Import payouts from Shopify, Square, PayPal and more
Bring in what your online store and card readers paid you, with the sales, refunds, fees and GST, ready to match your bank.
- Export the file
- Add it
- Check
- Import
Shopify Payments, Stripe, Square, PayPal and Afterpay pay you in lumps, with their fees already taken out. Import their export file and each payout goes into your books properly: the sales and refunds in it, the fees, and the GST (the 10% tax on most things you sell). Then the money lands in your bank account in Billbook, so the deposit matches to the cent when you reconcile.
How do I import payouts?
- Open SettingsApps and choose the platform, for example PayPal.
- Under Import from a file, add the export. Add one file or several. A file from another platform works here too.
- Check the list of payouts Billbook found.
- Choose the bank account each one pays into.
- Choose Import.
Each platform's page starts with What you need: the files to download, what Billbook takes from each and where to find it. Once you've imported, it also says how far you're up to, and the date to start your next download from.
What files do I need?
Download each one as a CSV.
- Shopify Payments: the payout transactions export (search "payouts" in your Shopify admin). If you sell things without GST, add your orders export for the same dates too, so each order's GST is exact.
- Stripe: the itemised payout reconciliation report (search "payout reconciliation" in your Stripe Dashboard).
- Square: the transactions export, with the Deposit ID and Deposit Date columns (search "transactions" in your Square Dashboard).
- PayPal: the activity download, balance-affecting transactions only (search "activity download" in PayPal).
- Afterpay: the settlement export from the Afterpay Business Hub.
Start each export a few days before the first payout you want, so every payout is whole.
How often do I import?
At least before each BAS. A file can cover any dates, so one download a quarter is enough, and overlapping files are fine. Import more often if you want your reports up to date in between.
Shopify, PayPal and other payouts in your bank show Import your payouts to match it while there's nothing to match yet. Leave those lines until you've imported, then OK each one.
What isn't in these files?
- Other ways customers paid. PayPal or Afterpay at your Shopify checkout comes through their own files, not Shopify's.
- Cash and bank transfers. Record them when the money is banked.
- Your Shopify bill. The plan, apps and fees Shopify charges each month go in as a bill. It's also your tax invoice for the GST on fees.
What if Billbook doesn't recognise my file?
If a report's columns have different names, for example because a platform renamed them, Billbook's AI works out which report it is and which column is which. The file's row says Worked out by AI: check the payouts it found before you import. Once you import, Billbook remembers that report, so next time it's read straight away, without AI. It doesn't use your plan's AI uses.
Billbook still reads every amount and date itself, and checks they add up. If they don't, or the file is a different report (a bank statement, say), nothing goes in and Billbook tells you what it looks like. Download the report named under What you need and try again.
What if my files overlap?
No worries. Billbook remembers every line it brings in, so the same sale in a second file is left out. Import the same file twice and nothing changes.
What gets left out, and why?
- Not paid out yet. Sales still waiting for a payout come in once the payout happens. Import again after it.
- Cut off by the dates. If a payout started before your file did, its lines won't add up, so Billbook holds it back. Export a wider date range.
- Money you spent from PayPal. That's a purchase, not a sale. Add it as a bill or spend money.
How does Billbook work out the GST?
Square's file says how much GST was in each sale, so Billbook uses that. For Shopify, the orders export gives each order's GST. Without it, or for anything else, Billbook asks whether your prices include GST and takes 1/11 of each sale.
GST belongs to when your customer paid, not when the money reached your bank. So when a payout covers sales from two months, Billbook dates each month's sales, refunds and fees in that month, and only the transfer to your bank goes on the payout date.
What about disputes and money held back?
- Disputes. When a customer disputes a payment, the money taken back goes in like a refund, so your sales and GST go down. The dispute fee goes in with the other fees. If you win, the money coming back counts as a sale again.
- Money held back. If Shopify holds some of your money for a while, it moves to a "Shopify Payments held funds" account in your balance sheet, and back out when it's released. It's still your money, so your profit and GST don't change.
I already coded these deposits in Bank. What now?
If you've been coding Shopify deposits as sales, importing the same dates would count those sales twice. Billbook checks before you import and lists any it finds. Undo how they're coded in Bank first, then import. If a bank rule codes them, change the rule too.
Fees from Shopify, Stripe, Square and Afterpay include GST, so you can claim it back. PayPal's fees don't.
Taking card payments on your invoices?
Payments made through your Billbook invoices' Pay now button are already in your books, so Billbook won't import a Stripe file as well.
Something wrong on this page? Tell us
Last updated on