🔹 Overview
PayPal supports foreign currency transactions, holds and reserves, and manual transfers from external sources. This adds complexity to reconciliation. We only reconcile transactions that settle to your PayPal account(s)—not your end bank account.
To support a clean GL integration:
• Create one PayPal bank account per currency (e.g., USD PayPal, EUR PayPal) to use as intermediate clearing accounts before you sweep balances to the bank - even if you auto-sweep!
🔸 Adjustments & Rare Transactions
These are infrequent transactions not tied to standard sales or refunds.
Examples:
• Adjustments
• Bonus Reversals
• eBay Sales / Taxes
• Processor Discounts
Typically mapped to:
• Suspense Account or Misc. Adjustments Account
→ These entries should be reviewed monthly to ensure they’re not masking material issues.
💡 Why: These items are often noisy or nonrecurring. Mapping them to a monitored account helps isolate and review them during close.
🔸 Currency Conversion
These reflect gains/losses from PayPal’s FX handling.
Examples:
• Currency Conversion
• FX Transfer
Typically mapped to:
• Foreign Exchange Gain/Loss Account (usually Other Income/Expense)
🔁 Why: These aren’t revenue—they reflect operational FX activity that should live below the operating line on your P&L.
🔸 Payments (Non-Sale)
These are cash transactions not tied to customer orders.
Examples:
• Payments Received
• General Payments
• Bank Transfers
Typically mapped to:
• Cash Suspense or Transfer Clearing Account
🧾 Why: These don’t tie to order revenue and should be isolated for manual investigation or intercompany transfers.
🔸 Chargebacks & Disputes
These relate to customer complaints, credit card disputes, or related fees.
Examples:
• Chargebacks
• Chargeback Reversals
• Dispute Fees
Typically mapped to:
• COGS or Operating Expense (e.g., Dispute Losses or Fees)
⚠️ Note: As with other processors, do not map chargebacks or dispute fees to Revenue. NetSuite will reject any negative amounts included in a deposit as a revenue account.
🔸 Sales & Refund Clearing
These are your core revenue-related flows.
Examples:
• Sales Transactions
• Refund Transactions
Typically mapped to:
• Undeposited Funds (if using NetSuite’s native cash sales flow)
• PayPal Clearing Account (Bank type) if you’re using a clearing structure
💡 Why: These represent real customer cash activity. Where you map them depends on whether you’ve already recorded the revenue upstream.
🧾 NetSuite Reminder: If mapped to a clearing account, use journal entries—not deposits—since clearing accounts behave like bank accounts.
🔸 Fees
PayPal deducts fees for transactions, processing, and sometimes point-of-sale terminals.
Examples:
• Payment Processor Fees (Refund/Sale)
• Fee Reversals
• Virtual Terminal Fees
• Generic Fees
Typically mapped to:
• Payment Processor Fees (COGS)
• Other Expense: POS Fees (if applicable)
🔸 Holds, Reserves & Suspensions
These entries reflect funds temporarily withheld by PayPal or transfers into/out of PayPal.
Examples:
• Auto Sweeps
• Funding From Bank
• Hold Payments / Releases
• Internal Transfers
• Payment Review Holds / Releases
• Reserve Payments
• Statement Consolidation
• Website Payments Standard
Typically mapped to:
• External Bank Account → For Auto Sweeps & Bank Funding
• Suspense Account or AR Review Account → For held funds or temporary transfers
📊 Why: These are not earnings or expenses, but cash movement and temporarily held balances. Keep them off your P&L.
🧠 NetSuite Best Practices
• Create one PayPal GL bank account per currency.
• If auto-sweeping, route funds through a PayPal Clearing Account (we don’t reconcile final bank deposits).
• Use journal entries, not deposits, when working with PayPal-clearing (bank-type) accounts.
• Monitor Suspense/AR Review accounts monthly.
💬 Still Need Help?
Our ASE team is happy to help with edge cases and COA setup. Reach out via chat or ask your onboarding specialist to walk through your PayPal mapping.