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In October 2024, Amazon changed how they display and report deferred transactions in Seller Central, impacting the timing in which Amazon reports sales and fees under Payments Repository reports in Seller Central.
The change created timing differences between:
Historical Amazon reporting periods
Amazon’s various reports
Finaloop reporting during the transition period
In early 2026, Amazon introduced enhanced deferred transaction reporting within the Payments Reports Repository, including additional deferred transaction details and statuses. The specific date that these changes impact your Amazon reports are typically March or April 2026 (to confirm your specific date you can check your Transaction report to see when it includes both deferred and released transactions).
Finaloop updated its Amazon integration to fully align with Amazon’s new reporting structure and again recognize eligible transactions based on fulfillment (delivery) date for accrual basis customers. This update will apply to transactions from January 1, 2026 onwards.
Because Finaloop continuously reconciles and closes books in real time, historical periods from October 2024–December 2025 will remain based on the reporting structure available during that time and will not be retroactively restated.
This guide breaks down the changes and what they mean for you. We recommend reviewing this carefully with your CPA to ensure everything is properly recorded for tax purposes.
Learn more about How Finaloop's Amazon integration works.
1. What is a deferred transaction?
A deferred transaction is a transaction where Amazon temporarily holds the funds before releasing them to you. This can happen in two situations:
Delivery Date Reserve (DDR) Transactions - Under Amazon's Delivery date reserve policy, funds are reserved for a set period after the shipment is delivered. Typically, this reserve period is 7 days after delivery (DD+7) (e.g., payment for an order delivered on January 6 will become available for payout on January 14).
Invoiced orders - those are transactions that are awaiting payment by the buyer. Amazon waits for the customer to pay their invoice before releasing the funds.
Each transaction falls into one of two statuses:
Deferred - when funds are still held (reserved) by Amazon.
Released - when funds become available for payout.
2. What changed in Amazon’s policy?
Amazon updated how deferred transactions are reflected in Payments Repository reports.
The reporting structure changed across three periods:
Item | Before Oct 2024 | Nov 2024 - Early 2026 | Early 2026 Onwards |
Sales (Payments report) | Recorded on delivery date (when the transaction status is deferred). | Recorded when funds are released | Recorded on delivery date (when the transaction status is deferred). |
Transactions fees (Payments report) | Recorded on delivery date (when the transaction status is: deferred).
| Recorded when funds are released | Recorded on delivery date (when the transaction status is: deferred).
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Funds balance (Payments dashboard) | Deferred transactions are included in the balance but shown under "Account-Level Reserves" | Deferred transactions are excluded from the balance and shown under "Deferred Transactions" | Deferred transactions are excluded from the balance and shown under "Deferred Transactions" |
Starting in February–March 2026, Amazon enhanced the Transaction report by adding:
Transaction status (Deferred / Released)
Released date
This allows sellers to distinguish between deferred and released transactions directly within the Transaction report.
Where do these changes show up?
You’ll notice this change in the Summary and Transaction Reports in Amazon Seller Central:
Go to Payments → Reports Repository
Under Report Type, select Summary or Transaction reports
Important Notes for the 2024 and 2025 reports using our legacy reporting
Amazon did not adjust past reports. Transactions before October 2024 still follow the old method – recorded on their delivery date – while transactions from November 2024 onward follow the new method – recorded only on the release date.
This creates a timing inconsistency between how sales and transaction fees were reported before and after November 2024 in Amazon.
As a result, sales and transaction fees starting in late October 2024 are reported about one week later than they were under the old policy.
In addition, Amazon introduced a new "Deferred Transaction" report under the Reports Repository which shows held transactions. Once a transaction is released, it moves from the "Deferred Transaction" report to the "Summary" and "Transaction" reports. Note that this report is available on-demand, and cannot be generated for historical transactions.
How does this change affect other Amazon reports?
How does this change affect other Amazon reports?
