Amazon Settlement Report: What Every Line Item Means (and How to Record It)

What Is the Amazon Settlement Report?

The Amazon settlement report (the "Date Range Transaction Report" in Seller Central) is a tab-separated file that records every financial transaction in a settlement period. Amazon issues settlements every 14 days. Each one reconciles your gross sales, fees, refunds, reimbursements, and adjustments, and ends with a net payout deposited to your bank account.

This file is the primary source document for your Amazon bookkeeping. Everything in it must be recorded in your accounting software — but the report is confusing. It has two dozen fee types, cryptic column names, and a structure quite different from a standard invoice.

This reference guide explains every line item you'll encounter, what it means, and how to record it.

Understanding the Report Structure

The Amazon V2 settlement report is a flat tab-separated file. The key columns for bookkeeping:

Column	Description
transaction-type	Broad category: Order, Refund, Transfer, etc.
amount-type	Category: ItemPrice, ItemFees, Promotion, etc.
amount-description	Specific fee or charge name
amount	Dollar amount (negative = deduction, positive = credit)
total-amount	Net payout (appears in header rows only)

The first few rows are header rows containing the settlement total. The remaining rows are transaction-level detail — one row per fee type per order.

Line Items by Amount-Type

ItemPrice — Revenue Lines

ItemPrice rows are the revenue side of your settlement.

Amount-Description	What It Means	How to Record
Principal	Product sale price	Credit: Sales Revenue
Shipping	Shipping charged to the buyer	Credit: Shipping Revenue
ShippingTax	Tax on shipping	Credit: Sales Tax Payable
Tax	Sales tax on the product	Credit: Sales Tax Payable
GiftwrapChargeback	Buyer paid for gift wrap	Credit: Miscellaneous Income
RestockingFee	Fee charged to buyer for returning an item	Credit: Restocking Fee Income

Sales tax note: Tax and ShippingTax are Marketplace Facilitator taxes — Amazon collected them and will remit them to the state on your behalf. Record to Sales Tax Payable; the net effect on your P&L is zero.

ItemFees — Expense Lines

ItemFees rows are the fee deductions Amazon makes.

Amount-Description	What It Means	How to Record
Commission	Amazon referral fee (8–15% of sale price)	Debit: Amazon Referral Fees
FBAPerUnitFulfillmentFee	FBA pick, pack, and ship fee per unit	Debit: FBA Fulfillment Fees
FBAWeightBasedFee	Additional weight-based fee for heavy items	Debit: FBA Fulfillment Fees
FBAPerOrderFulfillmentFee	Fixed per-order fee	Debit: FBA Fulfillment Fees
ShippingChargeback	Shipping cost Amazon recoups	Debit: Shipping Expense
VariableClosingFee	Additional closing fee for media categories	Debit: Amazon Referral Fees

Track Commission separately. Referral fees are typically 8–15% of every item sold — the largest per-unit cost on most Amazon businesses. A dedicated Referral Fees expense account lets you analyze true margin by product.

Promotion — Discount Lines

Promotion rows appear when discounts are applied to orders.

Amount-Description	What It Means	How to Record
Principal	Promotional discount applied to product price	Debit: Promotions Expense
Shipping	Promotional shipping discount	Debit: Promotions Expense

Promotional discounts reduce your effective revenue. Record them as contra-revenue or as a marketing expense — either treatment is acceptable, just be consistent.

Refund — Refund Lines

Refund rows appear when customers return items or receive refunds. These are the most complex lines because Amazon may refund the customer before you receive the physical return.

Amount-Description	What It Means	How to Record
Principal	Refund of product price	Debit: Sales Returns
Shipping	Refund of shipping charged to buyer	Debit: Shipping Revenue (reversal)
Tax	Refund of tax (Amazon remits back to the tax authority)	Debit: Sales Tax Payable
Commission	Amazon refunds the referral fee on a returned item	Credit: Amazon Referral Fees (fee reversal)
FBAPerUnitFulfillmentFee	Amazon refunds a portion of the FBA fee	Credit: FBA Fulfillment Fees (partial reversal)

Critical: When a refund occurs, Amazon returns the referral fee to you — this appears as a positive Refund / Commission line. It should credit back against your Referral Fees expense account, not your revenue.

