What reports do I need to download from Amazon Seller Central each month?
The Settlement Report is the most important one. This shows exactly what Amazon deposited into your bank account and breaks down the components: sales revenue, refunds, FBA fees, referral fees, advertising charges, and other adjustments. Without this report, you cannot reconcile your Amazon deposits to your bank statement accurately. Download the settlement report for each payout period that closed during the month.
The Date Range Transaction Report gives you line-by-line detail of every transaction. While the Settlement Report shows aggregated totals per payout period, the transaction report shows individual orders, refunds, and fees. This level of detail matters when you need to investigate discrepancies or understand why a particular settlement came in higher or lower than expected.
For FBA sellers, the Monthly Storage Fees Report shows what Amazon charged to store your inventory. These fees add up quickly with slow-moving products or oversized items. Download this so storage costs are properly accounted for and you can make informed decisions about which SKUs are worth keeping in FBA.
The Inventory Adjustments Report tracks what Amazon lost, damaged, or reimbursed you for. Inventory goes missing in fulfillment centers more often than you’d expect. This report helps maintain accurate inventory records and ensures reimbursements are recognized correctly in your books.
If you run Amazon PPC campaigns, download the Advertising Cost Report. Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands charges appear in your settlement, but the advertising reports provide campaign-level detail so you understand what you’re getting for that spend. This helps with both bookkeeping accuracy and marketing decisions.
The Returns Report shows customer returns with reasons. You need to know when refunds occurred and whether inventory came back to you. Returns affect revenue recognition and inventory counts, so tracking them separately prevents confusion later.
Most of these reports can be scheduled for automatic generation in Seller Central under Reports and then Report Preferences. Set them to run monthly and you’ll have a consistent package of data each month without remembering to pull everything manually.
The actual small business bookkeeping process involves importing these reports and reconciling them against bank deposits. Many e-commerce sellers use apps like A2X or Link My Books to automate this. These tools pull data directly from Amazon and create summarized journal entries that match your settlement periods.
If you’re doing it manually, start with the Settlement Report. Match each bank deposit to a settlement period. Then use the transaction report to verify components are categorized correctly. Amazon fees are deductible business expenses. Sales revenue gets recognized based on your accounting method, which determines whether you record it at the time of sale or when cash arrives.
Getting this right matters because profit margins are thinner than they look once you account for all the fees Amazon takes. Your books should reflect what you’re actually keeping, not just what customers paid.
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