Understanding how eBay payouts and their integration with Link My Books work is essential to ensure all your transaction data appears correctly. This article explains what data Link My Books receives from eBay, recent changes in eBay's payout policies, how they affect transaction visibility, common issues users face, and actionable steps to resolve them.

Link My Books connects to the eBay Finances API and receives payout settlement reports each time eBay processes a scheduled payout to your bank account. Each report contains a line-by-line breakdown of every transaction included in that payout, including:

Link My Books does not create or modify this data — it reports on what eBay has already recorded and sent via the API.

The closest equivalent view on eBay's side is within Seller Hub > Payments > Payouts. If you click into a specific scheduled payout there, you will see the same set of transactions that Link My Books receives.

A common question is why figures extracted directly from eBay do not match what Link My Books shows. This is almost always a timing difference caused by how the data is grouped:

The totals will align over time, but they will not match neatly on a month-by-month basis unless payout dates happen to fall exactly on month boundaries.

If you want to verify the data for a specific payout, the audit CSV attached to each settlement in Link My Books (and to the corresponding invoice in Xero or QuickBooks) contains the exact transaction-level data received from eBay for that payout. You can compare this against the transactions listed under the same payout in Seller Hub.

Link My Books relies on the data from eBay's scheduled payout reports to process transactions. If custom or manual payouts are used, the necessary data might not be generated by eBay, leading to missing transactions in Link My Books. Switch to scheduled payouts to ensure all settlement data is available.

Data for eBay early withdrawal payouts does not appear until the next scheduled payout report. Transactions will be marked as 'No Transactions' in the settlement but are corrected once a complete report is received.

If transactions are absent from eBay's reports, they will not appear in Link My Books either. You may need to contact eBay to address the missing payouts.

If you offer free shipping to your buyers but see an "eBay Shipping" income line appearing in Xero (posted to the LMB42 eBay Shipping account), this is coming directly from the data eBay includes in their payout settlement report. Link My Books does not create or modify this figure.

Why does eBay record shipping when I offer free shipping?

This commonly happens with international or export orders. Even when you offer free shipping to buyers, eBay may still record a shipping component against orders shipped to certain countries (for example, the US or Switzerland). You can verify this by downloading the audit CSV for the settlement in question and checking the country codes on the shipping lines.

How to download the audit CSV:

The audit CSV contains the exact transaction-level data received from eBay for that payout. Look for any rows with a shipping amount and check the associated country codes to see which orders the shipping relates to.

Is the shipping income correct?

Yes. The "eBay Shipping" line is revenue that eBay has recorded against the sale. Your actual courier costs (what you pay Royal Mail, Hermes, DPD, etc.) are a completely separate expense in your accounting software. These two items sit in different accounts and will not cancel each other out, which is the correct accounting treatment. If you are unsure, your accountant can confirm this for you.

If you cannot find a matching shipping line in Seller Hub > Payments > Payouts, the audit CSV is the most reliable way to verify exactly what eBay sent through, as the Seller Hub view does not always display every line item in the same way.

If eBay data sent from Link My Books does not appear in Xero, check whether you have sent the entire settlement. Missing earlier records could result from incomplete data imports. Confirm your business registration dates and opening balance adjustments with an accountant for accurate tracking.

For recent payouts, data may take up to 1-2 days to appear after the payout is processed. If it still does not show up, verify your Link My Books dashboard or contact support for assistance.

By following these steps and recommendations, you can ensure that Link My Books accurately reflects your eBay transactions for streamlined financial management.