Identifying and Correcting Discrepancies in Your Amazon Reserved Balances Account
If the balance showing in your Amazon Reserved Balances account in Xero or QuickBooks doesn't match what Amazon is actually holding, don't worry - this guide will help you figure out what's going wrong and how to fix it.
Note: While this article is focused on Amazon, the same principles apply to reserved balances for other sales channels too.
Start with the Basics
Before diving into troubleshooting, double-check the following:
All your settlement invoices from Link My Books have been sent to Xero/QuickBooks
None have been deleted, voided, or duplicated in Xero/QuickBooks
You've followed the setup and posting instructions correctly from our help guides
If all of the above is in place, your Reserved Balances account should balance exactly to what Amazon shows as reserved. If it doesn't, keep reading.
What Is the Reserved Balances Account Used For?
In most cases, the Amazon Reserved Balances account is used for:
Funds held and released by Amazon
Split-month settlements (only for Amazon; for other channels like Shopify, Etsy, and eBay, those are recorded in the Split Month Rollover account)
Since every debit should eventually be followed by a matching credit, identifying mismatches is just a matter of finding entries that don't cancel each other out.
Step 1: Run the Account Activity Report
To begin reconciling:
Go to your accounting software and pull up the account activity for your Reserved Balances account (default name: LMB9 Amazon Reserved Balances)
In Xero: Go to Accounting > Account Transactions
In QuickBooks: Chart of Accounts > Find the account > Run ReportExport the report to Excel or Numbers
If you sell across multiple marketplaces or currencies, apply filters to review each one separately
Then, try to match off all transactions with corresponding debits and credits. Whatever's left unmatched is likely where the discrepancy lies.
Common Discrepancies and How to Fix Them
1. Exchange Rate Differences
If you're working with multiple currencies, exchange rate fluctuations between the debit and credit dates may leave a small balance.
Example:
EUR debits and credits match perfectly
GBP equivalent differs by £23.23 due to FX rates
Fix: Create a journal entry to adjust the difference between the Reserved Balances account and your exchange rate gains/losses account. Your accountant can help if needed.
2. Negative Balances Rolled Over (Instead of Being Charged)
Sometimes, instead of charging your card for a negative balance, Amazon rolls the amount into the next settlement. This creates a missing credit entry in your Reserved Balances account.
Fix (Quick Summary):
Locate the negative settlement in Xero or QuickBooks
Manually add the balancing line item to account for the rolled-over amount
In Xero:
Add a line to the bill for the missing amount (e.g. -2,696.88)
Description: Small Balance Rolled over by Amazon
Account: Amazon Reserved Balances
Update the invoice total to £0.00
In QuickBooks:
Edit the journal entry
Change the "Bank Transfer" line to use Amazon Reserved Balances instead of your bank account
Update the description accordingly
For step-by-step instructions, see our dedicated help article on rolled-over settlements.
3. Cross-Debt Adjustments Between Marketplaces
When Amazon uses a positive balance from one marketplace to offset a negative balance on another (a cross-debt adjustment), both sides of the transaction flow through the Amazon Reserved Balances account. If one marketplace's settlement has been sent to your accounting software but the other has not yet been sent, you will see a temporary imbalance in the Reserved Balances account.
How to identify this:
Look for a "Cross-debt adjustment" or "Cross-marketplace adjustment" entry on one marketplace with no corresponding entry on the other.
Check whether the other marketplace's settlement has been sent to Xero/QuickBooks. If not, send it and the entries should cancel out.
Fix: Ensure all marketplace settlements for the same period have been sent to your accounting software. Once both sides of the cross-debt adjustment are posted, the Reserved Balances account should balance. If a discrepancy remains after both are posted, check whether the negative settlement's bill was adjusted correctly (see our article on negative settlement bills in Xero).
4. Split-Month Settlement Parts Missing in Your Accounting Software
Amazon settlements that span the end of one month and the start of the next are split into two parts so that each month's revenue posts correctly. The Reserved Balances account holds the carried-forward value between the two parts, so both parts must be sent to your accounting software for the account to balance.
If you have an unmatched orange entry in Reserved Balances and the settlement period straddles a month-end, this is the most likely cause.
How to identify this:
Find the unmatched debit or credit in the Reserved Balances activity report and note the settlement value and date range.
In Link My Books, find the matching settlement on your dashboard. If the date range straddles a month boundary, it will have been split into two parts.
Check Xero or QuickBooks for both parts. If only one part has posted, the other is the missing side of the entry.
Fix:
In Link My Books, find the affected settlement on your dashboard.
Click Action > View to view the settlement. From the view settlement page you can send only the unsent invoice to Xero or QuickBooks.
OR you can rollback the entire invoice from the settlemetn dashboard and then resend from the settlement dashboard by clicking Action > Rollback which will rollback the parts of the invoice that has been sent.
Then click Action > Send To Xero/QuickBooks to resend the full invoice with all parts of the split month payout.
💡 Tip: If you'd like split-month settlements to repost automatically after rollback, go to Settings > Settlement Settings and switch on the option that allows autopost after rollback. Otherwise you'll need to manually click Send To Xero/QuickBooks for each one.
If the rollback fails:
🚨 Rollback failing with an error?
If you get a rollback error such as "the journal/invoice has been modified", it usually means the journal or invoice in Xero or QuickBooks has been edited or partly reconciled since Link My Books originally sent it. Our rollback can't remove a journal that's been changed on your accounting platform's side, so you'll need to:
1. Open the affected journal or invoice directly in Xero or QuickBooks and delete it manually.
2. Return to Link My Books and click Action > Rollback again, the rollback will now go through cleanly.
3. Click Action > Send To Xero/QuickBooks to resend the settlement.
5. Incorrect Marketplace Mapping
If you've mapped different marketplaces to separate accounts, make sure you haven't accidentally mixed up entries. A debit in one marketplace's account and a credit in another will leave both unbalanced.
Look for settlements labeled Missing Marketplace - these need to be manually allocated. See our help article on how to resolve this.
6. Opening Balance Issues
If you started using Link My Books mid-year or switched from another system, you'll need to ensure your opening balance in the Reserved Balances account reflects what Amazon had reserved on your start date.
Example:
If you began using Link My Books on 1st Jan 2023, make sure the amount Amazon had reserved as of 31st Dec 2022 is recorded correctly. If not, your first posted settlement will be out of balance.
If you're unsure, your accountant or our support team can help.
7. Failed Transfers
When a payment fails, Amazon may bundle it into the next settlement - this can affect the Reserved Balances account too. If things still aren't matching up, this might be why. See our article on failed settlement transfers for help resolving this.
Still Not Balancing?
These are the most common causes, but not an exhaustive list. If you've checked:
All invoices have posted correctly
No duplicates, deletions, or voids exist
You've worked through the potential issues above
...and it's still not balancing, your accountant should be able to help identify the outlier. Or feel free to reach out to our Support Team - we're always happy to take a look with you.
If you have any questions about this article or feedback on how we could make it better please reach out to the support team via the blue chat icon on the bottom right of the page or via email to [email protected].