Adjustment — Non-Order Adjustments

Adjustment rows cover everything that isn't a regular order or refund.

Amount-Description	What It Means	How to Record
FBAInventoryReimbursement	Amazon reimbursed you for lost or damaged inventory	Credit: Reimbursement Income
FBACustomerReturnPerUnitFee	Fee for processing a customer return	Debit: FBA Returns Processing Fee
FBADisposalFee	Fee for disposing of unsellable inventory	Debit: FBA Disposal Fees
FBALongTermStorageFee	Fee for inventory stored over 180 days	Debit: FBA Long-Term Storage Fees
FBAOverageFee	Excess storage fee when warehouse space is tight	Debit: FBA Storage Fees
Miscellaneous	Amazon catch-all	Investigate before recording

Reimbursements (FBAInventoryReimbursement) are income, but not sales revenue. Record to a separate Reimbursement Income account — this lets you see the scale of FBA losses separately from sales performance.

Long-term storage fees are charged twice a year (February 15 and August 15) and can be significant for slow-moving inventory. They appear as large one-time debits in those settlements.

Transfer — The Settlement Payment Line

The Transfer row is the net payout deposited to your bank account.

Amount-Description	What It Means	How to Record
Transfer	Net payout to your bank account	Debit: Checking Account

This must exactly equal what appeared in your bank statement for the settlement deposit.

A Sample Journal Entry

Here's how a simplified Amazon settlement translates to a journal entry:

Settlement summary: - Gross sales (Principal): $12,840.00 - Referral fees (Commission): -$1,926.00 - FBA fulfillment fees: -$1,284.00 - Customer refunds: -$420.00 - Refund fee reversal (Commission): +$63.00 - FBA reimbursement: +$147.00 - Net payout: $9,420.00

Journal entry:

Account	Debit	Credit
Checking Account	$9,420.00
Amazon Referral Fees	$1,863.00
FBA Fulfillment Fees	$1,284.00
Sales Returns	$420.00
Reimbursement Income		$147.00
Sales Revenue		$12,840.00
Total	$12,987.00	$12,987.00

Balanced. Note that Referral Fees ($1,863) is the gross fees ($1,926) minus the refund reversal ($63) — netted within the same account.

Common Questions

Why does my payout not match the settlement total-amount?

Check for prior-period debits (Amazon carries a balance from the previous settlement if fees exceeded sales) or reserve holds (Amazon holds a portion of funds as fraud protection for some sellers).

What are "liquidation" lines?

When Amazon's Liquidation program sells your excess inventory at a discount, it credits your account. Record as Liquidation Revenue — separate from Sales Revenue since the margin is very different.

How do I record Amazon advertising fees?

Amazon advertising fees (Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display) don't appear in the settlement report. They're charged separately and appear under "Advertising Invoices" in Seller Central. Record from the advertising invoice to Amazon Advertising Expense.

Where are FBA storage fees?

Regular monthly storage fees appear in the Monthly Storage Fee event in your settlement, typically at the start of the following month. Long-term storage fees appear in the February 15 and August 15 settlements specifically.

Automating This With SettleBooks

Manually mapping all of these fee codes to accounting categories takes significant time and expertise. SettleBooks handles it automatically — upload your Amazon settlement file and it:

1. Identifies the report format (V1 or V2)
2. Maps every amount-description to the correct accounting category
3. Sums by category and builds a balanced journal entry
4. Validates that debits equal credits
5. Exports in QuickBooks IIF, Xero CSV, Sage CSV, or generic CSV format

Try it free — no login required. Upload your settlement file and see the categorized breakdown in under 60 seconds.

Related guides:

• How to Reconcile Your Amazon Settlement Report
• Understanding Amazon FBA Fees: A Bookkeeper's Guide
• Ecommerce Bookkeeping: The Complete Guide