A settlement report is a summary of the transactions and money settled for a merchant or participant over a period, usually a day or a payout cycle. For a merchant, a typical report from an acquirer or payment processor shows gross card sales, refunds, chargebacks and reversals, processing and other fees, any amounts added to or released from a merchant reserve, and the net amount deposited. Many reports break these figures down by card brand, currency, location or terminal.
Merchants use settlement reports to check that payouts match their sales records, to book fees and revenue correctly in accounting, and to spot problems such as missing batches or unexpected charges. Banks and clearing participants receive similar reports showing their net position in each settlement cycle. Reports are usually available in the provider's online portal and are often generated from the same data as the machine-readable settlement file, which is better suited to automated settlement reconciliation.