A2X imports the order and transaction data from Shopify and maps it into accounting transactions in your accounting system.
In order to do that, A2X needs to know how you want to map the transactions in Shopify into the accounting ledger - this is done on the Accounts and Taxes mapping page. These mappings will differ depending on the type of business you operate, which countries and tax jurisdictions you operate in and the sort of financial reporting you need to manage your business. We recommend consulting with an accountant or financial adviser on this, to ensure what you have configured is right for your business.
In this article we explain the various types of transactions you may see in A2X and what they mean.
Sales
ProductSales - This is revenue from the sales of goods or services
ProductSalesExcludingTax - This is revenue from the sales of goods or services
ProductSalesNotTaxed - This is revenue from the sales of goods or services where no tax was charged (for example zero rated or exempt sales)
When configuring your mapping for sales, in some countries or jurisdictions you will configure a tax rate on sales (for example 20% VAT on income, or 10% GST on sales) where in countries like USA, you will likely select 'no tax' on the sale amounts as the sales tax collected is handled in the tax section below.
Shipping
Shipping - This is revenue from the shipping amount paid by your customers
ShippingNotTaxed - This is revenue from the shipping amount paid by your customers where no tax was charged (for example zero rated or exempt sales)
Tax
ShippingTax - This is tax charged on the shipping amount paid by your customers
Tax - This is tax charged on the amount paid by your customers
DiscountTax - This is the amount of tax reduced due to discounts
When configuring your mapping for taxes there are two main approaches. One approach is you can consider the tax amounts part of a gross sale amount, and map them to sales at the same tax rate that you chose for your sales. In this approach your accounting system will split the sales and tax amounts for you. The other approach is to separate the tax collected into a liability account, such as 'sales tax collected' - this approach is more common in the US. We recommend you consult with your accountant or tax adviser when setting up your tax rates and tax handling in A2X.
Discounts
Discount - discount applied to either the whole order, or a specific order item
ShippingDiscount - discount applied to shipping
These are amounts applied to the orders as promotions. Discounts can be applied to an order as a whole or to specific line items in an order.
A2X will group discounts in the same way it groups sales. This will allow you to account for them as part of sales (giving you a total revenue that is net of discounts) or you treat them as a separate line item so that your total revenue is the total gross amount including any discounts.
Refunds
Refund - amounts refunded to the customer, often in relation to a return
RefundAdjustment - amounts refunded to the customer, for a variety of reasons
These are amounts returned to the customer for returns or general order adjustments or discrepancies - you might account for them against sales, or in a separate account. The tax rates that apply will be the same as that on the sales.
Gift Card Liability
GiftCardSaleLiability - sales of gift cards
Sale Gateway Gift Card - usage of gift cards
Refund Gateway Gift Card - issue of gift cards for refunds
These amounts relate to sales of gift cards and their usage against the Gift Card gateway - these reflect the increase or reduction of the Shopify gift card liability account
Payment and Selling Fees
ShopifyFee - fee amount charged by Shopify
ShopifyFeeAdjustment - fee amount refunded by Shopify if you refund a sale to a customer
These are the fees charged by Shopify - in some countries and jurisdictions they may include taxes - it's important that you confirm this with Shopify and/or your tax adviser.
Gateway Transactions
Gateway transactions represent the expected sales or refund amounts in or out of a given payment gateway, they should typically be mapped to a gateway-specific clearing account. It would be highly unlikely a tax rate would be assigned to a Gateway transaction as this transaction line represents the payment method associated with the sale (the tax is collected on the sale itself, not the payment). There are several different types of transactions you may see in this section.
Sale Gateway <gateway name> - this reflects amounts charged to the customer via the named gateway. E.g "Sale Gateway PayPal"
Refund Gateway <gateway name> - this reflects amounts refunded to the customer via the named gateway. E.g "Refund Gateway PayPal"
NonShopifyPayment <gateway name> - this reflects Shopify Payment orders that were part paid via another gateway. E.g "NonShopifyPayment gift_card"
Offline Gateway <gateway name> - this means the given gateway <gateway name> has been nominated as an offline (or manual) gateway in the custom settings. Offline gateways will always balance their entire order amounts against this transaction. You can think of this as A2X ignoring the payments in Shopify and assuming payment is being taken outside Shopify by accumulating an accounts receivable balance. Some examples where you might use this are for Point of Sale transactions such as cash, or wholesale sales with payment terms being managed outside of Shopify. The accounts receivable balance you accumulate would be offset by the cash receipts being paid in/deposited.
These transactions should be collected in some sort of clearing account, so that as the actual cash receipts arrive from each gateway, they can be 'cleared out'. It's important to note these are not sale or refund amounts, they reflect expected proceeds in or out of a gateway and should not be considered as sales or refunds.
Pending Payments
These are amounts where an order has been placed but no payment has been made, or a refund has been issued but no payment has been made. Conversely when the payment for an order or refund is made, the amounts are reduced and the pending amount is allocated to the correct gateway instead. Pending payments will usually clear out, over time, except in those situations where an order remains unpaid in the Shopping channel. You can read more about Pending Payments HERE.
Other
Other is a place for transactions we may not have encountered before - if you have unexpected transactions in the Other section, please get in touch with us via the Help section - we want to make sure we have the right grouping for transactions.
CurrencyConversionRounding - This is the amount of minor rounding that is sometimes applied in Shopify for orders where the customer is paying in a different currency
Dispute - these are amounts held by Shopify when a transaction is in dispute
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