Shopify Integration

General reference only. This skill is general tax/accounting reference material for AI-assisted workflows. It has not been reviewed for any specific person's facts, documents, elections, deadlines, residency, filing status, or local procedures. Do not rely on it to file, pay, amend, or take a tax position without review by a qualified professional in the relevant jurisdiction.

Section 1 — Platform Overview

Shopify is an e-commerce platform used by merchants in 175+ countries to sell products online, in-store, and across social media channels. Headquartered in Canada, Shopify powers businesses from single-product stores to large enterprises. Shopify Payments is the integrated payment processor (powered by Stripe).

Shopify produces two distinct CSV exports relevant to bookkeeping: the Payments export (financial transactions from Shopify Payments) and the Orders export (order-level data including line items, shipping, and customer details). These serve different purposes and have different column structures.

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Section 2 — Export Formats

Format	Use Case
CSV (Plain)	Payments transactions (from Finance > Payouts > View Transactions > Export > Plain CSV). The correct format for accounting.
CSV for Excel	Payments transactions with extra formatting rows. Breaks most import tools — avoid for accounting.
CSV	Orders export (from Orders page > Export). Order-level data with line items.
PDF	Individual order invoices, packing slips.
Excel (XLSX)	Financial summary reports.

Critical: Always use "Plain CSV" for payment data. "CSV for Excel" adds summary rows that break column header detection in accounting software.

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Section 3 — Column Mapping

Shopify Payments CSV (Plain — Finance > Payouts)

Column Header	Meaning
Transaction Date	Timestamp with timezone. Format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ±HHMM (e.g., 2026-03-15 14:23:45 -0500).
Type	Transaction type (see Section 4).
Order	Shopify order number (e.g., #1001). Blank for non-order transactions.
Card Brand	Card brand used (visa, mastercard, amex, etc.). Blank for non-card payments.
Card Source	How the card was used (direct, online, swipe, chip, contactless).
Payout Status	pending, paid, in_transit, failed.
Payout Date	Date the payout was sent to the bank.
Available On	Date the funds become available.
Amount	Transaction amount in settlement currency. Positive for charges, negative for refunds.
Fee	Shopify Payments processing fee. Stored as a POSITIVE number (unlike PayPal which uses negative).
Net	Net amount (Amount - Fee). This is what gets deposited.
Currency	Three-letter ISO code (USD, GBP, EUR, CAD). Uppercase.
Checkout	Shopify checkout token (internal reference).
Payment Method	Payment method type (shopify_payments, manual, gift_card, etc.).
Payout ID	Identifier linking to a specific bank payout.

Shopify Orders Export CSV

Column Header	Meaning
Name	Order number (e.g., #1001).
Email	Customer email address.
Phone	Customer phone number.
Financial Status	paid, authorized, partially_paid, partially_refunded, refunded, pending, voided.
Paid at	Date payment was captured.
Fulfillment Status	fulfilled, partial, unfulfilled, restocked.
Fulfilled at	Date order was shipped.
Currency	Order currency (ISO code).
Subtotal	Order total before shipping and taxes.
Shipping	Shipping amount charged.
Taxes	Total tax amount.
Total	Grand total (Subtotal + Shipping + Taxes - Discounts).
Discount Code	Discount code applied (if any).
Discount Amount	Discount value applied.
Shipping Method	Shipping method name.
Created at	Order creation timestamp.
Lineitem quantity	Quantity of the line item.
Lineitem name	Product name.
Lineitem price	Unit price of the line item.
Lineitem sku	Product SKU.
Lineitem requires shipping	true/false.
Lineitem taxable	true/false.
Lineitem fulfillment status	fulfilled/unfulfilled.
Billing Name	Customer billing name.
Billing Address1	Billing street address.
Billing City	Billing city.
Billing Province	Billing state/province.
Billing Country	Billing country.
Billing Zip	Billing postal code.
Payment Method	How the order was paid.
Payment ID(s)	Unique payment IDs for matching to Shopify Payments data.

Multi-line-item orders: each line item is a separate row. Order-level fields (Name, Total, Taxes) are repeated on each row.

