Charges provide a consolidated view of revenue collected from customers via a payment gateway such as Stripe, Authorize.net, or PayPal. This metric accounts for successful payments and deducts offsets such as refunds and chargebacks, offering a clearer picture of realised payment revenue than raw transaction volume alone.
It’s important to distinguish Charges from related payment metrics:
- Payment attempts or authorizations measure intent to pay.
- Charges reflect successful payment creation and processing.
- Net revenue may further deduct payment processing fees, taxes, or platform commissions, depending on reporting needs.
In modern payment systems, a charge represents a request for payment that has been successfully created and processed. Charges can be structured in different ways depending on the business model and payment architecture. Common charge types include:
- Direct charges:
Payments made directly to your business, where the customer completes checkout on your ecommerce site or application. This is the most common model for online retail and SaaS businesses. - Destination charges:
Payments where the platform processes the payment on behalf of another party and routes funds to a connected account. This model is common in platform and marketplace businesses such as ride-sharing or booking applications. - Separate charges and transfers:
Payments where a customer’s charge and the subsequent distribution of funds to one or more parties are handled as distinct steps. This approach is often used in marketplaces where customers purchase products or services from multiple vendors in a single checkout.
Understanding how Charges are structured is critical for reconciling revenue, managing payouts, and accurately reporting financial performance — especially for platforms, marketplaces, and subscription businesses.
