Why does Total Sales differ from Shipped Product Sales in the P&L report?

Differences between Total Sales (e.g. in Total Business Performance) and Shipped Product Sales (in the P&L report) are expected and are primarily caused by different data sources and timing logic.

Key Difference: Data Source

These two metrics come from different Amazon APIs:

• Total Sales (Total Business Performance)
  → Based on the Orders API
  → Reflects orders placed
• Shipped Product Sales (P&L Report)
  → Based on the Finances API
  → Reflects financial transactions posted by Amazon

Key Difference: Timing

The most important distinction is when the data is recorded:

• Total Sales
  • Recorded when an order is placed
  • Includes all orders within the selected date range
• Shipped Product Sales
  • Recorded when an order is shipped and financially posted
  • Only includes transactions Amazon has processed in that period

Why This Causes Discrepancies

Because of this timing difference:

• Orders placed near the end of a period may:
  • Appear in Total Sales
  • But not yet in Shipped Product Sales
• Orders shipped in the current period may:
  • Have been placed in a previous period

This leads to mismatched totals when comparing the same date range

How to Reconcile the Numbers

To validate Shipped Product Sales:

1. Go to Amazon Seller Central
2. Navigate to:
   Reports → Payments → Reports Repository
3. Generate an:
   • Account Activity Statement
   • Report Type: Summary
4. Match the same date range

This report reflects the same financial dataset used in MerchantSpring’s P&L.

Multi-Store Consideration

If you are analysing multiple stores:

• The Account Activity Statement must be generated per store
• Totals should then be combined for comparison

What This Means for You

• These reports are not directly comparable on a like-for-like basis
• Both are correct, but answer different questions:
  • Total Sales → What was ordered?
  • P&L Sales → What has been financially processed?

Notes

• Timing differences are most noticeable over short date ranges
• Reports will align more closely over longer periods
• Always compare metrics using the same underlying logic (orders vs financials)