Amounts in Consignor Access not matching up with SimpleConsign

When a consignor asks why a number in Consignor Access doesn't match what they expected (or what you see in SimpleConsign), it almost always comes down to which date range is selected, whether reconciled (paid out) items are showing, or which total they're looking at. This article walks through each of those so you can explain the difference to your consignor.

Consignor Access shows these numbers on the Activity page (Account Activity).

In this article

• Check the date range
• Check whether reconciled items are shown
• Understand the three totals on the Activity page
• Why the "Net totals" amount can look low or negative when a payout is in the date range
• Fees and adjustments
• Return Waiting Period

Check the date range

Make sure SimpleConsign and Consignor Access are looking at the same dates. Consignor Access defaults to the Current Pay Period, so if you're comparing against a month or a custom range in SimpleConsign, the totals won't match until the dates do.

To change it, select the date range button at the top of the Activity page (or the Items page). You can choose a preset like This Month or Last Month, or pick your own start and end dates.

Check whether reconciled items are shown

Reconciled items are items and account entries that have already been paid out. By default, Consignor Access hides them, so the totals only reflect what hasn't been paid yet.

Use the drop-down next to the date range to switch between Hide Reconciled Items and Show Reconciled Items. Showing reconciled items is useful when you want to see everything that happened in a period, including payouts, but it changes what the totals add up to (see the next two sections).

Understand the three totals on the Activity page

The Activity page shows three summary cards at the top and a row of totals at the bottom of the table. They don't all include the same things, and two of them share the same name, which is where most of the confusion comes from.

• Consignor Amount (green card): What the consignor earned from sales in the date range, after the store's share and card/online fees. It doesn't include rent, other fees, or payouts.
• Fees & Adjustments (red card): Rent, monthly fees, Consignor Access fees, and other account adjustments in the date range. It doesn't include payouts.
• Net Total (blue card): Consignor Amount minus Fees & Adjustments. It doesn't include payouts either.
• Consignor Amount in the "Net totals" bar (bottom of the page): The bar below the table reads Net totals for [date range] and shows a Consignor Amount. That amount is the total of every line in the table's Consignor Amount column. When reconciled items are shown, this does include any payouts in the date range.

Watch out for the two "Consignor Amount" labels. The green card at the top and the total at the bottom of the table have the same name but can be very different numbers. When reconciled items are hidden, the bottom total generally lines up with the Net Total card. When reconciled items are shown, the bottom total also subtracts any payouts in the date range. Also, the "Net totals" bar at the bottom isn't the same as the blue Net Total card at the top, even though the names are almost identical.

Why the "Net totals" amount can look low or negative when a payout is in the date range

If a consignor views a full month with reconciled items shown, the bottom Consignor Amount may be much lower than they expect, sometimes just a small fraction of what they sold. Usually, that's because a payout dated early in the month is being subtracted, and that payout was for money earned in the previous month.

Here's a real example for September, with reconciled items shown:

The $1,427.18 payout went out on September 1, so it paid the consignor for what they earned through August. Including it in a September view makes September's bottom total look low, even though the consignor earned $1,561.03 that month after rent and fees.

The total can also be negative. If the payout at the start of the month is larger than what the consignor has earned so far in the date range, the Consignor Amount in the "Net totals" bar drops below zero. For example, another consignor earned a Net Total of $939.52 in September, but their 9/1 payout for August was $1,455.69 plus a $2.50 ACH fee. For September, the "Net totals" bar showed a Consignor Amount of -$518.67. That doesn't mean the consignor owes the store money. It only means last month's payout is dated inside this month's range.

How to confirm a consignor was paid correctly: A payout on the 1st usually equals the previous month's Net Total, minus any SimpleACH or check fee. In the example above, September's Net Total was $939.52. The $2.50 SimpleACH fee came out of that, and $937.02 was paid on 10/1. In SimpleConsign, Payout History shows each payout's Cutoff Date, which is the last day of activity that payout covers.

Tip: To see what a consignor earned in a given month, look at the Net Total card. To see what's still waiting to be paid, set the date range and choose Hide Reconciled Items.

Fees and adjustments

To see what's included in Fees & Adjustments, look for lines in the table that don't have a SKU. A SKU means the line is an inventory item; no SKU means it's a fee, adjustment, or payout.

Standard fees like monthly fees, rent, and credit card processing fees are usually easy to spot. A SimpleACH or check fee charged on a payout comes out of that payout and shows up on the same date. These payout fees aren't counted in the Fees & Adjustments card. Less obvious: when consignors use their balance as store credit, any additional store credit percentage your store offers (set in Consignment Settings) shows up as an adjustment.

Return Waiting Period

You may have a Return Waiting Period set up in Consignment Settings. This delays when a sale shows up on the consignor's account so you don't promise them money for an item that could still be returned.

For example, if your store allows returns within 7 days and your Return Waiting Period is 7 days, a consignor who checks Consignor Access within those 7 days won't see that sale credited to their account yet.

Quick recap

• Match the date range in SimpleConsign and Consignor Access first.
• Check whether reconciled (paid out) items are hidden or shown.
• The green Consignor Amount card and the Consignor Amount in the "Net totals" bar at the bottom aren't the same number. The bottom total includes payouts when reconciled items are shown.
• For what a consignor earned in a period, use the Net Total card.
• Payouts made early in a month usually cover the previous month's earnings.
• The "Net totals" amount can be negative when last month's payout falls in the date range. That's normal and doesn't mean the consignor owes money.
• A Return Waiting Period can delay when a sale appears.