How to report revenue and float across several prepaid categories
Give each prepaid category its own opening balance, funding, completed order value, fees, adjustments and closing balance. Keep the money customers paid separate from the float you put into a supplier account. Ask finance how to classify the amounts in the accounts.
Use the same branch codes, product labels and cut-off times on each report. Set aside pending orders and orders with no confirmed result so a manager can trace them without counting them as completed sales.
Sample operational report
| Category | Opening float | Funding | Completed orders | Closing float | Exceptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airtime | R500 | R1,000 | R900 | R600 | 1 pending |
| Data | R300 | R500 | R420 | R380 | 0 |
| Electricity | R200 | R600 | R500 | R300 | 1 unmatched |
By Freepaid · Published
Define each amount before comparing it
Show where each number came from. Use the supplier statement for wallet deposits, fees and balances, and the till records for customer payments. Match completed orders to both by reference. Get finance to approve the report labels before using them in the accounts.
State whether a report is based on order date, funding date or settlement date. Supplier exports and point-of-sale records may use different cut-offs. If a transaction crosses a reporting boundary, record its status and reference so the next period can follow it. Avoid forcing a balance to agree by moving an unresolved order into completed sales.
Worked example: airtime balance
Suppose the opening float is R500, funding during the period is R1,000 and completed orders total R900. Under a simplified illustration with no fees, adjustments or timing differences, the expected balance is R500 + R1,000 − R900 = R600. If the supplier's reported closing balance is R580, show the R20 variance separately and investigate it against funding and order references.
Leave the R20 difference visible while you check the funding entries, supplier charges and order references. If an order is pending, keep it separate until you can verify what happened.
Reconcile across categories
Match transactions by reference before comparing only category totals. Use stable internal product identifiers to avoid accidentally combining different bundle values or electricity categories. Record adjustments only when the source and approval are clear. If a supplier report uses a product label that differs from the till, keep a mapping table so the finance reviewer can trace the conversion.
Where one branch handles several categories, give each one its own row or report section. Totals can still be rolled up for management, but retain the underlying category and exception detail. This helps the business identify whether a mismatch is limited to one product or appears across the branch's entire account.
Build a useful month-end close
- Agree report period, cut-off and category definitions with finance.
- Collect supplier balance, funding and order records for the same period.
- Match completed orders to internal sales by reference.
- Separate pending, rejected, unknown and unmatched items.
- Calculate expected balances using confirmed inputs and show variances.
- Assign each unresolved item to an owner and follow up with its original reference.
- Obtain reviewer sign-off and retain the source records.
Give managers a row per category with completed value, fees, closing balance and the number of open cases. Keep the underlying order and statement records so finance can trace any difference. The month-end matching worksheet shows how to do the match.