Your settlement almost never equals your sales total — and in nearly every case, that is exactly what should happen. The two numbers answer different questions. This article explains what each screen is telling you, why your account carries forward instead of resetting each month, and how to open any settlement and see the individual transactions it paid for.
The one thing to know first
A Sales Report total is not an amount you are owed. It is a list of what sold in a date range you chose. Your check comes from a completely different place: your running account balance with the store, which also includes rent, fees, credits, debits, deposits, returns, and anything carried over from before.
So when your sales report says one number and your check says another, that is normal. What you want to compare are the transactions, not the totals.
Three screens, three different questions| Screen | What it answers | What it does not include |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor Sales Report | What you sold inside a calendar date range you pick. | Rent, fees, credits, debits, deposits, or any balance carried in from before. |
| Account Activity | Every entry that affects your balance — sales, rent, fees, credits, debits, deposits, returns and settlements. It is continuous and never resets. | Nothing. This is the complete record. |
| Settlements | What was actually paid, and the exact lines that check covered. | Anything that happened after that settlement’s cutoff — that stays on your account and goes toward the next one. |
Short version: Sales Report tells you what you sold. Account Activity tells you what is affecting your balance. Settlements tell you what was paid and exactly what was included.
Why your sales total isn’t your check
Here is a typical settlement, start to finish:
| Line | Amount | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Items sold for | $2,000.00 | Gross sales — what customers paid for your merchandise. |
| Your sales share | $1,700.00 | Your portion after the store’s commission. |
| Rent, fees & adjustments | −$400.00 | Booth rent, any fees, and any credits or debits on your account. |
| Paid on this check | $1,300.00 | What you were actually paid. |
Nothing is missing here. Every one of those figures is listed separately on the settlement itself — open Settlements and expand What This Settlement Paid For to see each category broken out, then each individual transaction inside it.
Your account is continuous — it does not reset each month
There is no closed “July account.” Your balance runs continuously, and a settlement is a snapshot taken at one specific date and time — the cutoff. Everything eligible on your account at that moment gets paid. Everything after it stays on your account and goes toward the next settlement.
That timing is where most of the confusion starts. Here is a real sequence:
| When | What happened | Where it landed |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 28 | Sale, $510 | Included in the settlement |
| Jul 31 | Rent charge, $10 | Included in the settlement |
| Aug 1, 9:00 AM | Settlement generated — check written | — |
| Aug 1, 4:12 PM | Sale, $591 | Carries forward to the next settlement |
| Aug 4 | Credit, $928 | Carries forward to the next settlement |
That $591 sale on August 1 will show up if you run a Sales Report — but it happened after the settlement was generated, so it could not have been on that check. Both numbers are correct. They are answering different questions.
Reading your Account Activity
Account Activity is the screen worth getting comfortable with, because it is the complete picture. Four rules cover almost everything on it:
- Credits increase what the store owes you.
- Debits decrease what the store owes you.
- Settlements pay you — they appear as their own entry.
- The resulting balance carries forward. If you end a period at −$100, the next one starts at −$100, not at $0. New sales apply against that balance first.
Security deposits: one charge, two entries
If your store funds your security deposit out of money already payable to you, you will see two lines with the same amount and the same timestamp. You were only charged once.
| Date / time | Credit/debit type | Amount | Effect on what you’re owed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08/06/2026 10:53 PM | Debit: Security Deposit Funding | −$1,504.00 | Reduces your balance |
| 08/06/2026 10:53 PM | Deposit Held (Is Deposit: Yes) | $1,504.00 | No effect — record only |
The debit funds the deposit out of money already payable to you. The deposit entry records that money as being held. The money did not disappear — its classification changed.
How to check a settlement yourself
Four steps, in order. This resolves the large majority of questions without anyone having to look anything up for you.
- Open the settlement detail. Expand Item Sales, Rent/Fees & Adjustments and Settlement Payout. Every underlying transaction is listed.
- See what carried. In Account Activity, look at the entries dated after that cutoff and the balance carrying forward. That is the difference between your sales report and your check, in named lines.
- Name the line. If something still looks wrong, find the specific transaction — date, description and amount.
“My sales report says I sold $X. Why wasn’t my check $X?”
Because the Sales Report is not an amount-due report. Your check comes from your running account balance, which also includes rent, fees, credits, debits, deposits, returns, your prior balance and past settlements.
“I ran July 1–31 and got a different number than the settlement.”
Both can be right. A sale later in the day on the cutoff date appears on a July report but happened after the settlement was generated — so it stays on your account for the next one. Compare the cutoff timestamp, not the month.
“Where did the rest of my sales go?”
Nowhere. Open the settlement to see exactly which transactions were included. Anything after its cutoff is still on your Account Activity and carries forward.
“I had sales, so why didn’t I get a settlement?”
Sales alone don’t guarantee a positive balance at the cutoff. If prior charges, rent, deposits or a negative carried balance exceed your available credits, there may be nothing to pay out. The balance continues forward.
“Why did my negative balance carry into the next month?”
Because accounts don’t reset monthly. Ending a period at −$100 means the next one starts at −$100. New sales apply against that balance first.
“Why are this month’s charges affecting money I made last month?”
Settlements run off a continuous ledger, not isolated monthly buckets. A charge entered before the cutoff and eligible for that settlement becomes part of the balance being settled.
“Shouldn’t the settlement reset my balance to zero?”
Only if it pays your entire eligible positive balance and nothing else has happened since. A settlement doesn’t reset your account — it is another transaction on a continuous ledger.
“Why is there activity dated after my settlement?”
Because business didn’t stop when the settlement was generated. New sales, credits, charges and adjustments start accumulating again immediately.
“You credited me $928 — was my last check $928 short?”
Not if the credit was entered afterward. A credit entered on August 4 can’t change a settlement that was already generated and paid. It joins your continuing balance and goes toward the next settlement.
“But that credit related to something from last month.”
What an adjustment relates to and when it entered your account are two different things. Once entered, the credit increases your current running balance. It isn’t lost because the original event was earlier.
“Why not reopen the old settlement and correct it?”
A settlement is a historical record of what was actually paid at that cutoff. Later adjustments belong on the continuing ledger. Rewriting settlements would destroy the audit trail that lets you verify any payment later.
“My Profit column says $573.53. Isn’t that what I’m owed?”
No. Profit compares the cost you entered on your own inventory against what the item sold for. It exists to show you how profitable your merchandise is. It has nothing to do with the amount payable to you by the store.
“Was commission taken twice?”
Each sale has a gross amount, the store’s share, and the resulting net to you — and all three are shown separately in the settlement detail. Seeing them listed side by side is not the same as being charged twice. If a specific sale looks wrong, open it and check that one line.
“I added it up myself and got a different number.”
Your own records are worth keeping — but before comparing totals, check that you’re adding the same set of transactions. A calendar-date sales report is usually not the same transaction set as a settlement cutoff. Compare transactions, not totals.
If something still looks wrongSometimes there is a genuine error — a sale credited to the wrong vendor, a rent charge entered twice, a return that didn’t post. Those are real and fixable, and they can be found quickly when you can point to the line.
Contact your store and give them:
- The settlement in question — its date and amount.
- The specific transaction you believe is wrong or missing — its date, description and amount from Account Activity.
- What you expected instead, and why.
A difference between your own total and a settlement isn’t enough on its own to investigate, because the two are usually counting different things. A named transaction can be traced in minutes.
In three sentences
- Sales Report tells you what you sold.
- Account Activity tells you the activity affecting your running balance.
- Settlements tell you what was paid at a cutoff, and exactly what was included.