Puzzle records your Stripe activity automatically: payments, fees, refunds, chargebacks and payouts. To confirm everything made it in, compare one number in Puzzle with one number in Stripe for the same date.
Before you start
Use the accrual view. It lines up with Stripe's default reports. Cash basis uses the date funds become available, so it won't match Stripe's reports exactly.
Puzzle syncs Stripe once a day, around 2 AM Pacific. Anything from today or yesterday may not be in Puzzle yet.
Puzzle's monthly Stripe reconciliation report is ready within the first week of the following month.
Step 1: Find your Stripe balance in Puzzle
Go to Financial Statements → Balance Sheet.
Set the view to Accrual and pick the month you're reconciling.
Find your Stripe receivable account. It's usually named something like Stripe Receivable or Processor Receivable. Note the ending balance.
Want to see it day by day? Open the same account in the General Ledger.
Step 2: Find your ending balance in Stripe
In the Stripe Dashboard, make sure you're in the right Stripe account.
Go to Balances → Balance summary. You can also get there through Reports → Balance summary.
Set the same dates as in Puzzle, and set the timezone to your company's timezone.
Note the Ending balance.
Step 3: Compare
They match: you're done. Your Stripe balance is reconciled for that period.
They don't match: go to Step 4.
Step 4: Use Puzzle's Stripe reconciliation report
Puzzle builds a detailed Excel reconciliation for each month.
Go to Payment processor → Reconciliations.
Pick the month and download the report.
Use it to find the transactions that don't line up.
Report says "Failed to generate"? Send us a message with the month and we'll re-run it for you.
Optional: Check activity by type
If the balances match but you want to check the activity itself (payments, refunds, fees):
Go to Payment processor, set the same dates, and open the Summary tab.
Compare the Net financial statement impact table with Stripe's Balance summary. The Detail tab has the individual transactions.
To check payouts, go to Transactions → Payment processor → Detail.
In Stripe | Where to find it in Puzzle |
Starting balance | Last month's ending balance |
Activity before fees | Revenue (may be spread across several accounts) |
Fees | Processor fees account |
Net balance change | Net change in the Stripe receivable account |
Total payouts | Transactions → Payment processor → Detail |
Ending balance | This month's ending balance |
Why the numbers might not match
Timezone: Stripe and Puzzle are set to different timezones.
Cash vs. accrual: you're comparing Puzzle's cash view. Switch to accrual.
Recent activity: the last day or two hasn't synced yet. Check the Stripe sync status on the Integrations page.
Pending items: a payout or charge still in transit on the last day of the month shows in Stripe but not in Puzzle yet.
More than one Stripe account: compare the same account in both places, or add them together.
Uncategorized items: if the balances match but the activity doesn't, look in the Detail tab for transactions missing a category.
Still stuck?
Message us with the month, the basis (accrual or cash), both ending balances, and a screenshot of each. That gives us what we need to dig in.