item cost, calculated as such: Item Cost – Rebate + Shipping Cost + Commission + Transaction Fee + Posting Fee + Dropship Fee + Co-Op Fee + Tax Payable.
Order Cost Total is the sum of all the Item Cost Totals in the order. Suppose an order has 2 items:
- Item 1 has an Item Cost Total of $5
- Item 2 has an Item Cost Total of $15
- The Order Cost Total = $20
Note: Order Cost Total is used in the calculation of Profit Margin.
What is the Total Fees Column?
Generally, this column encompasses the following:
- Transaction fees – These are Paypal processing fees.
- Posting fees – eBay listing fee and Reverb bump fee.
- Commission – These are channel selling fees. (Includes refunds on commission fees.)
However, certain reports may include other fees, such as tax payable, dropship fees, and co-op fees. See each report’s description for specific fees.
How do Cash Profit and Accrual Profit calculations differ?
In traditional accounting, Cash Profit is based on the Payment date, and Accrual Profit is based on the Invoice date. Thus, Cash Profit is current, based on payment(s) made, while Accrual Profit is a future profit.
In Sellercloud, you can choose either Cash Profit or Accrual Profit for your profit calculation, which will be based on your orders’ ship date, and whether any payment has been made or not.
Note: Even if you choose Cash Profit when running a report, you can always see each order’s Accrual Profit and vice versa. First, click to open the order. Then click the Toolbox and open the Profit & Loss tab. After this, click Cash Profit.
- Cash Profit – Based on the Payment amount of an order (the actual amount the buyer paid).
- Calculation: (Payment – Refunds) – (Item Cost + Total Fees) + Adjustments.
- Note: Wholesale orders that have payment terms will not show a profit until payment is received.
- Accrual Profit – Based on the Grand Total amount of an order, so you can see the profit for orders that haven’t been paid.
- Calculation: (Order Grand Total – Return Grand Total) – (Item Cost + Total Fees) + Adjustments.
How is Profit Margin Calculated?
There are two ways to calculate and view Profit Margin:
- Cash Profit Margin calculation: ((Payments – Refunds) – (Order Cost Total + Adjustments)) / (Payments – Refunds) * 100.
- Accrual Profit Margin calculation: (Sum(Grand Total) – (Order Cost Total + Adjustments)) / Sum(Grand Total) * 100.
- Sum(Grand Total) = Order Grand Total – Return Grand Total.
Overview
This FAQ page answers many common questions about Sellercloud’s Financial Reporting Suite. If you’re entirely new to this, start with an introduction to the Sellercloud reports.
Creating a report
How do “accounting” reports outside Sellercloud compare with financial reports in Sellercloud?
The difference is straightforward. In accounting reports, 2 records exist:
- Sales Order – This transaction occurs when Order A is placed. Typically non-posting.
- Invoice – This transaction occurs when Order A ships. Typically used for reports.
In Sellercloud reports, 1 order record exists, and:
- Order Date – Is used in place of a Sales Order.
- Ship Date – Is used in place of an Invoice.
Do Sellercloud’s orders reports differ from its sales reports?
Yes, and here’s how:
- Orders Reports – These are based on your orders’ order date and include pending orders and processed orders (unshipped and shipped).
- Sales Reports – These are based on your orders’ ship date and include only shipped orders.
Here’s an example: If orders are placed on the weekend and you run a Sales report on Sunday afternoon, you won’t see those orders. Why not? Sellercloud uses the ship date for its Sales reports, so because you did not ship on the weekend, you won’t see those orders on that report. However, Monday’s orders will show in your Monday report – after you ship those orders. So, if you want to see orders as they are placed, use the Orders reports.
Why are there 2 report formats?
Both reports are a rich source of data based on your chosen filters, but the export file shows additional information and lets you fully customize the report for your needs:
- In SellerCloud (grid) – Choose your criteria and click Run Report to see data on the grid. If needed, use the bottom scroll bar to view more results to the right.
- The grid offers multiple ways to fine-tune its data.
- Exported spreadsheet (Excel) – From the grid, click the Export to Excel icon to download the onscreen data to a spreadsheet and see additional columns of data. For example, the P&L Detailed Report grid report has a Transaction Fee column, but the spreadsheet shows another column for Drop Ship Fee.
- Excel lets you fully manipulate all your data, such as filtering within a column and sorting with advanced parameters. You can even create custom bar graphs and pie charts; for example, to show daily sales trends for a selected date range!
