If you accept payments through a processor like Stripe, Square, PayPal, or Venmo, your Collective team may ask for a report from that processor as part of your monthly bookkeeping. This guide explains why that report matters and walks you through downloading it from each platform.
This article applies to both LLC and S Corp members.
Why your bank statement isn't enough
Payment processors usually take out their fees before sending your sales to your bank. That means your bank statement only shows the net deposit, the amount left after fees.
To record your full sales as income and your processing fees as a business expense, our bookkeeping team needs a report from the processor that shows your gross sales (your total sales before fees) and the fees for the period. With both numbers in your books, you get a clearer picture of what your business earned and what it cost to get paid.
Before you start
- Download the report for the exact months your task asks for.
- A PDF works best, but a CSV is fine too.
- Upload the report to the task in your Collective dashboard, or to your Document Center.
Good to know: Processors update their menus from time to time. If the steps below don't match what you see, use the help links under each processor for their latest instructions.
Stripe
Stripe's Payout reconciliation report shows gross sales, refunds, and fees for each payout.
- Log in to your Stripe Dashboard.
- Go to Reporting, then Reports, and open Payout reconciliation.
- Set the date range to the months your task asks for.
- Click Download in the upper right of the section. Choose the itemized version, and select PDF if it's offered. The itemized version breaks out each transaction, which helps our team match your sales and fees to each deposit.
Using manual payouts? Payout reconciliation isn't available for accounts with manual payouts. Download the Balance report from the same Reports page instead.
Have a Stripe Capital loan? We may also ask for your Capital overview and activity report, found under the Capital (or Financing) tab. This helps us record the loan and its fees correctly.
Stripe help: Payout reconciliation report and Exporting reports as PDF
Square
- Log in to your Square Dashboard.
- Go to Reports, then Sales summary.
- Set the date range to the months your task asks for.
- Click Export in the top right to download the report.
Your fees appear on the Sales summary. You can also find them under Reports, then Accounting, then Fees.
Square help: Sales summary reports and Tax, fee and service charge reports
PayPal
PayPal monthly statements are available any time after the 2nd of the following month.
- Log in to PayPal on the web.
- Go to paypal.com/reports/accountStatements.
- Request the statement for each month your task asks for.
- Download it as a PDF or CSV once it's ready.
Need transaction-level detail? Go to Activity, then All reports, then Activities. Choose the date range (up to 12 months) and format, then create the report. PayPal will notify you when it's ready to download.
PayPal help: How to view and download statements and reports and Monthly and custom statements
Venmo (business profile)
- Log in at account.venmo.com/statement on the web.
- Select your business profile from the dropdown at the top.
- Choose the month and year, then click Download CSV.
Prefer the app? In the Venmo app, go to Settings, then Statements, choose the month, and download it or email it to yourself.
Venmo help: Transaction history and Business profile basics
Other platforms (Shopify, Etsy, Upwork, and similar)
Download a report from the platform for the requested months that shows your gross sales and the fees the platform took out. Most platforms keep this under a Reports, Payments, or Transactions section. Check the platform's own help center for exact steps.
Common questions
My processor balance is $0. Do I still need to upload a report?
Yes, if the task asks for that month. A $0 balance can mean everything was already paid out to your bank, not that there were no sales. We need the report for every month you had sales or payouts through the processor.
I only use the processor for a few months a year.
Only upload the months that had activity. If a task asks for a month with no activity, see I have a statement task for an account or month with no statement.
I uploaded my bank statement instead. What happens now?
Your bank statement doesn't show your gross sales or fees, so the task will stay open. Download the processor report using the steps above and upload it to the same task.
The steps don't match what I see.
Use the help link under your processor above. If you still can't find the report, contact the processor's support team, since they can see your account directly.
Next steps
Once you have your report, head to the open task in your Collective dashboard to upload it. If you can't find the report or the task doesn't match what you have, reach out to your Collective team. They're here to help.
The information contained in this document is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, financial, or tax advice.