Financial Reconciliation vs. Commercial Reconciliation
Financial Reconciliation - The Core of Koncili
Financial reconciliation is objective, pragmatic, and 100% data-driven.
It answers simple yet fundamental questions:
- How much was the marketplace's expected payout?
- How much was actually paid?
📘 Practical Example: The marketplace records a sale of $100.00.
In the payout file (settlement), the amount received is $95.00.
Koncili automatically identifies the $5.00 discrepancy.
💡 Regardless of the reason—be it fees, penalties, or discounts—the focus remains on the tangible financial fact: the gap between the expected amount and the actual payout.
Commercial Reconciliation - The Strategic Vision
Commercial reconciliation starts from expected assumptions, often defined by the commercial team based on contracts, margins, and negotiations.
It answers different questions:
- Did the marketplace charge the agreed commission?
- Was the subsidized shipping applied correctly?
- Is the anticipation rate within the forecast?
📘 Practical Example:
The commercial team planned a campaign with a 10% commission.
However, the payout shows a 12% commission was charged.
For the Finance department, this is just the actual value—there is no technical error in the records.
For the Commercial team, there is a strategic divergence: the agreement was not fulfilled.
📌 Commercial reconciliation is subjective.
It reflects the perceived alignment between what was planned and what the marketplace executed.
Differences may arise from:
- Verbal or informal agreements;
- Different interpretations of the contract;
- Internal pricing or margin strategies.
Comparison: Financial vs. Commercial Reconciliation
| Aspect | Financial Reconciliation 💰 | Commercial Reconciliation 📈 |
|---|---|---|
| Objective | Ensure that the amounts transferred by the marketplace correspond to what was effectively paid and received. | Verify if the marketplace correctly applied the commercial conditions, discounts, and agreed commissions. |
| Data Sources | Raw data – Extracted directly from marketplace settlement reports and real orders. | Assumptions and expectations – based on contracts, agreements, margin policies, and internal strategies. |
| Validation Type | Operational and accounting (how much was received and when). | Strategic (whether commercial rules were respected). |
| Main User | Finance, Accounting, and Controllership. | Commercial, Pricing, and Strategic Planning. |
| Expected Result | Identify objective discrepancies: what was promised vs. what was paid. | Analyze if the marketplace's behavior aligns with the agreement or the planned strategy. |
| Error Interpretation | Discrepancy in values – Settlement or payout issue. | Discrepancy in values – Possible commercial misalignment. |
| Nature of Data | Objective, traceable, and auditable. | Subjective and interpretative. |
| Koncili's Approach | 🟢 Primary focus – provides accurate and automated financial data. | 🔵 Can be analyzed independently based on reconciled financial information. |
Where Commercial Vision fits into Koncili
While our core framework is 100% focused on a financial perspective, we remain fully aligned with the commercial perspective.
Koncili does not generate sales projections when an order is placed; instead, it leverages actual payout data to drive strategic insights.
👉 How it works:
- Some elements are predictable from the start (e.g., commission, fixed fees).
- In practice, marketplaces also charge unexpected costs: cancellation fines, unforeseen taxes, operational adjustments, etc.
- This is where Koncili shines: it uses actual payout events to build an analysis base that serves the commercial strategy.