Why your Dashboard sales and returns differ from your P&L

Sales and returns on your Finaloop Dashboard can differ from your Profit & Loss report (P&L) by design: the Dashboard counts orders and returns when they happen, while the P&L counts revenue only when accounting rules recognize it. Neither number is broken. The Dashboard gives you one clean sales number you can act on today. The P&L, which you'll find in Report center, breaks revenue into separate accounting lines and only counts sales that meet accounting recognition rules.

Here's what each number includes and why they differ, for both sales and returns.

Both are correct. They're just answering different questions. The Dashboard is your operational view, built for quick decisions. The P&L is your accounting view, built for accurate financial reporting.

Dashboard

P&L report

The Dashboard's own definition puts it this way: numbers may differ from your accounting reports because the Dashboard measures sales based on when orders are placed, while accounting reports measure revenue based on when it's recognized, typically when orders are fulfilled.

The Dashboard shows a single GMV sales figure that bundles together several components. GMV (gross merchandise value) is the total value of the orders you sold. The P&L separates these components into distinct lines.

Example: a $100 product with $5 shipping and a $10 discount

Dashboard: this order contributes $95 to your GMV sales ($100 + $5 - $10).

P&L: this same order creates three separate entries:

The total revenue impact is the same $95, but the P&L gives your accountant the breakdown they need, while the Dashboard gives you the number you actually care about day to day. Tips work the same way: they're part of GMV sales on the Dashboard and have their own Tip income line in your books.

Under accrual accounting, revenue is only recognized when the order is fulfilled (shipped). Orders that have been placed but not yet shipped sit in Deferred revenue, a Balance Sheet account for sales you've been paid for but haven't delivered yet, and don't appear on the P&L.

The Dashboard shows all orders regardless of fulfillment status, because operationally you need to see them.

Example: TikTok or Amazon (marketplace)

Your TikTok store receives 200 orders today totaling $10,000. By end of day, 150 have shipped ($7,500) and 50 are still in your warehouse ($2,500).

Dashboard: shows $10,000 in sales. All 200 orders are real orders your team is working on.

P&L: shows $7,500 in sales. Only the 150 shipped orders have recognized revenue. The other $2,500 sits in Deferred revenue on your Balance Sheet until those orders ship.

Example: Shopify (direct-to-consumer)

Your Shopify store has a big launch weekend. You sell $20,000 in product, but your fulfillment center won't ship everything until Monday and Tuesday.

Dashboard: shows the full $20,000 immediately. You can see the launch was a success and plan inventory accordingly.

P&L: for the weekend, it shows only what shipped before the period ended. The rest appears on the P&L once fulfilled.

Platform fees, selling fees and payment processing charges (Shopify Payments, Stripe, PayPal) are tracked separately on the P&L under lines like Selling fees or Merchant processing fees. They're not part of the sales figure on either the Dashboard or the P&L.

The same goes for sales tax. It's collected from customers and owed to the government, but it's not revenue. Neither the Dashboard nor the P&L includes it in sales. Instead, it's tracked as a liability, Sales tax liability, on your Balance Sheet.

On the Dashboard, returns appear in the Returned items section of the Home tab, on the Returned sales card. On the P&L, they appear on the Refunds & returns line. They're designed to show you different things, and that difference works in your favor: the Dashboard shows every return as it happens, and the P&L shows the precise financial impact.

This is the biggest difference. Under accrual accounting, a return only hits your P&L when the original sale was already recognized as revenue. If the order was never shipped, the revenue was never recognized, so the refund simply reverses the Deferred revenue entry behind the scenes, without touching your P&L at all.

The Dashboard doesn't make that distinction. A return is a return, and a cancellation before shipping counts in Returned sales too.

Example: TikTok or Amazon (marketplace)

A customer orders a $50 item on TikTok Shop. Before it ships, they cancel and get a refund.

Another customer receives their $50 order, then returns it a week later.

Example: Shopify (direct-to-consumer)

A customer buys a $75 shirt and it ships the next day. Two weeks later, they return it.

Another customer places a $75 order but cancels before it ships.

If your books are on cash basis, the sale was recorded when the payment came in, so a cancellation before shipping does appear on Refunds & returns, just like on the Dashboard.

When a return includes a sales tax refund, that amount is tracked separately under Sales tax liability on your Balance Sheet. It doesn't appear in the Dashboard's Returned sales or in the P&L's Refunds & returns line. So when a $75 item is returned, the returned sales number is $75 regardless of the tax that was collected or refunded.

On marketplaces, when a return happens, the platform may give back fees it previously charged you (selling fees, fulfillment fees and so on). These fee refunds reduce the cost of the return in your books but don't appear on the Dashboard.

Example: TikTok

A customer returns a $50 item. TikTok gives you back $3 in marketplace fees it originally deducted.

On Shopify, payment processing fees (Shopify Payments, Stripe, PayPal) are tracked as a separate selling expense. They don't affect your returns number on either view.

The Returned items section has a Return date and Order date switch. Return date counts each return in the period it happened. Order date counts it in the period of the original order, which helps you see the return rate of the orders you sold in that period.

The Dashboard is built to help you make faster business decisions: it shows what's happening right now across all your stores and channels in one place. The P&L gives you the precise accounting picture.

For older periods (a month or more back for sales, about two months back for returns), most orders have shipped, revenue has been recognized and most returns have completed their lifecycle. The main remaining differences are the structural one (the Dashboard combines product, shipping and discounts into one number, while the P&L keeps them on separate lines) and small marketplace fee refunds.

For recent periods, the gap is naturally larger because many orders are still waiting to ship or in transit.

The Dashboard gives you one clean sales number and the full picture of your returns, so you know how your business is performing right now and can act on it. The P&L gives your accountant the precise, line-by-line revenue breakdown that follows accounting rules.

If a number still doesn't add up, email us at [email protected] with the period, the Dashboard figure and the P&L line you're comparing.