Reporting categories and types

Understand the categories on BalanceTransaction objects and their distinctions.

Learn more about the reporting_category field on BalanceTransaction objects, and how it differs from type and other categorizations.

The reporting category field

The BalanceTransaction object’s reporting_category field improves the type field by providing a more useful grouping for most finance and reporting purposes. The following sections describe the advantages of the reporting-category field.

A More detailed 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, it cateogrizes several types of fees and Connect platform fee refunds with reporting_category=fee.

A separate category for partial-capture reversals

If you’re separately authorizing and capturing payments, and you capture an amount less than the initial authorization, you 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.

The reporting_category attribute simplifies these (and other) groups of types, as follows:

More descriptive category names

We renamed several balance transaction types for greater clarity:

Reporting categories reference

This reference covers the following groups of reporting categories:

• Payments-related reporting categories
• Balance-related reporting categories
• Issuing-related reporting categories
• Connect-related reporting categories
• Stripe fee credits related reporting categories

Payments-related reporting categories

These reporting categories are related to creating and refunding charges as part of processing payments.

charge : Charges 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 types: charge, payment, or validation Sections in the monthly report: Payments (cards), Payments (other) charge_failure : ACH, 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 charge appear when the payment is created in a pending state. A charge_failure will appear if the pending payment later fails. Balance transaction types: payment_failure_refund Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments dispute : When a customer disputes a charge, Stripe deducts the disputed amount from your balance. Balance transaction types: adjustment or adjusted_for_overdraft_transaction Sections in the monthly report: Disputes dispute_reversal : When you win a dispute, the disputed amount is returned to your balance. Balance transaction types: adjustment Sections in the monthly report: Dispute Reversals partial_capture_reversal : If you are separately authorizing and capturing payments, and you capture an amount less than the initial authorization, you will see a charge for the full authorization amount, and a partial_capture_reversal for the uncaptured portion. Balance transaction types: refund Sections in the monthly report: Payments (cards) refund : Payments you’ve refunded to your customers. (Does not include charge failures or partial capture reversals, which are listed separately.) Balance transaction types: refund or payment_refund Sections in the monthly report: Refunds (cards), Refunds (other) refund_failure : Created 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 (for example, due to a closed bank account or a problem with the card). Balance transaction types: refund_failure Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments

Balance-related reporting categories

These reporting categories are related to changes that affect your Stripe balance, such as payouts, fees, and top-ups.

anticipation_repayment : Repayments made to service an anticipation loan in Brazil. These repayments go to the financial institution to whom you have sold your receivables. Balance transaction types: anticipation_repayment Sections in the monthly report: Anticipation Repayments climate_order_purchase : Funds used to purchase carbon removal units from Frontier Climate. Balance transaction types: climate_order_purchase or climate_reservation_purchase Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments climate_order_refund : Funds refunded to your balance when a Climate Order is canceled. Balance transaction types: climate_order_refund or climate_reservation_refund Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments contribution : Funds contributed via Stripe to a cause (currently Stripe Climate). Balance transaction types: contribution Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments currency_conversion : Adjustment to your Stripe balance related to currency conversion. Balance transaction types: currency_conversion Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments fee : Fees for Stripe software and services (for example, for Radar, Connect, Billing, and Identity). Balance transaction types: stripe_fee Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments other_adjustment : Miscellaneous adjustments to your Stripe balance. Balance transaction types: adjustment, obligation_outbound, or obligation_reversal_inbound Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments payment_network_reserve_hold : Funds that a payment network holds in reserve (for example, to mitigate risk). Balance transaction types: payment_network_reserve_hold Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments payment_network_reserve_release : Funds that a payment network releases from a reserve. Balance transaction types: payment_network_reserve_release Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments payout : Payouts from your Stripe balance to your bank account. Balance transaction types: payout Sections in the monthly report: Payouts and Transfers payout_minimum_balance_hold : Minimum balance held from a payout. Balance transaction types: payout_minimum_balance_hold Sections in the monthly report: Payout minimum balance hold payout_minimum_balance_release : Minimum balance released after a payout. Balance transaction types: payout_minimum_balance_release Sections in the monthly report: Payout minimum balance release payout_reversal : Funds returned to your balance if a payout fails after it is initially created (for example, due to an invalid account number or a cancellation). Learn more. Balance transaction types: payout_cancel or payout_failure Sections in the monthly report: Payouts and Transfers: Failures and Refunds revenue_share : Revenue share payments from Stripe to partners. Balance transaction types: revenue_share Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments reward : Rewards for Issuing card spend credited to the account balance. Balance transaction types: reward Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments risk_reserved_funds : When 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 types: reserved_funds Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments stripe_balance_payment_debit : Created when a payment initiated by another Stripe account deducts funds from your account balance. Balance transaction types: stripe_balance_payment_debit Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments stripe_balance_payment_debit_reversal : Created when a payment initiated by another Stripe account is refunded to your account balance. Balance transaction types: stripe_balance_payment_debit_reversal Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments tax : Taxes collected by Stripe to be remitted to the appropriate local governments. Typically, this is a tax on Stripe fees. Balance transaction types: tax_fee Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments tax_fund : Funds moved between a merchant’s payments balance and their tax fund financial account for Stripe Tax obligations. Balance transaction types: tax_fund Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments tax_withholding : Funds withheld from a merchant’s balance for tax withholding obligations. Balance transaction types: tax_withholding Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments topup : Funds you transferred into your Stripe balance from your bank account. Learn more. Balance transaction types: topup Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments topup_reversal : If an initially successful top-up fails or is cancelled, the credit to your Stripe balance is reversed. Learn more. Balance transaction types: topup_reversal Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments unreconciled_customer_funds : When a customer has unreconciled funds within Stripe for more than ninety days, Stripe transfers those funds to your balance. Balance transaction types: transferred_to_balance_transaction Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments

