Profit & Loss - Cash Basis Report
Comprehensive cash-basis profitability analysis tracking all transaction types including sales, refunds, voids, chargebacks, and alerts. Understand your true net revenue, costs, and profit margins across your entire business.
The Profit & Loss - Cash Basis Report provides a complete view of your business profitability by tracking every transaction that flows through your payment processing. This report uses cash-basis accounting, meaning transactions are reported based on when they actually occurred — not when the original subscription or order was created.
For example, if a sale takes place on January 15 and a chargeback occurs on February 2, the chargeback and its associated fees will appear under February 2.
This report breaks down your financial performance into four key areas:
- Revenue - Successful charges processed through your gateways
- Adjustments - Refunds, voids, chargebacks, and alerts that reduce revenue
- Costs - Cost of goods sold, ad spend, processing fees, chargeback fees, and alert fees
- Profit - Your bottom line after all adjustments and costs
What This Report Includes
This report analyzes all completed transactions across your business:
Transactions Included:
- All transaction types: sales, captures, refunds, voids, chargebacks, and alerts
- Only transactions with a total greater than $0 (excludes $0 transactions)
- Test orders are excluded
- Date range is based on Sale/Capture Date (when the transaction was actually completed)
Why This Matters: By using the date the transaction was completed rather than when the order was created, this report gives you an accurate picture of cash flow and profitability for any given time period. This is essential for financial reconciliation, merchant account management, and understanding true business health.
Prerequisites
For this report to display accurate cost and profitability data, fee data must be configured properly. Learn how to set up fees here.
Specifically:
- Processing fees must be tracked on transactions for the Processing Fees metric to populate
- Chargeback fees must be configured on your merchant accounts for Chargeback Fees to calculate
- Alert fees must be configured on your merchant accounts for Alert Fees to calculate
- Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) must be set up on your items/offers for COGS to populate
- Ad Spend / CPA must be configured for Ad Spend data to appear
Without fee configuration, Cost of Revenue and Profit calculations will be incomplete.
Report Metrics
Customers
Unique count of customers who had transactions in the selected date range. Each customer is counted only once regardless of how many transactions they had.
Attempted Captured Charges
Total count of sale and capture transactions attempted, including both successful and declined attempts. This is the total volume of charge transactions sent to your payment gateways.
Declined Captured Charges
Count of sale and capture transactions that were declined by the payment gateway. These are charges that were attempted but failed due to insufficient funds, expired cards, fraud holds, or other gateway-level declines.
Decline Capture Rate
Percentage of attempted charges that were declined. A high decline rate may indicate issues with payment processing, card quality, or merchant account health. Calculated as Declined Captured Charges divided by Attempted Captured Charges.
Declined Net Product Revenue
The net product revenue value of declined charge transactions. This represents the revenue that would have been captured if those transactions had been approved, calculated as the product price minus discounts and rewards applied.
Successful Captured Charges
Count of sale and capture transactions that were successfully approved and processed. These are the charges that actually resulted in collected revenue.
Successful Capture Rate
Percentage of attempted charges that were successfully approved. Higher rates indicate healthier merchant accounts and better payment processing. Calculated as Successful Captured Charges divided by Attempted Captured Charges.
Success Gross Product Revenue
Total raw product price for all successful sale and capture transactions before any deductions. This is the face value of what was charged before discounts, rewards, or gift cards are applied.
Rewards Applied
Total customer loyalty points, store credit, or reward program benefits applied to successful charges. This reduces the amount actually collected from payment processing.
Discounts Applied
Total discount amounts applied to successful charges, including promotional codes and pricing reductions.
Discount Rate
Percentage of gross product revenue that was discounted. Calculated as Discounts Applied divided by Success Gross Product Revenue. A high discount rate may indicate over-reliance on promotions.
Successful Net Product Revenue
Net product revenue from successful charges after subtracting discounts and rewards. Calculated as Gross Product Revenue minus Discounts minus Rewards. This represents the actual product value collected.
Shipping Revenue
Total shipping charges collected on successful transactions. This amount is conditionally included in your Revenue calculation based on your company revenue settings.
Tax Collected
Total tax amounts collected on successful transactions. This amount is conditionally included in your Revenue calculation based on your company revenue settings.
