Payment Methods When Partial Deliveries and Returns Turn Your Accounting Into a Nightmare

Just imagine: It's November 25, Black Friday, and your online store is running at full speed. Thousands of orders are coming in, the cash registers are ringing - at least virtually. But while your sales team is rejoicing, youraccounting department isin sheer horror. Because behind every sale lurks a question that will come back to haunt you later: Is the money really where it should be?

The truth is: for most e-commerce companies, payment reconciliation is a mess. Partial deliveries, returns and lost transaction IDs turn what should be a simple accounting task into a months-long battle against discrepancies that no one can explain. And on days like Black Friday, Cyber Monday or Christmas sales? That's when a problem turns into a disaster.

In this article, I'll show you why the classic accounts receivable model is reaching its limits with modern online stores, the fatal consequences of lost references - and how you can finally regain control with the right strategies.

The Accounts Receivable Model: A Tried-and-Tested System at Its Limit

How It Should Work

Traditionally, many companies post aseparate accounts receivable account for each customer.The idea behind this is simple and logical:

• Customer A orders for EUR 150 → posting to customer account A
• Payment is received → Debit from customer account A
• The balance always shows how much the customer still owes

This model has proven itself over decades - in industries with few, manageable transactions and clear payment terms. But modern web stores play by completely different rules.

The Collision Course with E-Commerce Reality

The following happens in the world of digital commerce:

Problem 1: Payments Are Made Immediately, but Not Transparently

Unlike traditional B2B transactions with invoices and payment terms, customers in e-commerce pay directly at checkout. The money flows via payment service providers (PSPs) such as Stripe, Adyen or PayPal - but these payment service providers do not transfer the amounts individually, but in aggregated collective transfers.

This means that a sum of, for example, EUR 47,382.15 ends up in your bank account. Which of the day's 2,847 individual transactions are included? The bank won't tell you. The information is somewhere in the billing files of your PSP - if at all.

Problem 2: Partial Deliveries and Returns Blow up the System

Things get really complicated with partial deliveries:

• Customer B orders 3 items for a total of 200 EUR
• Items 1 and 2 are delivered immediately (130 EUR)
• Article 3 is not available and is canceled (70 EUR)
• The PSP has already collected 200 EUR
• Now you have to refund 70 EUR

The crux of the matter: Your POS system has recorded the original order, your PSP has collected the money in full, your merchandise management system shows a partial delivery, and your accounting department has to bring it all together somehow - across multiple systems that all use different reference numbers.

And with returns? Then the game starts all over again, only backwards.

Problem 3: The Reference Disaster

Here comes the real killer: the transaction ID gets lost.

• Your webshop assigns an OrderID: WS-2025-103847
• Your PSP assigns a TransactionID: TRX-998273645
• The bank only knows one settlement reference: SETTLE-20251030
• There is often no automatic link between these systems

The result? You sit there with three different data sets and try to find out manually which payment belongs to which order. With 50 transactions a day, that's annoying. With 5,000 transactions on Black Friday? Impossible.

The Black Friday Effect: When the System Collapses

Why High-Volume Days Make Everything Worse

On normal days, manual reconciliations can still be handled reasonably well. But then come the high-volume days of e-commerce, which push every system to its limits. Black Friday on the last Friday in November traditionally kicks off the hot phase, followed by Cyber Monday on the following Monday. Singles Day on November 11 also plays an increasingly important role in many markets, and of course Christmas sales throughout December should not be forgotten.

On these special days, the transaction volume really explodes. Suddenly, 10 to 20 times more orders come in than on normal days. At the same time, customer expectations rise: Delivery times become shorter, impatience greater. But it is precisely at these peak times that stocks run low, leading to significantly more partial deliveries. And as if that wasn't enough, two to three weeks later comes the inevitable wave of returns as customers rethink their impulse purchases or exchange gifts.

The result: thousands of open itemsthat cannot be allocated. Differences in the five- to six-figure range are not uncommon. Unresolved balances of up to EUR 400,000 have already been identified for ReconHub customers.

The Hidden Costs of Chaos

These differences are not just an accounting nuisance - they have massive financial and operational consequences:

Delayed Cash Flow

If you don't know exactly what payments have been received, you can't plan with certainty. Liquidity bottlenecks arise even though the money is actually there - you just can't find it.

Increased Audit Costs

Auditors don't like unresolved differences. The more open items, the more intensive the audit - and the more expensive the bill.

Risk of Compliance Violations

Incomplete or incorrect reconciliations can violate commercial and tax regulations. In the worst case, sanctions may be imposed.

Write-Downs and Distortion of Results

At some point, unresolved differences must be corrected. This is often done by means of lump-sum write-offs - money that is actually there is booked as a loss. Or vice versa: sales are reported too early and have to be corrected later.

Personnel Costs and Frustration

Your accounting department spends hours, sometimes days, reconciling Excel lists, exchanging emails with PSPs and clarifying discrepancies. Time that is lacking for value-adding activities.

The Solution: OrderID as a Saving Anchor

Why Reconhub Makes the Difference

Here comes the crucial point: not all payment reconciliation systems are the same. Most solutions on the market can only work with the reference numbers that PSPs provide - and that's where the problem lies. Because if the transaction ID is lost during the transition from one system to another, even the best software won't help you.