- The spreadsheet has two tabs:
- Report tab shows your data results.
- Filters tab lists your chosen report filters and their values.
- Report tab shows your data results.
How do filters work?
Your filter choices build on each other; each subsequent choice further narrows your search results.
Most of the report filters offer multiple choice selector lists as well as single-choice dropdown fields. The selector fields let you manually click in the list to choose multiple values, while the dropdown lets you choose only one.
After you click Run Report, you can see each filter you applied right here (if a filter is not shown, you left it blank or chose All):
Can I easily change my filters after I run a report?
Yes! Click the Edit Filters icon above the grid, change your filter(s), and click Run Report.
Note: You can only revise the filters from the grid, so for an exported report, return to the grid and re-run the report with your new filters before re-exporting.
What are the three ‘Date Type’ filters in the combined P&L/Transaction reports?
Typically, an order’s history may comprise 2 aspects:
- Initial transaction – The actual order (sale), which can be referenced by its order date or its ship date.
- Subsequent activity – The order’s associated transactions, such as refunds, returns, and adjustments, which can be referenced by order date, ship date, or transaction date(s).
The Date Type filter gives you the flexibility to have shipped orders and their associated activity reflected in one of 3 different ways, by:
- Transaction date – See all order activity that occurred in your date range. Note: With this filter, the date that the report uses for the sale transaction will be the ship date, not the order date.
- Ship date – See all orders and their associated activity where ship date is in your date range.
- Order date – See all orders and their associated activity where order date is in your date range.
How do I use a report’s SKU filter to find an item?
Click the SKU filter link to open the Search Products window, where you can search for products in any number of ways:
Can I use the SKU filter to create a new product group or add products to an existing one?
Absolutely. Check out how easy this is by taking a short video tour!
Are all grid columns sortable?
Yes, just click in each grid column’s header to automatically sort in ascending and descending order.
Note: You cannot sort multiple columns simultaneously, but for advanced sorting and data manipulation functions, export the grid report to a spreadsheet:
Can I fine-tune the grid to see only the data I want?
Of course! You have many ways to adjust your grid results on the fly. Click each link below for a quick tour of how each one works:
- Resize the width of any column.
- Reorder all columns.
- Filter within any column. Note that text columns have more filters than numeric ones, though some filters are shared:
- Text column example: Filter the SKU column to show rows with value that “StartsWith m.”
- Numeric column example: Filter the Subtotal column to show rows with value “GreaterThan 100.”
- Group any column (and also group other columns).
- Show/hide any columns, from any column’s context menu.
- Scroll horizontally with a freeze bar. This locks one or more left-hand columns, based on the number of columns in a report.
Is Sellercloud report data in real-time?
Your server has built-in services that run daily to check for orders that have recent changes and update profit and loss data accordingly; therefore, accuracy will vary based on the time of day you run a report.
Here are 2 scenarios when order or product changes are not updated to the Reports module until the services run:
- Order – A refund comes in on an order. The reports will not show the change until the services update the order.
- Product – You change a product’s default vendor. The reports will not show the change until the services update the product.
Can every employee see my company’s Reports data?
No, the only employees who can access the Reports module are those with appropriate security roles, as set by the Sellercloud administrator at your company.
Understanding the Data
What is the difference between Summary and Detail reports?
Here’s an example: The P&L Summary report shows profit totals for all orders by either channel or company, but the P&L Details report drills down to show profit for each order. Both versions are offered in most Sellercloud report categories (P&L, Sales, Orders, etc.).
Note: You can always open the detailed version of a report directly from its summary to show data based on that summary report’s filter.
How do Subtotal and Grand Total differ?
- Subtotal is the total amount of the items before any discounts, shipping, tax, etc.
- Grand Total is (Subtotal + Shipping + Handling + Insurance + Gift Wrap + Tax) – (Discount + Shipping Discount).
What is a Payment?
Payment is the actual amount the buyer paid. Usually, this is the same as Grand Total (the total order amount) unless there was an underpayment or over payment.
How do Item Cost and Item Cost Total differ?
- Item Cost is the cost of the items in the order.
- Item Cost Total is (Item Cost – Rebate) + Shipping Cost + Commission + Transaction Fee + Posting Fee + Dropship Fee + Co-Op Fee + Tax Payable).
How do Item Cost Total and Order Cost Total differ?