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Section 4 — Transaction Type Codes

Shopify Payments CSV types

Type	Meaning
charge	Successful payment collected from customer
refund	Full or partial refund to customer
dispute	Chargeback initiated by cardholder
reserve_payout	Funds released from Shopify's reserve
adjustment	Manual adjustment by Shopify
payout	Transfer to merchant's bank account

Orders CSV Financial Status values

Status	Meaning
paid	Fully paid
authorized	Card authorized but not captured
partially_paid	Deposit or partial payment received
partially_refunded	Some items refunded
refunded	Fully refunded
pending	Awaiting payment
voided	Authorization voided

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Section 5 — Fee Structure

Fee Type	Typical Rate	How It Appears
Shopify Payments (online, domestic)	2.9% + $0.30 (Basic), 2.6% + $0.30 (Shopify), 2.4% + $0.30 (Advanced)	Positive value in Fee column per charge row
Shopify Payments (in-person)	2.7% + $0.00 (Basic), 2.5% + $0.00 (Shopify), 2.4% + $0.00 (Advanced)	Positive value in Fee column
International card surcharge	+1.5%	Added to base fee
Currency conversion fee	+1.5%	Added when customer currency ≠ store currency
Chargeback fee	$15 (US)	Separate charge on the dispute row
Third-party payment provider fee	2% / 1% / 0.5%	Not in Payments CSV — billed separately by Shopify
Shopify subscription	$39–399/month	Not in transaction exports — billed to account
Refund fee	Processing fee NOT returned	Original Fee remains; no fee on refund row

Key: Fee is stored as a POSITIVE number. Net = Amount - Fee. This is the opposite of PayPal where Fee is negative.

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Section 6 — Tax-Relevant Fields

Field	Location	Notes
Taxes	Orders CSV	Total tax on the order. Sum of all line-item taxes.
Lineitem taxable	Orders CSV	Whether tax was charged on this line item.
Billing Country	Orders CSV	Customer's country — critical for cross-border tax obligations.
Billing Province	Orders CSV	State/province for US/Canadian sales tax nexus.
Currency	Both CSVs	Tax jurisdiction may depend on the transaction currency.
Tax lines (not in CSV)	Shopify admin/API	Detailed tax breakdown by jurisdiction (available via API, not in standard CSV export).

Shopify can be configured to collect taxes automatically based on product taxability and customer location. Tax amounts in the Orders CSV reflect what was actually charged. For detailed tax reporting by jurisdiction, use Shopify's Tax report in Finance > Reports, not the Orders CSV.

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Section 7 — Multi-Currency Handling

Scenario	How It Appears
Single-currency store	All transactions in one currency. Currency column is consistent.
Multi-currency store (Shopify Payments)	Amount and Fee are in the store's settlement (payout) currency. Customer may have paid in a different currency.
Customer-facing currency	Not visible in the Payments CSV. Available in the Orders CSV via Currency column.
Exchange rate	Not shown in CSV exports. Shopify converts at its own rate (includes 1.5% conversion fee).
International pricing	Shopify Markets may show different prices per country. The Orders CSV shows what the customer paid in their currency; the Payments CSV shows the settlement amount.

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Section 8 — Reconciliation Tips

1. Use the Payments CSV for bank reconciliation, not the Orders CSV. The Payments CSV shows what actually moved to/from the bank. The Orders CSV shows what customers ordered, which is different due to timing, partial payments, and multi-tender orders.
2. Match payouts to bank deposits. Filter by Payout Date and sum Net amounts for each Payout ID. This total should match the bank deposit.
3. Fee is POSITIVE. Unlike PayPal/Stripe. Net = Amount - Fee. If Amount = 100 and Fee = 3.20, Net = 96.80.
4. Refunds reduce payout amount. Refunds in a payout period reduce the total deposited. A payout with $1000 in charges and $200 in refunds deposits $800 minus fees.
5. "CSV for Excel" breaks imports. Always export "Plain CSV". The Excel variant adds summary rows at the top.
6. Multi-line orders in Orders CSV. An order with 3 items has 3 rows. Total/Subtotal/Taxes are the same on each row — do not sum them or you'll triple-count.
7. Gift cards are not revenue when sold. Gift card purchases are a liability. Revenue is recognized when the gift card is redeemed. Shopify handles this differently in the Payments vs Orders export.