While the primary impact is on the Summary and Transaction reports in the Payments section, other reports remain unchanged – specifically, Amazon’s 1099-K report still follows the old method (recording sales when deferred), while the Summary & Transaction reports now only recognize sales when released. This was an internal inconsistency within Amazon.
This inconsistency created internal contradictions between Amazon’s different reports, making it more challenging for sellers and their accountants to reconcile their financial data accurately. Especially, since Amazon’s own reconciliation instructions in the 1099-K form direct sellers to the Summary & Transaction reports (see below), even though the 1099-K report issued by Amazon is not reconciled with their Summary & Transaction reports.
This also creates a mismatch between the numbers in your "Summary" and "Transactions" report and your Amazon Sales Dashboard.
Starting in 2026, Amazon’s enhanced reporting structure provides significantly improved visibility into deferred and released transactions.
3. How does Finaloop handle these changes?
Finaloop automatically syncs and reconciles your Amazon transactions in real-time.
For Oct 2024 – Dec 2025 (Legacy Period)
For Oct 2024 – Dec 2025 (Legacy Period)
Finaloop relied on Amazon’s Finances API, which reflected deferred transactions based on release date timing during this period. This way, Finaloop was aligned with Amazon’s reporting structure available through the Finances API during that time.
As a result, Sales and fees in Finaloop were recognized when transactions were released.
Why did Finaloop follow this method?
There were two primary reasons:
Finaloop’s integration with Amazon historically relied on Amazon’s Finances API, which reflected deferred transactions based on release timing during the Oct 2024–Dec 2025 transition period.
Finaloop continuously reconciles books in real time. Based on accounting principles and to preserve reconciliation integrity, Finaloop does not retroactively restate previously closed reporting periods. Instead, any necessary adjustments are reflected in your 2026 books.
Starting Jan 2026
Starting Jan 2026
Amazon introduced enhanced deferred transaction reporting through a newer API structure.
Starting January 2026:
Accrual basis
Deferred transactions are recognized for accrual based on fulfillment (delivery) date
Transaction status and release timing can be used for reconciliation purposes
Finaloop reporting will align with Amazon’s updated deferred transaction framework
For reconciliation purposes:
The Summary report reflects deferred transactions only
The Transaction report includes both deferred and released transactions
Cash basis
Transactions will continue being reported based on the release dates per accounting principles
You can filter the Transaction report by “Released” status to reconcile activity against Finaloop numbers.
Important note: The change affects how your financials look, but no income or expenses are lost, just shifted between periods.
Learn more about How Finaloop's Amazon integration works.
Can Finaloop adjust my historical P&Ls for this?
No, this would not be recommended. Finaloop represents the financial source of truth directly with Amazon's data. Our platform automatically syncs data from Amazon, ensuring that Finaloop remains reconciled with Amazon’s Finances API at the relevant time period. This issue is better dealt with as a one-time books-tax adjustment in the tax return rather than as a correction to your financial reporting.
Any data synced from Amazon starting in 2026 will automatically include the deferred transactions and no adjustments will be necessary.
4. How does this affect my 2024 and 2025 tax returns?
For 2024 and 2025 reporting periods for accrual basis taxpayers:
If you generated your reports between Nov 2024 and February 2026 (i.e., before Amazon updated their reports)(Legacy approach)
If you generated your reports between Nov 2024 and February 2026 (i.e., before Amazon updated their reports)(Legacy approach)
In this case, you likely filed your tax returns using one of two options:
| Option #1: Use current P&L numbers | Option #2: Make an adjustment to tax return |
Explanation | File the tax return based on the current numbers in Finaloop's P&L. | Taxpayers subject to Amazon's DD+7 policy can adjust their tax return to reverse the change.
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Tip: We recommend consulting with your CPA to determine the most appropriate approach, taking into account the potential impact on your business and tax reporting, and how material this impact is from a cash tax perspective.