Gift Cards Applied
Total gift card redemption amounts applied to successful transactions.
Revenue
Your total collected revenue from successful charges after all adjustments. This is calculated as Net Product Revenue (price minus discounts, rewards, and gift cards), plus shipping if included in your revenue settings, plus tax if included in your revenue settings. This is the key top-line number for your P&L.
Processed
Total dollar amount actually processed through your payment gateways for successful charges. This is the raw transaction total sent to the gateway, which may differ from Revenue due to how shipping and tax inclusion settings are applied.
Adjustments
Combined total dollar value of all refunds, voids, chargebacks, and alerts. This is the total revenue reduction from all post-sale activity.
Adjustment Rate
Percentage of revenue lost to adjustments. Calculated as total Adjustments divided by Revenue. This is a critical health metric — high adjustment rates indicate customer satisfaction issues, fraud problems, or operational concerns.
Successful Refunds
Count of refund transactions that were successfully processed. These are voluntary returns of customer funds.
Declined Refunds
Count of refund transactions that failed processing. This can occur due to gateway issues or account problems.
Refund Rate
Percentage of successful charges that resulted in refunds. Calculated as Successful Refunds divided by Successful Captured Charges.
Refunded Revenue
Total dollar value of successfully processed refunds, calculated using the same revenue formula as your charges (net of discounts, rewards, and gift cards, plus conditional shipping and tax).
Refunded Revenue Rate
Percentage of revenue that was refunded. Calculated as Refunded Revenue divided by Revenue.
Full Refunds
Count of refunds where the refund amount was equal to or greater than the original charge amount. These represent complete transaction reversals.
Full Refund Rate
Percentage of refunds that were full refunds versus partial refunds. Calculated as Full Refunds divided by Successful Refunds.
Partial Refunds
Count of refunds where the refund amount was less than the original charge amount. These represent partial returns or adjustments.
Partial Refund Rate
Percentage of refunds that were partial refunds. Calculated as Partial Refunds divided by Successful Refunds.
Successful Voids
Count of void transactions that were successfully processed. Voids cancel a transaction before it settles, preventing the charge from being collected.
Declined Voids
Count of void transactions that failed processing.
Void Rate
Percentage of successful charges that were voided. Calculated as Successful Voids divided by Successful Captured Charges.
Voided Revenue
Total dollar value of successfully processed voids.
Voided Revenue Rate
Percentage of revenue that was voided. Calculated as Voided Revenue divided by Revenue.
Chargebacks
Count of chargeback transactions received. Chargebacks occur when a customer disputes a charge directly with their card issuer, bypassing your customer service.
Chargeback Rate
Percentage of successful charges that resulted in chargebacks. Calculated as Chargebacks divided by Successful Captured Charges. This is a critical merchant account health metric — card networks typically flag accounts exceeding 1% chargeback rates.
Chargeback Revenue
Total dollar value of chargeback transactions.
Chargeback Revenue Rate
Percentage of revenue lost to chargebacks. Calculated as Chargeback Revenue divided by Revenue.
Alerts
Count of alert transactions received. Alerts are early warnings from fraud prevention services (like Ethoca or Verifi) that a chargeback is likely, giving you the opportunity to issue a preemptive refund.
Alert Rate
Percentage of successful charges that triggered alerts. Calculated as Alerts divided by Successful Captured Charges.
Alert Revenue
Total dollar value of alert transactions.
Alert Revenue Rate
Percentage of revenue associated with alerts. Calculated as Alert Revenue divided by Revenue.
Net Revenue
Revenue remaining after all adjustments (refunds, voids, chargebacks, and alerts) are subtracted. Calculated as Revenue minus Adjustments. This represents the money you actually retained from your sales.
Cost of Revenue
Total costs associated with generating your revenue, combining all cost categories. Calculated as Cost of Goods Sold + Ad Spend + Chargeback Fees + Alert Fees + Processing Fees.
Cost of Goods Sold
Total product costs for items sold in successful transactions. This is based on COGS configured on your items and offers.
Ad Spend
Total advertising and customer acquisition costs attributed to transactions in the selected period.
Chargeback Fees
Total fees charged by your payment processor for each chargeback received. These are configured per merchant account and typically range from $15-$100 per chargeback.