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Section 9 — Common Gotchas

1. Orders CSV vs Payments CSV confusion. Users often export from Orders instead of Finance > Payouts. The Orders CSV does not include processing fees and does not match bank deposits.
2. Fee sign convention. Shopify Fees are positive numbers (unusual). Most tools expect negative fees. When converting for QuickBooks import, negate the Fee values.
3. Timestamp timezone offset. Transaction Date includes timezone (e.g., -0500). If comparing to bank dates in a different timezone, convert first.
4. Duplicate rows in Orders CSV. Each line item is a row. Order-level amounts (Total, Taxes) repeat on every line-item row. Do not sum Totals across line-item rows for the same order.
5. Partial refunds create new rows. A partial refund appears as a new row in the Payments CSV with Type = refund. The original charge row is unchanged.
6. Discount codes reduce Subtotal. If a 20% discount is applied, Subtotal reflects the discounted price. The Discount Amount column shows the discount value for reference.
7. POS vs online transactions. In-person (POS) transactions use the same Payments CSV format but have different fee rates. Card Source distinguishes them (chip, contactless, swipe vs online).
8. Shopify shipping labels. If the merchant buys shipping labels through Shopify, these charges appear as deductions in the payout but are NOT in the Payments transaction CSV. Check the payout summary.

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Section 10 — Sample Data

Shopify Payments CSV (Plain)

Transaction Date,Type,Order,Card Brand,Card Source,Payout Status,Payout Date,Available On,Amount,Fee,Net,Currency,Checkout,Payment Method,Payout ID
2026-03-15 14:23:45 -0500,charge,#1001,visa,online,paid,2026-03-17,2026-03-17,49.99,1.75,48.24,USD,abc123def456,shopify_payments,pay_1234
2026-03-15 16:10:00 -0500,charge,#1002,mastercard,online,paid,2026-03-17,2026-03-17,129.99,4.07,125.92,USD,ghi789jkl012,shopify_payments,pay_1234
2026-03-16 09:30:22 -0500,charge,#1003,amex,contactless,paid,2026-03-18,2026-03-18,24.99,1.03,23.96,USD,mno345pqr678,shopify_payments,pay_1235
2026-03-16 11:45:00 -0500,refund,#1001,visa,,paid,2026-03-18,2026-03-18,-49.99,0.00,-49.99,USD,,shopify_payments,pay_1235
2026-03-17 08:00:00 -0500,charge,#1004,visa,online,paid,2026-03-19,2026-03-19,299.00,8.97,290.03,USD,stu901vwx234,shopify_payments,pay_1236
2026-03-17 14:15:33 -0500,charge,#1005,mastercard,chip,paid,2026-03-19,2026-03-19,15.00,0.68,14.32,USD,yza567bcd890,shopify_payments,pay_1236
2026-03-18 10:00:00 -0500,dispute,#1002,mastercard,,pending,,,−129.99,15.00,−144.99,USD,,shopify_payments,

Shopify Orders Export CSV (excerpt)

Name,Email,Financial Status,Paid at,Currency,Subtotal,Shipping,Taxes,Total,Discount Code,Discount Amount,Lineitem quantity,Lineitem name,Lineitem price,Lineitem sku,Payment Method
#1001,alice@example.com,paid,2026-03-15,USD,39.99,5.00,5.00,49.99,,,1,Wireless Mouse,39.99,WM-001,Shopify Payments
#1002,bob@example.com,paid,2026-03-15,USD,99.99,10.00,20.00,129.99,SAVE10,10.00,1,Mechanical Keyboard,99.99,KB-002,Shopify Payments
#1002,bob@example.com,paid,2026-03-15,USD,99.99,10.00,20.00,129.99,SAVE10,10.00,1,USB-C Hub,29.99,HUB-003,Shopify Payments

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Disclaimer

This skill and its outputs are provided for informational and computational purposes only and do not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Open Accountants and its contributors accept no liability for any errors, omissions, or outcomes arising from the use of this skill. All outputs must be reviewed and signed off by a qualified professional before filing or acting upon.