- Item Cost Total is (Item Cost – Rebate) + Shipping Cost + Commission + Transaction Fee + Posting Fee + Dropship Fee + Co-Op Fee + Tax Payable).
- Order Cost Total is the sum of all the Item Cost Totals in the order. Suppose an order has 2 items:
- Item 1 has an Item Cost Total of $5
- Item 2 has an Item Cost Total of $15
- The Order Cost Total = $20
Note: Order Cost Total is used in the calculation of Profit Margin.
What does the Total Fees column include?
Generally, this column encompasses the following; however, certain reports may include other fees, such as tax payable, dropship fees, and co-op fees. See each report’s description for specific fees.
- Transaction fees – These are Paypal processing fees.
- Posting fees – eBay listing fee and Reverb bump fee.
- Commission – These are channel selling fees. (Includes refunds on commission fees.)
How do Cash Profit and Accrual Profit calculations differ?
In traditional accounting, Cash Profit is based on Payment date and Accrual Profit is based on Invoice date. Thus, Cash Profit is current, based on payment(s) made, while Accrual Profit is a future profit.In Sellercloud, you can choose either Cash Profit or Accrual Profit for your profit calculation, which will be based on your orders’ ship date, regardless of if/when any payment(s) was made.
Note: Even if you choose Cash Profit when running a report, you can always see each order’s Accrual Profit by clicking open the order and hovering over Cash Profit on the P&L tab, and vice versa.
- Cash Profit – Based on Payment amount of an order (the actual amount the buyer paid).
Calculation: (Payment – Refunds) – (Item Cost + Total Fees) + Adjustments.Note: Wholesale orders that have payment terms will not show profit until payment is received. - Accrual Profit – Based on Grand Total amount of an order, so you can see profit for orders that haven’t been paid.
Calculation: Sum(Grand Total) – (Item Cost + Total Fees) + Adjustments.Note: Sum(Grand Total) = Order Grand Total – Return Grand Total.
How is Profit Margin calculated?
There are 2 ways to calculate and view Profit Margin:
- Cash Profit Margin calculation: ((Payments – Refunds) – (Order Cost Total + Adjustments)) / (Payments – Refunds) * 100.
- Accrual Profit Margin calculation: (Sum(Grand Total) – (Order Cost Total + Adjustments)) / Sum(Grand Total) * 100.
Note: Sum(Grand Total) = Order Grand Total – Return Grand Total.
What is the Settlement ID filter in the Transaction reports?
Settlements are payment reports sent by a channel with all information about an order, and including order-related fees, commissions, and taxes.
Some Sellercloud reports can be based on a settlement ID: Simply enter an ID (or search from a list of 20 most recent IDs) to obtain all related transactions for that settlement. This produces an accurate P&L based on that settlement.
Note: Currently, the Settlement ID filter works for Amazon/FBA, eBay, and Newegg orders.
How does the Orders Status filter work?
A settlement is a payment report sent by a channel with information about order-related fees, commissions, and taxes. Currently, this toggle is for Amazon/FBA orders only.
The Orders Status toggle has 2 settings to filter your report data:
- All Orders – Include all orders. Your report will show orders that do, and do not, have settlement data.
- Settled (this setting will show true profit) – Exclude orders without settlement data. Your report will only show orders that have settlement data available.
Where does Sellercloud show transactions that are not order-related?
Product- and channel-related transactions are not related to orders, so these do not appear in Sellercloud orders. However, you can see them in the following reports:
- Profit by Product reports – (Summary and Details versions) – These reports show product-related transactions, such as Warehouse Lost and Warehouse Damaged. Only available for Amazon/FBA and eBay channel transactions.
- Transaction Details by Date report – In addition to product-related transactions, this report shows transactions that are not related to products or orders, such as FBA Inbound Shipping Fees and Subscription Fees.
What are the Settlement Reconciliation Summary and Settlement Reconciliation Details reports?
These reports pinpoint the location of discrepancies between Sellercloud data and settlement data from your channel(s), and exactly why the data does not match.
Example: Suppose your report shows a discrepancy in an order. Perhaps a discount came in, but the Settlement report does not show it. Just click on that Settlement ID to open the Details report and filter by unreconciled transactions. From here, you can either manually fix that data, or you can dismiss it for now, fully aware of this current discrepancy.
Note: Currently, this report is available for Amazon/FBA only, but Sellercloud will add other channels in the future, such as WalMart, Newegg, etc.