ReconHub takes a different approach: the system can perform the reconciliation using the OrderID - the original order number from your webshop. This reference is retained throughout the entire process, from the first order to the final payment.

How does this work in practice?

1. End-to-End Linking Across All Systems

ReconHub integrates with all relevant data sources:

• Your webshop/shop system (OrderID as primary key)
• Your payment service provider (transaction IDs)
• Your bank (settlement data)
• Your ERP system (bookings)

The OrderID is used as a consistent identifier so that each transaction can be uniquely assigned - even if the PSP reference is missing or several transactions have been aggregated.

2. Automatic Reconciliation at Transaction Level

Instead of comparing totals (which does not localize any source of error in case of differences), ReconHub works at the individual transaction level:

• Each purchase order is linked to the corresponding payment
• Partial deliveries are automatically recorded and allocated proportionately
• Returns are retroactively reconciled with the original order
• Fees and deductions are shown transparently for each transaction

3. Multi-Level Reconciliation Process: Rules > AI > Human

ReconHub relies on an intelligent, tiered system:

• Rule-based reconciliation: clear, predefined rules automatically assign most transactions (approx. 85-95%)
• AI-supported suggestions: In unclear cases, the system suggests allocations with a confidence value
• Manual review: Only really critical cases are sent to a human - with all the information processed

This means that even on a Black Friday with 10,000 transactions, only 500-1,500 cases are checked manually - instead of all 10,000.

The Decisive Advantage: Transparency Instead of Estimates

With ReconHub, you can always see exactly

• Which order belongs to which payment
• Which fees have been incurred for which transaction
• Where partial deliveries or returns lead to differences
• Whether all expected payments have actually been received

This not only creates security in accounting, but also confidence during audits - because every single transaction is fully traceable.

Specific Recommendations for Your Online Shop

1. Say Goodbye to the Pure Accounts Receivable Model

What you should do:

• Introduce transaction-based payment reconciliation instead of just working with debtor accounts
• Record each transaction individually with all relevant metadata (OrderID, TransactionID, timestamp, amount, payment type)
• Use the OrderID as a consistent identifier across all systems

Why this is important:

In e-commerce reality, you otherwise pay the price in the form of unresolved differences that accumulate over months. Transaction-based systems give you back control.

2. Rely on a Specialized Payment Reconciliation System

What you should do:

• Evaluate solutions that explicitly work with OrderID (like ReconHub)
• Avoid PSP-only dashboards - they only show you their own perspective, not the full chain
• Pay attention to integrations with all your systems (store, ERP, PSP, bank)

Why this is important:

Manual Excel reconciliations don't scale. From a certain size (1,000+ transactions/month at the latest) you need automation - but the right one.

3. Prepare Yourself Specifically for High-Volume Days

What you should do:

• Test your reconciliation processes before Black Friday, Cyber Monday & Co.
• Ensure that all systems are synchronized and data is transferred correctly
• Plan buffer times for settlements (PSPs often need 2-3 working days for settlements)
• Define clear escalation paths for unclear cases

Why this is important:

On normal days, many things work

"somehow". On Black Friday, "somehow " collapses immediately. Preparation is everything.

4. Create Transparency Through Reporting

What you should do:

• Create daily reports on open items, unresolved differences and reconciliation rates
• Monitor KPIs such as "Percentage of automatically reconciled transactions" or "Average clarification time"
• Use dashboards that give you real-time insights into your payment status

Why this is important:

You can only improve what you can measure. Transparency prevents small problems from growing into big differences.

5. Training and Processes: Don’t Forget About People

What you should do:

• Train your accounting team to use modern reconciliation tools
• Define clear processes for partial deliveries, returns and cancellations
• Establish regular reconciliation meetings (ideally daily, at least weekly)

Why this is important:

Technology alone does not solve problems. It needs people who know how to use it correctly - and processes that ensure that the technology is also used.

Conclusion: Regain Control - Before It’s Too Late

The reality is brutal: most e-commerce companies have no idea how much money is really in their account. They work with estimates, balances and the hope that at the end of the month the differences won't get too big.

This works - until it doesn't. Until an auditor asks. Until a CFO has to explain why there are EUR 400,000 in open items. Until a write-down becomes necessary that ruins the annual result.

The good news is that there is a solution. Systems such as ReconHub show that transaction-specific payment reconciliation is possible - even with thousands of transactions every day, even with complex partial deliveries and returns, even on Black Friday.

The first step? Recognize the problem. The second? Take action.

Because one thing is certain: the next peak season is sure to come. And the question is not whether there will be differences - but whether you will find them in time.

Act Now, Don’t Regret It Later

Do you recognize your company in this article? Then now is the right time to make a change.

3 concrete next steps:

1. Analyze your current situation: how many open items do you have? How long does it take to resolve differences? How much time does your team spend on manual reconciliation?
2. Test a modern payment reconciliation solution: Schedule a demo with ReconHub. See what transaction-based reconciliation looks like in practice.
3. Prepare your team: Training, process definition, test runs - the sooner you get started, the more relaxed the next Black Friday will be.

Share this article with your CFO, your accounting team or anyone who can't sleep at night because the numbers don't add up. Because only those who know the problem can solve it.