Reporting categories and types
Learn more about the reporting_category field on BalanceTransaction objects, and how it differs from type and other categorizations. This topic covers:
Why introduce a new categorization?
The BalanceTransaction object’s reporting_category field improves on the type field by providing a more-useful grouping for most finance and reporting purposes. The following sections highlight the new field’s advantages.
More-granular breakdown of type=adjustment
The reporting_category attribute separates balance transactions with type=adjustment into several different categories, including disputes, dispute reversals, and failed refunds. Additionally, several types of fees and Connect platform-fee refunds are now explicitly categorized with reporting_category=fee.
A separate category for partial-capture reversals
If you are separately authorizing and capturing payments, and you capture an amount less than the initial authorization, you will see two balance transactions: one for the full amount of the authorization, and another reversing the uncaptured portion. (Summing the two balance transactions yields the captured portion of the charge.)
The balance transaction reversing the uncaptured portion has type=refund, just as if you had refunded a portion of a sale at some later time. To allow separate handling of these objects—perhaps counting them against the initial sale amount, rather than as a separate refund—we label these with the distinct reporting category partial_capture_reversal.
Consolidate multiple types into common categories
Using the type field, balance transactions arising from card-based charges are represented with type=charge, while those made with other payment methods are represented with type=payment. Similarly, refunds and failures for cards versus alternative payment methods have the distinct types refund and payment_refund.
We found that these distinctions made many common reporting tasks unnecessarily awkward, and so reporting_category simplifies these (and other) groups of types, as follows:
| Balance transaction types | Reporting category |
|---|---|
charge, payment | charge |
refund, payment_refund | refund |
payout_cancel, payout_failure | payout_reversal |
transfer, recipient_transfer | transfer |
transfer_cancel, transfer_failure, recipient_transfer_cancel, recipient_transfer_failure | transfer_reversal |
More-descriptive category names
We’ve renamed several balance transaction types for greater clarity:
| Balance transaction type | Reporting category |
|---|---|
application_fee | platform_earning |
application_fee_refund | platform_earning_refund |
stripe_fee | fee |
reserve_transaction | connect_reserved_funds |
reserved_funds | risk_reserved_funds |
Reporting categories reference
This reference covers four groups of reporting categories:
- Payments-related reporting categories
- Balance-related reporting categories
- Issuing-related reporting categories
- Connect-related reporting categories
Payments-related reporting categories
These reporting categories are related to creating and refunding charges as part of processing payments.
chargeCharges include payments from cards and from other payment methods. If you are separately authorizing and capturing payments, only the captured charges will be included here.
- Balance transaction type(s):
charge,payment, orvalidation - Section(s) in the monthly report: Payments (cards), Payments (other)
- Balance transaction type(s):
charge_failureACH, direct debit, and other asynchronous payment methods remain in a pending state until they either succeed or fail. You will see a pending balance transaction with the reporting category
chargeappear when the payment is created in a pending state. Acharge_failurewill appear if the pending payment later fails.- Balance transaction type(s):
payment_failure_refund - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
disputeWhen a customer disputes a charge, Stripe deducts the disputed amount from your balance.
- Balance transaction type(s):
adjustmentoradjusted_for_overdraft_transaction - Section(s) in the monthly report: Disputes
- Balance transaction type(s):
dispute_reversalWhen you win a dispute, the disputed amount is returned to your balance.
- Balance transaction type(s):
adjustment - Section(s) in the monthly report: Dispute Reversals
- Balance transaction type(s):
partial_capture_reversalIf you are separately authorizing and capturing payments, and you capture an amount less than the initial authorization, you will see a
chargefor the full authorization amount, and apartial_capture_reversalfor the uncaptured portion.- Balance transaction type(s):
refund - Section(s) in the monthly report: Payments (cards)
- Balance transaction type(s):
refundPayments you’ve refunded to your customers. (Does not include charge failures or partial capture reversals, which are listed separately.)
- Balance transaction type(s):
refundorpayment_refund - Section(s) in the monthly report: Refunds (cards), Refunds (other)
- Balance transaction type(s):
refund_failureCreated when a credit card charge refund fails, and Stripe returns the funds to your balance.
This may occur if your customer’s bank or card issuer is unable to correctly process a refund (e.g., due to a closed bank account or a problem with the card).
- Balance transaction type(s):
refund_failure - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
Balance-related reporting categories
These reporting categories are related to changes that affect your Stripe balance, such as payouts, fees, and top-ups.
anticipation_repaymentRepayments made to service an anticipation loan in Brazil. These repayments go to the financial institution to whom you have sold your receivables.
- Balance transaction type(s):
anticipation_repayment - Section(s) in the monthly report: Anticipation Repayments
- Balance transaction type(s):
contributionFunds contributed via Stripe to a cause (currently Stripe Climate).
- Balance transaction type(s):
contribution - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
fee- Balance transaction type(s):
stripe_fee - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
obligationObligation for receivable unit received.
- Balance transaction type(s):
obligation_inbound,obligation_outbound,obligation_reversal_inbound,obligation_reversal_outbound,obligation_payout, orobligation_payout_failure - Section(s) in the monthly report: Third party obligations
- Balance transaction type(s):
other_adjustmentMiscellaneous adjustments to your Stripe balance.
