Adyen & Stripe Reporting Explained: Fees, Reconciliation, and Cost Transparency

In today's merchant payments ecosystem, understanding fees and reporting is critical. Fees directly impact margins, while reports provide the transparency needed to manage performance, reconcile transactions, and control costs.

Two of the most widely used payment service providers (PSPs), Adyen and Stripe, offer comprehensive reporting frameworks. However, these reports are fragmented, technical, and often difficult to interpret without significant manual effort. Finance and operations teams are left stitching together multiple files to answer basic questions like: What fees did we pay? Are they allocated correctly? How do they impact profitability?

Understanding PSP Reports

PSPs do not provide a single, central report that captures everything. Instead, reports are broken into subgroups, each covering a specific dataset such as transaction requests, settlements, fees, chargebacks, or disputes.

Having access to data is only the first step for any business to ensure control over its payment setup. Raw data from PSPs is essential, but without structure and context, it remains underutilized. At the most basic level, companies need this information for reconciliation, aligning the statuses provided by the PSP with their own booking engines, ERP systems, or accounting tools. This ensures that every transaction is accurately tracked, revenue is recorded correctly, and no funds are lost in translation between systems.

Beyond reconciliation, data is also the foundation for performance management. By analyzing approval rates, decline reasons, chargeback ratios, and settlement times, businesses can identify inefficiencies and opportunities to optimize their payment strategy. For example, understanding why certain transactions fail can guide improvements in routing or fraud prevention.

Lastly, data is crucial for cost transparency and optimization. Fees are often split into multiple components (interchange, scheme, processing, etc.), and without detailed analysis, it's difficult to know the true cost per payment method, region, or channel. With the right visibility, businesses can manage costs more effectively, negotiate better terms, and make smarter decisions about which PSPs, payment methods, or geographies to prioritize.

Deep Dive: Adyen Reports

Adyen provides several detailed reports that are fundamental for reconciliation, cost transparency, and dispute management. The most relevant for IXOPAY users include:

• Settlement Reports: Contain detailed information about all settled events by payout or settlement cycle, including fees and adjustments.

• Transaction Reports: Cover all payment requests initiated via Adyen, including transaction attributes, decline reason codes, and customer or card details.

• Dispute/Chargeback Reports: Provide updates on disputes and chargebacks at various stages, with reason codes, statuses, and outcomes.

• Payments Accounting Reports: Summarize different transaction types and applied fees, broken down into components such as interchange, scheme, processing, and risk fees.

Key Data Points Provided

Settlement Details Report

Key data points include:

• PSP reference (Adyen's unique identifier for each transaction)

• Merchant reference (the identifier provided by the merchant)

• Merchant account used for processing

• Payment method and variant (e.g., Visa credit, Mastercard debit)

• Record date and time with time zone

• Type of transaction (settled, refunded, chargeback, fee, adjustment)

• Gross and net amounts with currencies

• Fees and commission breakdowns

• Links to settlement batch or payout cycles

Received Payment Details Report

Key data points include:

• PSP and merchant references

• Payment method variant and funding source

• Shopper details such as email, billing, and delivery address

• Issuer details (bank name and country)

• Payment status (authorized, refused, cancelled, etc.)

• Risk score (if available)

• Shopper interaction type (e-commerce, MOTO, POS)

• Acquirer response codes

• Transaction amounts and currencies

Disputed Transactions Report

Key data points include:

• Company and merchant account identifiers

• PSP reference of the original payment

• Merchant reference

• Payment method used in the original transaction

• Record date, time, and time zone

• Dispute currency and amount

• Record type (notification of chargeback, chargeback, request for information, reversal)

• Dispute reference for the event itself

• Dispute reason and associated scheme codes or reason codes

Payment Accounting Report

Key data points include:

• PSP and merchant references

• Payment method

• Timestamps for lifecycle events (authorization, refund, cancellation, settlement)

• Transaction amounts and currencies for each modification

• Event or journal type indicating the specific action in the payment lifecycle

• Associated fees and adjustments tied to those actions

IXOPAY's Enhancements for Adyen

While Adyen's reports are comprehensive, they often require significant manual processing. IXOPAY simplifies and enriches this data by:

• Unifying multiple reports into dedicated tables: For example, the transactions table in IXOPAY is a combination of the Received Payments, Payments Accounting, 3D Secure Authentication, and Settlement Details reports. Similarly, the disputes table merges Dispute Reports with data from Received Payments, Payments Accounting, and 3D Secure reports.

• Structured invoices: We transform Adyen's CSV data into structured tables, ready for in-depth data analysis.

• Extended Scheme and Interchange Fee reporting: Adyen provides JSON-based details on Interchange and Scheme fees that are complex to analyze in raw form. IXOPAY extends this data, combining it with Payments Accounting to generate structured, easy-to-read reports.

Example of raw JSON data from Adyen:

[
    {
        "t": "ic",
        "n": "Intra EEA Standard",
        "ipc": "75",
        "fq": 0,
        "bps": 30,
        "ccy": "EUR"
    },
    {
        "t": "sf",
        "n": "Connectivity Fee",
        "fc": 0.36,
        "fq": 0.36,
        "bps": 0,
        "ccy": "EUR"
    },
    {
        "t": "sf",
        "n": "Authorization Fee Mastercard",
        "fc": 0.3262,
        "fq": 0,
        "bps": 0.9,
        "ccy": "EUR"
    }
]

IXOPAY structures this into enriched tables with clear columns such as:

*All Payments Accounting Report datapoints can be included in this structured report, ensuring nothing is lost in translation.