Alert Fees
Total fees charged by fraud prevention services for each alert received. These are configured per merchant account.
Processing Fees
Total payment processing fees charged by your gateway for all transactions.
Profit
Your bottom line. Calculated as Revenue minus Adjustments minus Cost of Revenue. This is the true profit generated during the selected time period.
Profit Margin
Percentage of revenue that converts to profit. Calculated as Profit divided by Revenue. This is the definitive measure of your business's financial efficiency.
Available Dimensions
Dimensions let you group, filter, and drill into your data. Select any dimension to break down your metrics by that attribute.
| Dimension | Description |
|---|---|
| Transaction Date | The date the transaction was processed |
| Transaction Hour | Hour of day the transaction was processed |
| Transaction Day Of Week | Day of the week the transaction was processed |
| Transaction Week | Year-week of the transaction |
| Transaction Month | Year-month of the transaction |
| Transaction Year | Year the transaction was processed |
| Customer Email | Customer's email address |
| Customer ID | Customer identifier |
| Customer Name | Customer's full name |
| Customer Information | Combined name, email, and phone for quick lookup |
| Connection | The connection (storefront) the customer belongs to |
| Order ID | Order identifier |
| Transaction ID | Transaction identifier |
| Transaction Total | Dollar amount of the transaction |
| Transaction Attempt | The attempt number for this charge |
| Transaction Cycle | The billing cycle number |
| Is Blacklist | Whether the customer is blacklisted |
| Offers | The offers on the charge |
| Offer Names | Offer names on the charge (text-searchable) |
| Initial Charge Offer | The offer from the initial charge on this transaction's parent |
| Initial Charge Offer Code | Offer code from the initial charge |
| Initial Charge Offer Cycle | Billing cycle of the initial charge offer |
| Initial Charge Offer Attempt | Attempt number of the initial charge |
| Initial Charge Primary Offer Category | Primary category of the initial charge offer |
| Initial Charge Secondary Offer Category | Secondary category of the initial charge offer |
| Campaign | The campaign attributed to the order |
| Primary Campaign Category | Primary category assigned to the campaign |
| Secondary Campaign Category | Secondary category assigned to the campaign |
| Merchant | The merchant account used for the transaction |
| Merchant Group | Merchant group the account belongs to |
| Merchant Descriptor | Billing descriptor on the merchant account |
| Merchant MCC Code | Merchant category code |
| Primary Merchant Category | Primary category assigned to the merchant |
| Secondary Merchant Category | Secondary category assigned to the merchant |
| Processor | Payment processor name |
| Gateway | Payment gateway used |
| Payment Method | Payment method type (credit card, PayPal, etc.) |
| Currency | Transaction currency |
| Card Type | Card brand (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) |
| Card Bin Number | First 6 digits of the card number |
| Card Bin Number + Card Last 4 | BIN and last 4 combined |
| Card Last 4 | Last 4 digits of the card number |
| Card Issuer | Issuing bank name |
| Card Category | Card category (consumer, business, etc.) |
| Card Country | Country of the card issuer |
| Is Prepaid Card | Whether the card is a prepaid card |
| Gateway Response Code | Response code returned by the gateway |
| Gateway AVS Code | Address Verification System response code |
| Gateway CVV Code | CVV verification response code |
| Gateway Transaction ID | Gateway's transaction reference ID |
| Processor Response | Response text from the payment processor |
| Transaction Type | Sale, capture, refund, void, chargeback, or alert |
| Transaction Descriptor | Descriptor that appeared on the transaction |
| Transaction Created User | User who created the transaction |
| Alert|Chargeback Code | Reason code for alerts or chargebacks |
| Days To Chargeback | Days between the original sale and the chargeback |
| Days To Refund | Days between the original sale and the refund |
| 3DS Verified Status | 3D Secure verification status |
| Ship Country | Customer's shipping country |
| Ship State | Customer's shipping state |
| Tracking 1–20 | Custom tracking parameters on the order |
| Referrer Domain | Full referring domain |
| Referrer Base Domain | Base referring domain |
| Device | Device used for the order |
| Device Type | Device type category |
Key Business Insights
1. Revenue Waterfall Track how revenue flows from gross to net to profit:
Gross Product Revenue → Revenue (after discounts/rewards) → Net Revenue (after adjustments) → Profit (after costs)2. Merchant Account Health Monitor these critical thresholds:
- Chargeback Rate above 1% puts merchant accounts at risk of penalties or termination
- Alert Rate indicates dispute prevention effectiveness
- Decline Rate above 15-20% may signal gateway or card quality issues
3. Adjustment Analysis Compare adjustment types to identify root causes:
- High Refund Rate → potential product quality or customer expectation issues
- High Chargeback Rate → potential fraud, billing clarity, or fulfillment problems
- High Void Rate → potential order processing or fraud screening issues
- High Alert Rate → early warning system effectiveness
4. Cost Optimization Use cost breakdowns to identify savings opportunities:
- Processing Fees as a percentage of revenue shows gateway efficiency
- Chargeback Fees highlight the hidden cost of disputes beyond lost revenue
- COGS ratio indicates product margin health
5. Cash Basis Timing Remember this report shows when transactions happened, not when orders were placed:
- A chargeback from a January sale that occurs in March will appear in March's data
- Use this for financial reconciliation with your bank statements and gateway reports
Optimization Strategies
Reduce Chargebacks
- Improve billing descriptors so customers recognize charges
- Send order confirmation and shipping notification emails
- Implement a customer self-service portal for cancellations
- Use fraud prevention tools and 3DS authentication
Improve Capture Rates
- Work with gateway providers to optimize routing
- Implement retry logic for soft declines
- Monitor decline reason codes by merchant and gateway
- Keep card data current with account updater services
Lower Adjustment Rates
- Improve product descriptions and set accurate expectations
- Streamline the customer cancellation and refund process
- Proactively reach out to at-risk customers
- Monitor and address common refund reasons
Maximize Profit Margins
- Negotiate lower processing fees based on volume
- Reduce chargeback volume to lower associated fees
- Optimize ad spend efficiency (lower CPA)
- Review COGS for cost reduction opportunities
Pro Tips
- Financial Reconciliation: Use this report alongside your gateway and bank statements to reconcile cash flow — the cash-basis timing aligns with how money actually moves
- Filter by Merchant: Break down by merchant to identify which accounts have the healthiest chargeback and decline rates
- Filter by Transaction Type: Isolate chargebacks or refunds to deep-dive into specific adjustment categories
- Time Trending: Compare month-over-month to spot deteriorating metrics before they become critical
- Campaign Attribution: Filter by campaign or initial charge offer to understand which acquisition channels generate the most profitable customers
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why don't the numbers match my other revenue reports?
A: This report uses cash-basis accounting — transactions appear on the date they were completed, not when the order was originally created. Other reports like subscriptions or order reports may use different date operators (e.g., Order Created Date or Cancel Date), which will produce different totals for the same time period.
Q: Why is my Profit showing as negative?
A: Negative profit means your costs and adjustments exceeded your revenue for the selected period. Check your adjustment rates (particularly chargebacks and refunds) and cost components. This can also happen when viewing short date ranges where costs like ad spend are front-loaded.
Q: Why are Cost of Revenue or Processing Fees showing $0?
A: Fee data must be configured for these metrics to populate. Ensure processing fees are being tracked on transactions, COGS is set on your items, and chargeback/alert fees are configured on your merchant accounts. See the fee setup guide for instructions.
Q: What's the difference between Revenue and Processed?
A: Revenue is calculated based on your company settings — it starts with the net product price (after discounts, rewards, and gift cards), then conditionally adds shipping and tax based on whether your account includes those in revenue calculations. Processed is the actual total amount sent through the gateway, which always includes the full transaction total.
Q: How are Full vs. Partial Refunds determined?
A: A Full Refund is when the refund amount is equal to or greater than the original charge amount. A Partial Refund is when the refund amount is less than the original charge. This comparison is made against the parent transaction that the refund is associated with.
Q: Why might chargebacks appear for a different month than the original sale?
A: This is by design. Since this is a cash-basis report, chargebacks appear on the date the chargeback was processed, not the date of the original sale. A customer may dispute a charge weeks or months after the original transaction.
Updated 6 days ago