[Finance & business intelligence]() / [Use cases]() / [Payout reconciliation]() [How it works]() [What you get]() [Scope]() [Start a review]() [Finance & business intelligence]()[Trusted records]() # Reconcile every payout to the books, in the right month. Every payout traced to its orders, refunds, fees and tax, and booked in the month it belongs to, with an owner on anything left over. [Start with a finance review]() [How it works]() Payout bridge · TikTok Shop Batch of October 6 Line Source Amount Merchandise Orders $1,000 Discount Orders −$100 Shipping and tax collected Orders +$92 Refund, with its tax Returns −$108 Platform and payment fees Payout report −$30 Payout to the bank Bank $854 Net sales $820, sales tax $64, fees $30 One TikTok Shop payout, from the orders behind it to the bank. Every dollar has a line. ## Sound familiar? - The payout matches the bank, and the revenue is still in the wrong month. - A new fee type shows up, and the books get a plug account. - Each month-end, one person rebuilds the settlement report by hand. Every margin and cash number downstream inherits the gap, and only one person knows where it hides. ## What changes. ShowTodayWith the engine Matching Deposits compared with the bank statement Every payout traced to its orders, refunds, fees and tax The month Booked when the money lands Booked in the month the sale belongs to, by rules your accountant approves Unexplained amounts A plug account to reach zero An open exception with an owner and an age A new channel A new export and a new spreadsheet One more source, mapped once and tested on past months ## How it works. 5 steps, 4 stages. - AI**1** - Rules and automation**3** - Your team**1** - Approval 1. 1 Collect 1. Rules and automation ### Pull every payout and what’s behind it Orders, refunds, fees and bank lines from Shopify and TikTok Shop, each with its own identifiers. - Shopify - TikTok 2. 2 Match 1. Rules and automation ### Match sums, currencies and periods Code does all the arithmetic. A repeat import never counts twice. - A2X 3. 3 Explain 1. AI ### Propose a mapping for anything new An unfamiliar fee or adjustment arrives with a suggested account and the evidence behind it. 2. Your team Approval ### Approve the rule, or own the exception Your accountant approves new mappings and period rules. Your finance lead owns each open exception. 4. 4 Book 1. Rules and automation ### Post, and keep the bridge Entries post to the ledger. The bridge from payout to net sales is kept for review. - QuickBooks - NetSuite Each approved rule applies to the next payout ## What you get. Real work, every week. Settlement spanning October 31 Bank match to the penny - OctoberOrders placed Oct 28 to 31 **$488**Booked in October - NovemberOrders placed Nov 1 to 3 **$748**Booked in November - UnexplainedNothing forced into a plug account **$0**None Deposit $1,236.00 = $488 + $748 A settlement that spans the month end. It matches the bank to the penny and still belongs in two months. Exception queue 3 open - TT Refund with no matching orderTikTok Shop · $38 · 3 days old Finance lead - FE New fee line, not in the mapProposed: platform fees · $74 · 1 day old Accountant - BK Deposit with no settlementBank · $412 · 1 day old Operations lead Oldest first What the match couldn’t explain, each with an owner and an age. Your finance lead works from this list. Period and mapping rules - Settlements that span a month end split by order date - Sales tax held apart from sales - Refunds booked against the original order - New fee type: platform fees, $74 Waiting for approval The rules the accountant approved. Anything new waits for their sign-off. ## How you’ll know it’s working. 1. Unreconciled dollars, and their age What’s left after matching, by how long it has waited. 2. Days the close waits on a payout The days lost to a settlement or fee nobody has explained. 3. Reviewer minutes per settlement How much of each payout still needs a person. Baselines agreed before we build. ## Works with what you have. Commerce - Shopify - NetSuite Ads - TikTok Accounting - A2X - QuickBooks We configure first A2X and your accounting platform may already post payout-level journals for Shopify and TikTok Shop. We test that setup on past months before we add anything. We build when Period rules, fee mappings or exception ownership are still unsettled after the connector is configured. ## What a first build includes. Built in your accounts, around your team. Scope, fee and baseline agreed before we start. 1. 1 Design 2. 2 Build 3. 3 Run it, or hand it over [Start with a review]() [Scope this build]() ### We build - A payout bridge for every channel, from orders to the bank - Period rules and fee mappings, approved by your accountant - An exception queue with an owner and an age on every item - A test on past months before anything posts ### We start from - Shopify, TikTok Shop and payment processor data - Bank feeds and your chart of accounts - Your last three closes, with the exceptions that came up ### From your team Owner Finance lead or controller Involves - Finance - Your accountant - Ecommerce operations ## Questions teams ask. We already use A2X. Do we need anything else? Maybe not. Connectors like A2X post settlements well, and many now cover TikTok Shop. We test your setup on past months, then add only what’s missing: period rules, fee mappings, or an owner for each exception. Will the bridge always tie out? It ties out, or it shows why it doesn’t. Anything unexplained stays open with an owner and an age. We never use a plug account to reach zero. Can AI be trusted with the matching? Code does every sum, period and identifier check. AI only proposes mappings for lines it hasn’t seen, with evidence, and a person approves them. In a 2026 research benchmark of balance tasks (FinBalance), the best model got 46.5% of balances exactly right, which is why arithmetic stays in code. Who owns it once it’s running? You do. It’s built in your accounts, documented, with training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your finance lead or controller. We can keep running it with you, or step back. How do we start? Usually with a finance review: two to four weeks, a fixed fee credited to the build, and a plan that’s yours. If the job is already clear, we can scope the build directly. ## Part of your finance engine. One of 11 use cases, in 5 parts. [See the whole finance engine]() 1. [Trusted records **2**]() 2. [Margin **2**]() 3. [Cash & commitments **2**]() 4. [Payables & receivables **2**]() 5. [Reporting & decisions **3**]() In trusted records - **Payout reconciliation**You’re here - [**Month-end close**Close the month with every balance supported]() Works with - [**Contribution diagnosis**Explain contribution margin by product and channel]() - [**Trading brief**Run a weekly trading brief that ends in decisions]() See it at work - [**In Fernway’s first month on TikTok Shop**Week 1: the first TikTok Shop payouts]() ## Know every payout is where it belongs. Start with a finance review. [Start with a finance review]() [**Talk it through first**15 minutes]() We reply within one business day. --- Source: [https://www.thekeating.co/use-cases/revenue-reconciliation/]() [Contact Keating & Co](mailto:nelson@thekeating.co) · [Agent guidance](https://www.thekeating.co/llms.txt)