Reconciliation
A WooCommerce tax reconciliation checklist for Canada
When two tax totals disagree, the difference needs an explanation before the spreadsheet is passed on. Work from the report population to the tax lines, then to the item details. Avoid adjusting a total just to make it match.
The short answer
Use the same period, statuses, address basis and currency; compare the source event IDs; then reconcile recorded event tax against the stored tax-line total. TaxPack flags differences and missing allocations without changing the orders. Resolve the underlying issue through your normal review process and generate a new report.
1. Establish which records belong in the comparison
Write down the period, timezone, date policy and current statuses before looking at money. TaxPack includes orders by creation date and refunds by their own creation dates. A refund can be in the period while its original sale is outside it.
If two exports differ, compare source event IDs first. A missing event is a population difference; a different amount on the same event is a source-value or interpretation difference. This distinction narrows the investigation without guessing a tax rate.
2. Check classifications and address attribution
Confirm the mapping revision and rate IDs. UNMAPPED does not mean zero tax; it means a tax line has not been classified. Keep the amount visible until the category is confirmed. Historical IDs may need an explicit mapping even if they no longer appear in the store’s current rate settings.
Next check the chosen address. Shipping and billing can produce different province groups. TaxPack does not substitute one when the other is missing. UNRESOLVED and address_conflict are investigation items, not permission to omit an order.
3. Compare the event, tax lines, and item detail
TaxPack reads the recorded event tax, totals its tax lines using exact arithmetic, and compares tax lines with stored item, fee and shipping detail. Each comparison answers a different question.
| Level | Recorded amount | What to investigate |
|---|---|---|
| Event tax | 13.01 | Compare to the tax-line sum |
| Tax-line sum | 13.00 | The event-to-line difference is 0.01 |
| Item/fee/shipping detail | 13.00 | These details agree with the tax lines in this example |
TaxPack retains the 0.01 difference as an exception. It does not silently round it away or change the WooCommerce order. The summary follows the tax lines, while the exception preserves the recorded event amount and difference for review.
4. Read refunds and included components once
Refund tax is already signed. If order tax is 130.00 and recorded refund tax is −13.00, net recorded tax is 117.00. Subtracting the negative refund again would incorrectly increase the result.
Shipping tax is included in the tax-line total; the shipping column identifies that component. Recorded taxes already reflect any discounts in the source data, so do not subtract the informational discount-tax amount again.
An amount-only refund can have no tax allocation. TaxPack retains a review flag and the event; it does not infer GST, HST or another tax from the refunded amount. Ask for the supporting record needed to explain it.
5. Preserve the result and unresolved questions
- Keep currencies separate, including unresolved amounts. No conversion is performed by TaxPack.
- Review all flags, including events with no tax lines. The free CSV puts every flagged event in a review_event row.
- Do not sum review_event rows with summary rows. They explain exceptions rather than add another tax amount.
- Keep the original export, generation time and mapping revision. A later free download rebuilds from current records.
- For a saved handoff, use paid TaxPack and export its summary, tax-line and orders/refunds files together.
- After a reviewed source correction, generate a new report and identify it as a replacement. Older saved reports retain their original values.
This checklist concerns reconciliation of recorded store data. It does not calculate taxes, input-tax credits, or filing obligations. A report with no detected exceptions is still a starting point for the reviewer, not an official return.
Official references
These guides explain reporting workflows. TaxPack does not provide tax advice, calculate tax payable, or file returns.