Understanding Forage Reporting

What Forage reporting offers

Forage provides automated reports in CSV format that help merchants and platforms track transactions and payouts. Reports are generated daily at approximately 10:00 PM UTC and transferred via SFTP.

Three report types

Forage provides three report types. The report name depends on how the report is delivered (API or SFTP), but the underlying data and purpose are the same. When you schedule reports in the Forage Dashboard, those reports are delivered via SFTP, so the report names shown in the Dashboard match the SFTP-delivered report names.

For SFTP delivery, you'll receive one of three report flavors depending on your business setup:

Three delivery channels

Forage exposes the same underlying report data through three delivery channels. Pick the one that matches how much setup and automation your team wants.

Forage Dashboard

The Dashboard suits small businesses or merchants who want a simple, manual way to pull transaction data. It needs no technical setup and works well for occasional reporting.

Dashboard reports give you a single CSV file with your choice of fields, requested manually each time. The Dashboard is also where you configure scheduled reports, which Forage then delivers automatically via SFTP. For more automation and a wider set of data points, use API or SFTP reports instead.

API reports (JSON)

The Forage API is the right fit when you want more automation but still control when and how reports are retrieved. The structured JSON format integrates cleanly with business systems. The Reporting API and the SFTP CSV reports return the same underlying fields, so the data set is identical regardless of delivery channel.

API reports require development resources to set up and maintain, but you can automate the requests on your own schedule. For fully automated delivery without code, use SFTP reports.

To call the Reporting API you need a bearer token; see Authenticate with Forage and Register an app. The endpoint reference pages include full example requests and responses.

See the Reporting API reference for endpoint details: Retrieve a Transaction Log and Retrieve a Payout Transaction Report.

SFTP reports (CSV)

SFTP reports are fully automated and configured through the Forage Dashboard. They work best for large businesses and enterprises that need scheduled, hands-off reporting at high volume.

SFTP delivery requires minimal technical setup to verify file transfers and grant initial server access. For an occasional, simpler alternative, download reports through the Forage Dashboard.

Two fee models: merchant or platform

Forage applies one of two fee models to every merchant. The fee model determines which CSV report you receive and which fields appear in it.

The fee model determines which of the two merchant CSV reports you receive. The Platform CSV report is a separate report aimed at the platform itself, not at any individual merchant.

If you don't know which model applies to your account, your Forage contact can confirm.

How payouts and settlement relate to reports

Settlement is when Forage actually moves money to your bank account. It runs on a fixed daily schedule called the payout cycle. Reports are tied to the payout cycle, not to real-time transaction events. Two facts about settlement timing shape how the data shows up.

Settlement delays vary by merchant. For example, T+3 means a Monday transaction settles on Thursday. The recorded_date on a transaction is when the transaction occurred; the payout_issued_date and expected_deposit_date are when funds move. A reconciliation comparing dates across systems has to account for this gap.

Reports are generated once per day at approximately 10:00 PM UTC. A transaction that lands after that cutoff appears in the next day's report, not the current day's. If a report needs to be regenerated (for example, after a correction), the original report's timestamp is retained but the attempt number in the filename increments.

The Payout Transaction report and Payout Summary together describe the payout itself: the sum of money Forage moved to the merchant's destination account on a given day. The optional Transaction Log is broader: it captures every fund movement from the previous day, including transactions that aren't part of any payout (such as standalone fees or adjustments). Use the Transaction Log when you need a complete audit trail; use the Payout reports when you're reconciling against actual deposits.

How the numbers tie out

Use this chain when a deposit doesn't match what you expected:

1. Each row in the Payout Transaction Report is a single money movement: a purchase, a refund, a fee, or an adjustment.
2. The Payout Summary rolls those rows up for the payout into the total_* fields and forage_fee.
3. merchant_net_settlement is the net of those totals. It is the amount Forage actually moves for that payout.
4. That amount lands in your bank account on expected_deposit_date, which is T+N after the transactions occurred. A given deposit reflects an earlier day's transactions, not that day's sales.

So a deposit that doesn't match a day's sales is expected: it is net of refunds, chargebacks, fees, and adjustments, and it is shifted later by the settlement delay.

Putting it together

Three choices determine the CSV report you receive and the fields it contains: the report type (Transaction, Payout Summary, or Payout Transaction), the delivery channel (Dashboard, API, or SFTP), and the fee model on your account (Charging to Merchant or Charging to Platform). All reports run on the same daily cycle (approximately 10:00 PM UTC) and the same settlement timing rules, so reconciliation logic written for one channel translates cleanly to another.

Related topics

• How-to: How to set up SFTP reports.
• Reference: CSV report conventions, Merchant (Charging to Merchant) CSV report, Merchant (Charging to Platform) CSV report, Platform CSV report, Transaction type and payment method values.