Consolidating several payout reports into a single report: Payout Reconciliation Report

At PayRex, we believe that the actual test of a good payment infrastructure is not only in processing payments but also in how well it integrates into the daily operations of the businesses we support. Payments should be an end-to-end process, encompassing everything from transactions to reconciliation and settlement. Finance teams navigate the complexities of payouts, reconciliation, and reporting to ensure accurate financial records. That's why we view every merchant's experience as a design challenge; if something slows them down, it is our responsibility to make it seamless and efficient.

The Problem

One Thursday morning, we received a chat message from one of our merchants, Wheyl, an e-commerce platform that provides high-quality whey protein and supplements. As an early adopter of our platform, they quickly experienced the advantages of faster payout turnaround times through their weekly reconciliation process. However, this also introduced a challenge we needed to address.

With their previous payment gateway, Wheyl received payouts once a week. Reconciling involved downloading a single report and matching it against a week's worth of transactions. With PayRex, Wheyl now receives daily payouts that cover T+2 payments, meaning they get five payouts each week (Monday to Friday). While this quicker access to funds was beneficial, it also created a financial operational challenge: every Monday, their finance team had to download and reconcile five separate payout files to close the books for the previous week.

The friction didn't come from the data itself; it stemmed from the workflow. The increase in payouts led to greater reconciliation overhead, demonstrating that what worked for weekly payouts was not sustainable for daily ones.

The Solution

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Every feature we build at PayRex starts with a problem or challenge faced by our merchants. We scheduled a call with Wheyl to understand their process better, and I had the pleasure of discussing this directly with one of the founders who handles accounting. Along with one of my product managers, Alex, we listened intently to our customers' needs.

After gathering sufficient feedback, we returned to our engineering team to share the insights from our conversation. Our product engineering team raised an important question: What if reconciling five payouts could be made to feel like reconciling just one? The result was the Payout Reconciliation Report. This single report consolidates multiple payouts into one comprehensive view, itemizing each payout and linking it to its corresponding transactions, fees, and adjustments.

Finance teams can easily export this report to their accounting systems. We delivered an initial version to Wheyl and awaited their feedback. The outcome was transformative: reconciliation that previously required juggling five files could now be completed in a single download.

Storytelling: From Pain to Clarity

Before the report, our merchant's Mondays began with a tedious routine of downloading five CSV files, manually merging them, double-checking against bank deposits, and resolving discrepancies. While this process was manageable, it was draining and not the best use of their team's time.

After releasing the initial version within two weeks time, Wheyl's Monday mornings underwent a transformation. Instead of piecing together multiple exports, they could now pull a single, consolidated payout reconciliation file that clearly presents all the necessary information. What used to take minutes was streamlined to just seconds.

For Wheyl, this feature not only alleviated friction but turned a hidden operational burden into a source of confidence. For us at PayRex, it served as a reminder that exceptional infrastructure doesn't just facilitate money movement; it also simplifies the surrounding processes.

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