How to Track Refunds Across Sales Platforms
Here's a dirty secret: every sales dashboard shows you gross revenue. They count the sale but quietly hide the refund on a different page. Your "revenue" number is a lie — and it gets worse when you sell on multiple platforms.
The Hidden Refund Problem
- 1 LemonSqueezy says you made $500 this month
- 2 But $45 in refunds are buried in a separate "Refunds" tab
- 3 Gumroad shows $300 — minus $20 in refunds you didn't notice
- 4 Stripe shows $200 in charges, but the disputes page shows $15 returned
- 5 Your spreadsheet says $1,000. You actually earned $920. That's 8% overstated
Refund-Aware Revenue
- ✓ SaneSales tracks refundedAmount per order from every platform
- ✓ Revenue cards show net totals — gross minus refunds, automatically
- ✓ Refunded orders are visually marked in the order list
- ✓ Product breakdown donut chart uses net revenue per product
- ✓ No manual subtraction. No hidden tabs. What you see is what you earned
Why This Matters for Taxes
When tax season comes, you need your actual net revenue, not the inflated number. SaneSales CSV export includes refund amounts per order, so your accountant sees the real picture. No more manually cross-referencing three platforms to figure out what you actually owe.