Client Case Study: Resolving Missing Sales Through Accurate Reconciliation
Resolving Missing Sales Through Accurate Reconciliation
At Porterdale, we specialise in financial management, accounting services, and business consultancy, helping our clients streamline their operations and improve their financial clarity. This case study explores how our expertise in bank reconciliation, management accounts, and financial reporting uncovered a major issue in a client’s e-commerce revenue stream, identifying significant financial errors.
Background
At the end of 2024, we took on a new client requiring assistance with their monthly management accounts. As part of our services, we conducted a thorough bank reconciliation, which included reviewing PayPal and Shopify accounts. During this process, we identified discrepancies—certain sales were missing from the client’s reported e-commerce revenue. Given that the client was using bridging software to link their website with their accounting system, this should not have happened. We needed to investigate why.
Discovering £131,000 in missing sales for our client through our financial review
Our Approach
Having access to both the bridging software and the accounting system, we conducted extensive testing and analysis.
Our approach included:
Running detailed reports from both systems.
Identifying a common data point—billing postcodes—which allowed us to track missing transactions.
Discovering a £131,000 discrepancy in missing sales revenue.
To understand the root cause, we worked closely with the bridging software’s customer support team. Their findings revealed a product mapping error—newly added products on the website were not correctly mapped in the accounting software, causing the bridging software to fail in transferring certain transactions.
Actions Taken
Firstly, we had to look at how to quickly fix this as trade continued on the website. Then we needed to prevent this from recurring, especially with a peak sales period approaching.
To quickly rectify the issue and ensure long-term accuracy, we implemented the following solutions:
Immediate Fix: We introduced a website sales Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) in the accounting system. This allowed all unmapped product sales to be correctly recognised and exported via the bridging software.
Collaboration with Software Support: Working alongside the bridging software’s customer service team, we successfully set up this generic mapping parameter and executed backdated exports to recover lost sales data.
Process Improvement: We put safeguards in place to ensure that all new products are correctly mapped in both the website and accounting system, preventing future discrepancies.
Results & Lessons Learned
The client was delighted to have recovered £131,000 of missing sales.
With the financial loss issue resolved, our client now also benefits from a fully integrated and reliable financial system, ensuring that all future sales are correctly recorded, offering complete peace of mind. This case study underscores the importance of regular reconciliation, proactive financial management, and robust integration processes. While automation and software solutions can significantly streamline operations, human oversight remains crucial. In recent times with accounting software, we have been spoiled with the numerous options of add on software products to streamline and save time. But this is a cautionary tale to ensure that integrations are correct and that processes are put in place. Software is very clever, but we still need to give it a helping hand– it can’t yet read our minds to what we want it to do!
At Porterdale, we understand that managing business finances can be overwhelming, so we offer part-time finance help through our Fractional CFO, Part-time Finance Director, and Part-time Financial Controller services.
If your business needs expert financial management, from reconciliations to strategic financial advice, we’re here to help.
Contact Us today to discuss your needs.
