As an Amazon seller, you may start to experience delays in the payout of transactions after items have been delivered. This is likely due to Amazon’s delivery date-based payment policy, where funds may be ‘deferred’ for a set period before being paid out to you, the seller. These are known as deferred transactions.
While this policy has been around for some time, Amazon has been rolling it out to more sellers since 2024, with a steady increase in early 2026.
Because these transactions may appear in a later settlement than when the order occurred, revenue, fees, taxes, and cost of goods sold (COGS) can fall into the incorrect accounting period.
A2X addresses this by generating automated Month-End Deferred Transaction Adjustments, ensuring transactions are recorded in the correct accounting period while Amazon settlements continue to reconcile normally with bank deposits.
A2X automated entries can be generated from April 2025 onwards, and this article walks you through the full setup.
How Deferred Transactions affect your accounting
Amazon settlements record transactions when funds are released, not when the order occurred. This timing difference can cause revenue, fees, taxes, and COGS to appear in the wrong accounting period.
A2X resolves this by creating a month-end Deferred Transaction Adjustment that:
accrues transactions deferred during the month
reverses transactions released during the month
This ensures each order is recorded in the correct accounting period, while settlements continue to reconcile to bank deposits
Simple Example
Event | What Amazon Does | What A2X Does |
Order delivered May 28 | Funds held (deferred) | Nothing yet |
May month-end | Still deferred | A2X accrues the sale |
June 6 | Funds released | Nothing yet |
June settlement | Deposit paid | Settlement matches the bank |
June month-end |
| A2X reverses the released transaction (to prevent double-booking) |
Result: The sale is recorded in May, when the order occurred — not in June, when the cash arrived.
An overview of the steps
Create a Deferred Transactions asset account in your accounting system (find out more here)
If you have not previously tracked any deferred transactions, you will need to establish an opening balance for Deferred Transactions.
Enable Deferred Transactions in A2X
Set your start month (A2X will create adjustments for this month onward)
Assign your Deferred Transactions asset account for each marketplace.
Review the adjustments, generated on the 5th day of the following month.
Need to reconcile periods before April 2025? See Manual Accounting for Amazon Deferred Transactions.
Establishing an Opening Balance
Before enabling automated adjustments, your Deferred Transactions asset account must reflect the correct opening balance.
A2X records monthly changes, not Amazon’s full deferred balance. The opening balance ensures previously deferred transactions are reversed correctly.
If you have already been manually tracking deferred transactions, an opening balance is not required.
Below are the options to use in setting up the Opening Balance:
Option 1: Deferred Transactions Report
For setting up the balance in the current month.
Important note: The Deferred Transactions Report is a live snapshot. Amazon may update orders from deferred to released at any time. We recommend reaching out to Amazon with any report feedback or issues. Downloading the report immediately after month-end provides the most accurate view of deferred transactions for that period.
Download the Deferred Transactions Report from Seller Central immediately after month-end.
Summarize transactions by Type and Description.
Create a journal entry posting totals to your Deferred Transactions asset account.
We recommend working with your accountant or tax advisor to confirm your opening balance.
Option 2: Amazon Transactions Report
For a historical opening balance:
Download the Amazon Transactions Report for the desired date range.
Filter by Transaction Release Date.
Identify transactions released in a later period.
Summarize totals and record them as your opening balance.
Important note: Reports annexed with Transaction Release Date is only available from January 1, 2025 onward. For the most complete picture, use January 1, 2025 as your start date. Any transactions that were deferred before your report's start date and remain deferred won't appear — though this is uncommon, as most deferred transactions are released within a short window.
We recommend working with your accountant or tax advisor to confirm your opening balance.
After the opening balance is established, a reversing entry is not required because A2X automatically tracks the monthly movement of deferred and released transactions.
Enable Deferred Transaction adjustments in A2X
Step 1: Enable the Feature
Go to Settings → Amazon Deferred Transactions
Select Enable
3. Choose your starting month (earliest: April 2025) and click Save
Step 2: Assign an Asset account
Go to Settings → Connections
Assign a Deferred Transactions asset account for each marketplace.
Adjustments typically appear within several hours.
Viewing Deferred Transactions
On the main navigation, a new heading will appear. Go to ‘Postings’, then you will be able to view a new section called ‘Deferred Transactions’.
From here you can:
Review adjustments
Download the raw CSV file
Post entries manually
If auto-posting is enabled, under 'Amazon Deferred Transactions' A2X will post new adjustments automatically.
If an adjustment shows On Hold, some settlement reports for that period have not yet arrived in A2X. No action is usually required. A2X will release the adjustment automatically once the missing settlement data arrives.
Understanding the CSV File
The CSV file includes additional fields used by A2X to determine accruals and reversals.
Status | Meaning |
DEFERRED | Transaction deferred during the period |
DEFERRED_RELEASED | Deferred transaction that was already released when retrieved from Amazon. |
RELEASED | Previously deferred transaction now released |
These statuses determine whether the adjustment accrues or reverses the transaction.
What about the Amazon Summary Report?
As of February 2026, Amazon began updating their Date Range Summary Report to include deferred transactions in the totals. Because Amazon is rolling this out in phases, your A2X Summary Report may temporarily differ from Seller Central.
A2X is working directly with Amazon to update our reports. In the meantime, enabling Deferred Transaction Adjustments in A2X should resolve the variance.
FAQs
Why don't I see a Deferred Transaction Adjustment yet?
Adjustments are generated on the 5th day of the following month. If you're expecting one, just wait until the 5th and it should appear.
Why does my adjustment show "On Hold"? This means some settlement reports for that period haven't arrived in A2X yet. No action is needed — A2X will release the adjustment automatically once the missing data comes in.
Can I post an On Hold adjustment?
You can, but we don't recommend it. Posting early may cause timing issues if settlement data is still missing. It's best to wait for it to be released automatically.
My Deferred Transactions account looks incorrect — what's wrong?
This is usually because an opening balance hasn't been established. Head to the Opening Balance section of this article and follow the steps to set one up.
Why is revenue appearing before the settlement deposit?
This is expected. Deferred transactions are accrued when the order occurs, so revenue will show before the cash actually lands. Your settlements will still reconcile to your bank deposit as normal.
Will my settlements still match my bank deposit? Yes. Deferred transaction adjustments are separate from your settlements, so bank reconciliation is unaffected.
If you need assistance, please contact the A2X Customer Success team.