Chapter 1: Getting Started
1.1 What is the Disbursement & Fee Report?
The Disbursement & Fee Report (DFR) is your complete record of funds moving between your merchant account and your bank. Use it to:
Reconcile bank deposits with transaction activity
Track fees charged at the transaction and account level
Investigate refunds, disputes, and adjustments
Understand reserve holds and manual corrections
Every time money moves to or from your bank account, the DFR tells you exactly what made up that transfer.
1.2 When You Receive It
The DFR is generated after a bank transfer is made:
Settlement Model | DFR Available |
|---|---|
Net Settlement | D+1 (1 day after disbursement) |
Gross Settlement | D+2 (2 days after disbursement) |
Delivery: Reports are delivered via SFTP (Dropzone). Contact your account representative to enable access.
1.3 File Naming Convention
merchant_acct-DISBURSEMENT-FEE-REPORT-DAILY-YYYYMMDD-1-1-YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS Component | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Your Merchant Account ID |
|
| Disbursement date (bank transfer date) |
|
| File sequence (file 1 of 1) |
|
| Generation timestamp (UTC) |
|
1.4 Quick Reference Card
Key Fields for Bank Reconciliation
Find this in DFR | To answer this question |
|---|---|
| "Which DFR row matches my bank statement?" |
| "Does DFR match my bank deposit?" |
| "Which of my orders are in this deposit?" |
| "What sale was this refund/dispute for?" |
Sign Convention
Sign | Money is flowing... | Examples |
|---|---|---|
Positive (+) | TO you | Sales, Chargeback Reversals, Reserve Releases |
Negative (−) | FROM you | Refunds, Chargebacks, Fees, Reserve Holds |
Important: Fee values are stored as negative numbers (e.g., -$3.00). This is consistent with the sign convention: fees flow FROM you.
1.5 Reconciliation Example
Here's how to verify a bank deposit matches your DFR:
Bank Statement shows: Transfer ID gd6r94 = $960.30
Step 1: Find matching Report Summary (RS) row
Transfer ID | Sales | Refunds | Disputes | Net Fees | Net Disbursed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
gd6r94 | $1,000.00 | -$10.00 | -$10.00 | -$19.70 | $960.30 |
Step 2: Verify with Report Details (RD) for Transfer ID gd6r94
Record Type | Gross Settlement | Total Net Fees | Net Disbursed |
|---|---|---|---|
Sale | $1,000.00 | -$3.00 | $997.00 |
Refund | -$10.00 | -$0.20 | -$10.20 |
Chargeback | -$10.00 | -$4.50 | -$14.50 |
Interchange Fee | $0.00 | -$2.00 | -$2.00 |
Scheme Fee | $0.00 | -$10.00 | -$10.00 |
TOTAL | $980.00 (19.70 deducted at month end) | -$19.70 | $960.30 |
Validation checks:
Bank deposit ($960.30) = Disbursed ($960.30)
Sum of Results Direct l RD Disbursed ($960.30) = rs.net Disbursed ($960.30)
Each RD row: Net Disbursed = Gross Settlement + Total Net Fees
Note on math: Because fees are negative, $1,000 + (-$3) = $997. The formula is addition, but the effect is subtraction.