- Balance transaction type(s):
adjustment - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
payoutPayouts from your Stripe balance to your bank account.
- Balance transaction type(s):
payout - Section(s) in the monthly report: Payouts and Transfers
- Balance transaction type(s):
payout_reversalFunds returned to your balance if a payout fails after it is initially created (e.g., due to an invalid account number or a cancellation). Learn more.
- Balance transaction type(s):
payout_cancelorpayout_failure - Section(s) in the monthly report: Payouts and Transfers: Failures and Refunds
- Balance transaction type(s):
risk_reserved_fundsWhen Stripe holds your funds in reserve to mitigate risk, two balance transactions are created: one to debit the funds from your balance, and a second to credit the funds back to your balance at the end of the reserve period.
- Balance transaction type(s):
reserved_funds - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
taxTaxes collected by Stripe to be remitted to the appropriate local governments. Typically, this is a tax on Stripe fees.
- Balance transaction type(s):
tax_fee - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
topupFunds you transferred into your Stripe balance from your bank account. Learn more.
- Balance transaction type(s):
topup - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
topup_reversalIf an initially successful top-up fails or is cancelled, the credit to your Stripe balance is reversed. Learn more.
- Balance transaction type(s):
topup_reversal - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
Issuing-related reporting categories
These reporting categories are created as part of using the Issuing API.
issuing_authorization_holdWhen an issued card is used to make a purchase, an authorization is created. If the authorization is approved, a balance transaction is created with the type
issuing_authorization_holdto hold the authorized amount in reserve from your account balance, until the authorization is either captured or voided. Some merchants can also update an authorization to request an additional amount (e.g., to extend a hotel booking or add a tip), and this is also represented as a balance transaction with the typeissuing_authorization_hold.- Balance transaction type(s):
issuing_authorization_hold - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
issuing_authorization_releaseWhen an authorized purchase, made with an issued card, is captured by the merchant, the funds previously held for the authorization (
issuing_authorization_hold) are released with aissuing_authorization_releasebalance transaction. Simultaneously, an issuing transaction is created, and the purchase amount is deducted from your Stripe balance in another balance transaction with the typeissuing_transaction.- Balance transaction type(s):
issuing_authorization_release - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
issuing_disbursementCredits to your balance for rewards, discounts, and other miscellaneous adjustments.
- Balance transaction type(s):
issuing_disbursement - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
issuing_disputeWhen you dispute an Issuing transaction and funds return to your Stripe balance.
- Balance transaction type(s):
issuing_dispute - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
issuing_transactionWhen an authorized purchase, made with an issued card, has been authorized and captured by the merchant, an issuing transaction is created, and the purchase amount is deducted from your Stripe balance with a
issuing_transactionbalance transaction.- Balance transaction type(s):
issuing_transaction - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
Connect-related reporting categories
These reporting categories are related to using the Connect API and related APIs, such as instant payouts.
advanceIncrementing available funds for instant payouts. This occurs when you create an instant payout and the requested payout amount is greater than your connected account’s available balance. Funds are added to your available balance and removed from your pending balance to cover the difference.
- Balance transaction type(s):
advance - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
advance_fundingDecrementing pending funds for instant payouts. This occurs when you create an instant payout and the requested payout amount is greater than your connected account’s available balance. Funds are added to your available balance and removed from your pending balance to cover the difference.
- Balance transaction type(s):
advance_funding - Section(s) in the monthly report: Other Adjustments
- Balance transaction type(s):
connect_collection_transferIf one of your connected accounts has a negative balance for 180 days, Stripe transfers a portion of your balance, to zero out that account’s balance. Learn more.
- Balance transaction type(s):
connect_collection_transfer - Section(s) in the monthly report: Reflected in "Reserve" section
- Balance transaction type(s):
connect_reserved_fundsIf one of your connected accounts’ balances becomes negative, Stripe temporarily reserves a portion of your balance to ensure that funds can be covered.
If one of your connected accounts’ previously negative balance becomes less negative due to activity on account, another
reserve_transactionis created to release a corresponding portion of the funds held in reserve. Learn more.- Balance transaction type(s):
reserve_transaction - Section(s) in the monthly report: Reflected in "Reserve" section
- Balance transaction type(s):
platform_earningEarnings you’ve generated by collecting platform fees via Stripe Connect charges.
- Balance transaction type(s):
application_fee - Section(s) in the monthly report: Application Revenue
- Balance transaction type(s):
platform_earning_refundPlatform fees that you have returned to your connected accounts.
- Balance transaction type(s):
application_fee_refund - Section(s) in the monthly report: Application Revenue Returned
- Balance transaction type(s):
transferFunds sent from your balance to the balance of your connected accounts.
- Balance transaction type(s):
transferorrecipient_transfer - Section(s) in the monthly report: Payouts and Transfers
- Balance transaction type(s):
transfer_reversalTransfers to your connected accounts that have been cancelled.
- Balance transaction type(s):
transfer_cancel,transfer_refund,recipient_transfer_cancel, orrecipient_transfer_failure - Section(s) in the monthly report: Payouts and Transfers: Failures and Refunds
- Balance transaction type(s):