Issuing-related reporting categories

These reporting categories are created as part of using the Issuing API.

issuing_authorization_hold : When 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_hold to 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 (for example, to extend a hotel booking or add a tip), and this is also represented as a balance transaction with the type issuing_authorization_hold. Balance transaction types: issuing_authorization_hold Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments issuing_authorization_release : When 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 a issuing_authorization_release balance transaction. Simultaneously, an issuing transaction is created, and the purchase amount is deducted from your Stripe balance in another balance transaction with the type issuing_transaction. Balance transaction types: issuing_authorization_release Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments issuing_disbursement : Credits to your balance for rewards, discounts, and other miscellaneous adjustments. Balance transaction types: issuing_disbursement Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments issuing_dispute : When you dispute an Issuing transaction and funds return to your Stripe balance. Balance transaction types: issuing_dispute Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments issuing_dispute_fraud_liability_debit : Funds deducted from your account to cover fraud loss liability Balance transaction types: issuing_dispute_fraud_liability_debit Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments issuing_dispute_provisional_credit : Provisional Credit granted to Issuing balance Balance transaction types: issuing_dispute_provisional_credit Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments issuing_dispute_provisional_credit_reversal : Previous Provisional Credit being reversed from Issuing balance Balance transaction types: issuing_dispute_provisional_credit_reversal Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments issuing_transaction : When 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_transaction balance transaction. Balance transaction types: issuing_transaction Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments

Connect-related reporting categories

These reporting categories are related to using the Connect API and related APIs, such as instant payouts.

advance : Incrementing funds as part of an advance operation to change the date that funds settle to your balance. For example, this can occur when you create an instant payout and the requested payout amount is greater than your available balance. Funds are credited to a new available_on date and debited from the original available_on date to cover the difference. Balance transaction types: advance Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments advance_funding : Decrementing funds as part of an advance operation to change the date that funds settle to your balance. For example, this can occur when you create an instant payout and the requested payout amount is greater than your available balance. Funds are credited to a new available_on date and debited from the original available_on date to cover the difference. Balance transaction types: advance_funding Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments connect_collection_transfer : If 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 types: connect_collection_transfer Sections in the monthly report: Reflected in "Reserve" section connect_reserved_funds : If 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_transaction is created to release a corresponding portion of the funds held in reserve. Learn more. Balance transaction types: reserve_transaction Sections in the monthly report: Reflected in "Reserve" section platform_earning : Earnings you’ve generated by collecting platform fees via Stripe Connect charges. Balance transaction types: application_fee Sections in the monthly report: Application Revenue platform_earning_refund : Platform fees that you have returned to your connected accounts. Balance transaction types: application_fee_refund Sections in the monthly report: Application Revenue Returned transfer : Funds sent from your balance to the balance of your connected accounts. Balance transaction types: transfer or recipient_transfer Sections in the monthly report: Payouts and Transfers transfer_reversal : Transfers to your connected accounts that have been cancelled. Balance transaction types: transfer_cancel, transfer_refund, recipient_transfer_cancel, or recipient_transfer_failure Sections in the monthly report: Payouts and Transfers: Failures and Refunds

Stripe fee credits related reporting categories

These reporting categories are related to the issuance and usage of Stripe Fee Credits.

fee_credit_funding : When you are issued a Stripe Fee Credit, you will see a positive amount which represents a positive credit balance. Balance transaction types: fee_credit_funding Sections in the monthly report: Other Adjustments