Ad spend in your books and in the ads reports: why they differ, and why nothing counts twice
Amazon charges ads from your payouts or your card; the ads reports say what was spent each day. How Channel profit and Profit by product use each, and how to make your books complete.
Two records of the same ads
| Your books | The ads reports | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | What the marketplace charged: "Cost of Advertising" in Amazon's settlements, the advertising fee in Noon's statements, or a card payment | What each campaign and product spent, day by day |
| When | When charged (at a threshold, or monthly) | The day of the click |
| Per product | No | Yes (Sponsored Products) |
| Used for | Channel profit's Advertising row, your profit and loss | Profit by product, TACOS, break-even |
How Bookalyze keeps them apart
- Channel profit counts the advertising in your books, as before. The ads reports' total shows below Profit as Ad spend in the ads reports, with TACOS, for comparison only, never added in
- Profit by product takes the advertising in your books *out* of what the marketplace leaves you, then takes each product's own spend from the reports off its profit. So ads are counted once, from the reports
- At the bottom of each marketplace on Profit by product: the advertising in your books, the ads reports' total, and the difference
Why the difference
- Timing: Amazon charges ads when your balance reaches a threshold or at month end, so a charge can land in the next period
- Paid by card: when Amazon charges ads to a card, they aren't in the settlements at all. They're in your books as a card payment, in an expense category
- Noon takes ads inside a statement fee, once a statement is in
- Credits and promotional ad credits reduce what's charged, not what's spent
When Amazon charges your card
- 1
Categorise the card payments
Put Amazon's advertising charges on your card in an expense category such as "Advertising" (a rule can do it every time).
- 2
Count it against the marketplace
Commerce → Channel profit → Your own costs: set that category against the marketplace (Amazon.ca). Channel profit then takes it off that marketplace's profit.
- 3
Check
Over a few months, the advertising in your books and the ads reports' total should be close.
Read next
Profit by product, after ads: what every product really makes
Each product's profit after the marketplace's fees, what it cost you and its ads, per marketplace. The products losing money come first, each with how far its ads can go before they stop paying.
Read the guideChannel profit: what each marketplace really makes
A column per marketplace, in its own currency, from sales down to profit after fees, ads, cost of goods and your own costs. All channels together in your main currency.
Read the guideHow payouts post to your books
Choose an account for each kind of money (sales, refunds, fees, ads, tax, held back) and a clearing or balance account for the payout, pick the day posting starts, then post by hand or automatically. The same idea for Amazon, Walmart, Noon and eBay.
Read the guide