Note to CPAs: How to Estimate the Adjustment for Taxes
Since Amazon did not provide historical deferred transaction data, either through the API or via Seller Central, there is no straightforward way to identify transactions that were deferred in December and released in January.
But, here are three ways to estimate the amount:
1. Estimate based on the January 2025 and January 2026 Transaction Report
Pull a Transaction Report for Jan 1-8, 2025 and for Jan 1-8, 2026 from Amazon Seller Central under Payments -> Reports Repository.
Download the report and filter by "Type" to include only "Order" transactions and take the relevant sales, shipping credits, gift wrap credits, promotional rebates, and fee data.
Note: This approach is relevant only for Amazon sellers who are subject to the deferred transaction policy of DD+7 days for all of their standard orders.
2. Take your yearly P&L numbers and add ~2.19% (8/365) to the following sections:
Sales - Amazon
Shipping income - Amazon
Discounts & promotions - Amazon
Selling fees - Amazon
Fulfillment services fees - Amazon
Note: under this approach, to estimate the December 2024 deferred transactions, you need to take your 2024 yearly P&L, and to estimate the December 2025 deferred transactions, you need to take your 2025 yearly P&L.
3. Estimate based on the 1099-K Report
Under this approach, sellers can take the total sales amount for 2024 from the 1099 report. However, the challenge with this method is that the 1099-K does not include selling fees and fulfillment fees, so those amounts must be estimated.
Each method comes with trade-offs, so it's important to select the approach that best suits your reporting needs.
Important notes to the adjustment
If you and your CPA decide to make this one-time adjustment to the tax return, please note the following:
Adjustment Account - The adjustment should be against a hold account (or an equivalent restricted cash account).
Impact Across Marketplaces - The adjustment is needed in all marketplaces that are subject to the deferred transaction policy.
Consistency - If you plan to do the adjustment, make sure any income removed from the first week of the year is added to the previous year's tax return. For example, if you remove the first week of income from 2025, you should add it as an adjustment to the 2024 tax return as well.
Inventory and COGS Adjustments - If you've already reconciled your inventory balance to the end of the year, no further adjustment is needed with respect to Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).
If you generated your 2024 and 2025 reports after February 2026 (i.e., after Amazon updated their reports) (New approach)
If you generated your 2024 and 2025 reports after February 2026 (i.e., after Amazon updated their reports) (New approach)
Taxpayers subject to Amazon's deferred transaction policy can adjust their tax return to reverse the change.
For example, for the 2025 year end, you need to a) remove the net amount of transactions that were deferred in Dec 2024 and released in Jan 2025, and; b) add the net amount of transactions that were deferred in Dec 2025 and released in Jan 2026 - as a one-time adjustment to your 2025 tax return (see below for further instructions on how to estimate this adjustment).
Note: In this example, the net amount of transactions that were deferred in Dec 2024 and released in Jan 2025 should be adjusted also in the 2024 tax return.
Alternatively, you can also use the numbers in your updated summary report & transaction report in Amazon instead of your Finaloop P&L to simplify the filing during the transition period, however, note that in this case the numbers won’t be fully matching with your Finaloop P&L.
Tip: We recommend consulting with your CPA to determine the most appropriate approach, taking into account the potential impact on your business and tax reporting, and how material this impact is from a cash tax perspective.
Starting in 2026, Finaloop will automatically transition your books to the updated Amazon reporting and adjust your numbers by reclassifying deferred income to the months they were earned (i.e., fulfilled) and not in the months that Amazon released the payments.
Note to CPAs: How to Estimate the Adjustment for Taxes
Since Amazon updated their API and reports, in order to adjust your P&L numbers for tax purposes to account for deferred revenue earned during the reporting periods:
In Amazon Seller Central, go to Payments → Reports Repository.
Under Report Type, select Summary report for Jan 1 - Dec 31.
Compare the sales numbers in this report to your Finaloop P&L numbers and adjust this number to match your summary report for tax reporting purposes.
As always, if you have any questions at all, feel free to contact us at [email protected].