How to check and split a payout export in Excel
A step-by-step run through the add-in, from install to a fixed sheet. Scanning, every explanation, the stray-space fix and Undo are free and unlimited. The other fixes and the exportable report are paid, and each is marked Pro where it appears.
What the problem is
A payout reaches the bank as one amount. Behind it are charges, fees, refunds and adjustments, and the export that lists them is full of the things that stop a bookkeeping import or a reconciliation: a payout total that is not the sum of its lines, fees that are missing, dates and amounts stored as text, and more than one currency in one file.
This add-in knows the file is a payout export. It checks the sheet, explains every finding in plain English — what is wrong, and why it matters — and splits each line into gross, fee and net columns. It edits the spreadsheet only and never connects to Shopify™, Stripe™, Xero™ or QuickBooks™.
Formats it recognises
- Stripe™ itemized reports: payout reconciliation, ending-balance reconciliation, payouts and balance change from activity. Built from Stripe's published column documentation.
- Stripe™ summary reports: the five summary reports and the balance summary.
- Shopify™ payouts and payout transactions. Built from a published sample; not yet confirmed against a real export, so these files are explained and warned about but not rewritten.
- Bank-line files for Xero™ or QuickBooks™ Online (UK), and a payout journal for Xero™.
- PayPal™ payouts are planned for a later version.
Before you start
- Excel on Windows, Mac or the web. The add-in is not offered in the Excel mobile apps.
- The add-in installed — see Step 1.
- A spreadsheet with at least one sheet of payout data on it. Import tip: open a CSV with Data › From Text/CSV and set Data Type Detection to “Do not detect data types” before loading it. Opened by double-click, Excel parses dates using the computer's regional settings — a US-locale machine silently turns a UK
06/03/2026into 3 June — and turns text amounts into numbers before the scan can see what was there. - Nothing leaves your machine. The rules run in the task pane, against the open workbook. The add-in's only network traffic is to the licence server, and only ever a licence key, an anonymous install id and which host this is. The privacy notice says so in full.
Step 1 — Install
Not yet on Microsoft AppSource: the listing is in preparation. When it is listed, install it from Microsoft AppSource, or Home › Add-ins › Get Add-ins in Excel, and search for “Payout Export Cleaner”.
Step 2 — Open the pane
In the workbook, open Home › Payout export › Check sheet. The task pane opens on the right.
Step 3 — Pick a direction and scan
Press Clean a payout export for a file that came from Shopify™ or Stripe™, or Check before importing for a file you are about to import into Xero™ or QuickBooks™. The pane says which kind of file it thinks this is — change it there if it guessed wrong.
A sheet with nothing wrong says so, rather than showing an empty list.
Step 4 — Read a finding
Every finding names its rule code, what it found, and why it matters.
Checking a payout export
PO-01 | Payout total is not charges, refunds, adjustments and fees added up |
PO-02 | Net is not gross minus fee, line by line |
PO-03 | Fees missing, or netted off so they never appear |
PO-04 | Refunds and disputes with the wrong sign |
PO-05 | More than one currency, or a customer currency that differs from settlement. Never converted |
PO-06 | No payout id, or a payout that is not marked paid |
PO-07 | The same transaction twice |
PO-08 | Dates stored as text, or mixed time zones |
PO-09 | Amounts stored as text, bracketed negatives, currency symbols |
PO-10 | Transaction types the add-in does not recognise |
PO-11 | Stripe balance summary: ending balance is not starting balance plus activity minus payouts |
PO-12 | Lines that belong to no payout, beside lines that do (the export spans a payout boundary) |
PO-17 | Stray spaces, including non-breaking ones |
PO-18 | Gross, fee and net split into four new columns |
Checking before an import
PO-13 | A payout journal that does not balance |
PO-14 | The clearing line must equal the bank deposit (explained in the pane; one sheet cannot see both files) |
PO-15 | Bank-line files: zeros, weekdays in dates, headings, symbols and dates that read two ways |
PO-16 | A blank account code on a sales, fee, refund or clearing line |
The accounting package's own chart of accounts cannot be seen from a sheet, so account codes are checked for being blank, not for being right.
Step 5 — Fix it Pro
Each fix shows a preview of the exact cell changes before anything is written.
- One-click fixes are safe unattended. The stray-space fix (PO-17) is free; text amounts (PO-09) is Pro.
- Guided fixes — text dates (PO-08), bank-line clean-up (PO-15) and the gross, fee and net split (PO-18) — ask you to confirm before the write.
The split adds four new columns (PO gross in, PO gross out, PO fee, PO net) and leaves every
original cell alone, so the lines can be summed per payout with SUMIFS. It is offered on Stripe™ itemized
reports. The remaining findings are explained but not applied. A value the parser cannot read is never
rewritten, and a guess never overwrites its source.
Step 6 — Undo, or keep the changes
Every fix first saves a copy of the affected cells in the workbook before it changes anything. Undo the last fix in the pane puts them back — free in every tier, always.
Step 7 — The exported report Pro
Export report downloads the full finding list as a CSV or Markdown file, so it can be kept with the books and read without the add-in open. Cells starting with =, +, - or @ are escaped so the CSV is safe to open.
Step 8 — Entering a licence key
Expand Enter a licence key at the bottom of the pane, paste the key from the end of checkout, and press Activate. One key has 3 activations and takes effect immediately. Checkout is not open yet; see Prices.
Limits
- Not on mobile. The add-in is not offered in the Excel mobile apps.
- Sheet size. Sheets up to 4,900,000 cells are supported. Larger sheets are declined with a message naming the size.
- Undo after a shape-changing fix restores row heights and hidden rows for the first 5,000 rows.
- Formats change. The checks follow the platforms' published help pages as at the build date. Several behaviours (the Shopify™ columns above all) could not yet be confirmed against a real export, so those rules explain and warn but never rewrite your cells.
- No currency conversion. Currencies are flagged and checked separately.
FAQ
Does my data leave my machine? No. The rules run in the task pane, against the open workbook. The only network call this add-in makes is to the licence server, for a licence key, an anonymous install id and which host this is.
Why does my payout not match the bank? Usually fees, refunds or an adjustment that is in the platform's report but not in the lines you are adding up, or a payout that straddles the date range you exported. PO-01, PO-03 and PO-12 look for exactly that.
Is this affiliated with Shopify, Stripe, Xero or Intuit? No. It is an independent add-in by AppGarden. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Shopify™, Stripe™, Xero™, Intuit Inc. or QuickBooks™. All are trademarks of their respective owners.
Also for Google Sheets™: Payout Export Cleaner for Google Sheets. The same licence key works in Excel™ and Google Sheets.
Support
Email support@appgarden.co.uk, and say which finding looked wrong. A spreadsheet that produced a wrong finding — or missed a real one — is the most useful thing you can send, with names, emails and amounts redacted. Only send one you are content to share, and read the privacy notice first.
Microsoft and Excel are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Payout Export Cleaner is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Shopify™, Stripe™, Xero™, Intuit Inc. or QuickBooks™. All are trademarks of their respective owners.