Deep Dive: Stripe Reports

Stripe's reporting is robust but, like Adyen, requires businesses to piece together multiple reports to understand performance and costs. Reports include:

• Payout reports: Provide a breakdown of each payout to the bank, linking the deposited amount to underlying transactions and fees.

• Balance transactions: Capture every movement of funds within the Stripe account (charges, refunds, fees, payouts, adjustments). This is the core ledger that shows how funds flow in and out.

• Transaction reports: Built based on webhook ingestions.

• Interchange & Fees report for IC+ customers: Offers detailed visibility into the true cost of card processing. Breaks down interchange fees, scheme fees, and Stripe's own fees at multiple levels (summary, plan-level, transaction-level), enabling more accurate reconciliation and cost analysis.

Key Data Points Provided

Payout Reconciliation Report

Key data points include:

• Payout ID

• Payout date (when the payout was sent)

• Payout amount and currency

• Balance transaction ID (links to the specific balance transactions included)

• Reporting category (charges, refunds, disputes, fees, etc.)

• Transaction type (charge, refund, transfer, adjustment)

• Gross, fee, and net amounts per line item

Balance Transactions Report

Key data points include:

• Balance transaction ID

• Transaction type (charge, refund, payout, fee, transfer, etc.)

• Transaction amount and currency

• Availability date (when funds become available)

• Creation timestamp

• Fee, net, and exchange rate values

• Reporting category (charge, refund, dispute, etc.)

• Source object (e.g., charge ID, payout ID)

Interchange & Fees Report (IC+ Customers)

Report variations and data points:

a) Summary Report

• Transaction volume by card brand

• Split of network costs vs. Stripe fees

• Effective cost ratios (fees volume)

b) Detailed Summary Report

• Same as above, broken down by:

  • BIN (issuing bank)

  • Connected account (for platforms)

c) Interchange Plan-Level Report

• Card brand and card funding (credit, debit, prepaid)

• Plan name (interchange tier/plan)

• Variable rate and fixed per-item amount

• Transaction count and volume

• Network fees vs. Stripe fees

d) Transaction-Level Report

Most granular level - each fee for each transaction, including:

• Charge ID, customer ID, connected account ID

• Card brand, card country, card funding, BIN, issuing bank

• Event type (charge, refund, dispute, authorization, etc.)

• Fee category (Stripe fee vs. network cost)

• Fee name (interchange, scheme fee, volume fee, etc.)

• Variable rate, variable volume amount, fixed per-item amount

• Subtotal, tax, and total amounts

• Balance transaction ID

• FX rate (if currency conversion applied)

• Attribution fields for monthly/periodic fees (e.g., Visa FANF)

IXOPAY on the Stripe App Marketplace

Stripe's App Marketplace extends reporting and reconciliation capabilities, and IXOPAY is part of it. This integration brings advanced intelligence directly into Stripe, allowing finance and operations teams to go beyond raw data and unlock deeper insights.

With IXOPAY in Stripe's App Marketplace, users can:

• Access AI-driven insights to uncover new payment opportunities.

• Interact with IXOPAY's AI Co-Pilot directly inside Stripe to get instant answers about transactions, fees, and performance.

• Deep-dive into payment costs & performance to reveal the true cost of transactions and identify ways to boost revenue.

This means that Stripe users no longer have to rely solely on manual reconciliation or raw exports. IXOPAY brings automation, intelligence, and transparency right into their existing workflows.

Fee Allocation & Insights

Fee allocation is one of the most critical and challenging aspects of payments reporting. For finance and accounting teams, it's not enough to know the total fees charged by a PSP; they need to understand how those fees are distributed across payment methods, geographies, schemes, and even individual transactions. Without this level of granularity, businesses struggle with:

• Accurate reconciliation between PSP invoices and internal booking systems.

• True cost transparency, e.g., identifying which payment methods or schemes are more expensive.

• Performance optimization, since fees are directly linked to approval rates, payment routing, and ultimately, revenue.

IXOPAY's Allocation Engine

IXOPAY has developed an advanced allocation engine with more than 200 business logics to handle the complexities of PSP fee reporting. Instead of leaving fees in aggregated or invoice-level form, we map and allocate them back to the correct transactional events.

Our engine looks at PSP invoices or consolidated fee reports and then distributes the costs according to multiple dimensions, including:

• PSP

• Merchant account

• Payment method

• Scheme

• Transaction type

• Currency

• Transactional attributes

For example, with Adyen invoices, IXOPAY identifies all the non-transactional reported fees (e.g., 3D Secure charges, account updater fees, or scheme penalties) and allocates them against the related transactional events. This ensures that every cost is tied to a payment, giving merchants a complete and transparent view of their payment economics.

By breaking fees down to the transactional level, IXOPAY enables businesses to not only reconcile more effectively but also make informed decisions about payment routing, cost optimization, and negotiation with PSPs.

Wrapping Up

Adyen and Stripe provide powerful reporting frameworks, but their complexity often prevents businesses from fully leveraging the data. Reports are fragmented, technical, and time-consuming to reconcile, leaving finance teams without clear visibility into fees and performance.

IXOPAY bridges this gap. By automating fee allocation, consolidating PSP reports, and transforming raw data into actionable insights, IXOPAY empowers businesses to take control of their payments, reduce manual effort, and make better strategic decisions.

Ready to simplify your PSP reporting? Book a demo with us, and see how IXOPAY enhances reporting for Adyen, Stripe, and beyond.