Your sales balance is the clearing account that sits between customer payments and the funds you ultimately spend from your Dappr Financial Account. Understanding how money moves through this balance—and what happens when it turns negative—helps you spot issues quickly, minimize fees, and reconcile your books with confidence. This guide walks through every stage of the lifecycle: how balances are calculated, how and when payouts occur, and how Dappr keeps a transparent ledger of every cent that enters or exits the balance.
The Anatomy of the Sales Balance
When you visit Sales › Balances you will see four live figures that map the current path of your money. The table below summarizes what each line means and how quickly funds can move from one state to another.
Balance label | What it represents | Typical timing to leave this bucket |
Available for regular payout | Funds that have fully settled and can be sent out through a regular, fee‑free payout. | Two hours to two business days, depending on account‑level risk. |
Pending and available soon | Authorised or captured payments that have not yet cleared card networks or ACH rails. Authorisations you have not captured also appear here. | Moves to Available for regular payout once settlement completes. |
Available for instant payout | The portion of your balance that can be pushed immediately to the Dappr Financial Account for a 1.5 % fee. This pool includes some payments that have not yet settled for regular‑payout purposes, provided they pass Dappr’s risk checks. | Immediately after you request the payout. |
Payouts on the way to your account | Funds that have left the sales balance via a regular payout but have not yet arrived in the Dappr Financial Account. | Generally the same business day for low‑risk accounts; up to two business days in edge cases. |
A separate Tax reserves tab shows the money Dappr withholds and later remits when you use our sales‑tax filing service. All balances and reserves are denominated solely in USD, although cards issued outside the United States are accepted.
Regular Payouts
Regular payouts cost nothing. By default, no money leaves automatically; you decide when to sweep funds or you can create a schedule in the Configure payouts popup. Daily, weekly, and monthly intervals are available, and no minimum balance is required. Once you trigger—or the schedule triggers—a payout, the amount leaves the sales balance immediately and posts to the Dappr Financial Account within two hours for established, low‑risk businesses or up to two business days for newer or higher‑risk profiles.
Because regular payouts are fee‑free, many companies set a schedule that matches their accounting close cycle (for example, a monthly sweep on the first business day). Others continue to initiate payouts manually, using the balance as short‑term working capital and allowing the ledger to track every inflow and outflow automatically.
Instant Payouts
Instant payouts serve merchants who prefer immediate access to cash and are comfortable paying a 1.5 % fee for speed. You may request an instant payout whenever the Available for instant payout line shows at least ten dollars. Limits are dynamic and appear next to the Pay out funds button; they rise over time as your account ages, your lifetime processing volume grows, and your dispute rate remains low. Every instant payout settles directly to the Dappr Financial Account—external bank accounts and debit cards are not supported.
The instant‑payout fee appears in the Fees column of the same ledger row as the payout, so you still see a single transaction entry—just with its fee broken out inside the row’s own columns.
What Happens When the Balance Turns Negative
Refunds, chargebacks, or processor fee reversals may drive the sales balance below zero. Dappr’s back‑stop process unfolds in three stages:
Reserve placement. As soon as the balance is negative, the same amount is reserved inside the Dappr Financial Account. This keeps the liability isolated while you continue normal activity.
End‑of‑day debit. If the balance is still negative at close of business, Dappr debits the reserved amount. A successful debit returns both accounts to zero.
Escalation if the debit fails. Insufficient funds trigger an immediate pause on instant payouts and can lengthen the settlement window for future regular payouts. Risk‑operations staff review the account and may contact the legal representative. If the deficit persists, Dappr may charge backup payment methods and, eventually, pursue legal collection.
You may lower the odds of a negative balance by setting a “cushion”—an amount that always remains in the sales balance—under Settings › Sales settings. Top‑ups that cover a deficit are free, and positive balances cannot be topped up by design.
Fees in Context
Action | Fee | Where it appears in the ledger |
Regular payout | None | Net amount only |
Instant payout | 1.5 % of the payout | Separate line item directly below the payout entry |
Top‑up to cover a negative balance | None | Credit entry equal to the top‑up amount |
Because Dappr covers the cost of regular ACH transfers, using the regular payout flow is the cost‑neutral option whenever timing permits.
The Transaction Ledger
Every event that affects the balance—payments, refunds, disputes, payouts, reserves, tax holds—creates its own line in Sales › Balances › Activity. Each row presents the gross amount, associated fees, net change, a short description, the occurrence date, and the status (Pending or Posted). Selecting a row reveals a side panel with deep links to invoices, customer records, or the payout batch involved.
You can export the ledger to CSV or Excel for any date range; date filtering inside the dashboard helps you narrow the export window to your reconciliation period.
Payout Holds and Risk Reviews
Dappr continuously evaluates transaction‑level risk. Unusually large payments, sudden spikes in dispute volume, or use of high‑risk payment methods can trigger extra scrutiny. The standard two‑hour to two‑business‑day window for regular payouts already factors in most of these reviews, so you may not see an explicit “hold” label in the UI. If risk analysts require documents—such as proof of fulfilment or business‑model clarification—they reach out to the legal representative on file. Responding quickly is the surest route back to normal settlement speed.
Reserve levels, instant‑payout limits, and settlement timing all adapt automatically as your risk posture improves or worsens.
How Refunds and Chargebacks Flow
Whenever you issue a refund or a card issuer files a chargeback, the gross debit and all processor fees post to the ledger immediately. If the resulting change pushes the sales balance negative, the top‑up workflow described earlier takes over. Should you later win a chargeback dispute, the card network credits the same amount back, and you will see a corresponding credit entry that restores the balance.
Putting It All Together
The sales balance is a transparent staging area that tells you—minute by minute—how much cash is (1) already yours, (2) nearly yours, (3) yours right now if you pay 1.5 %, or (4) already on the way to your bank. Regular payouts cost nothing, instant payouts trade a small fee for speed, and negative balances self‑correct through automatic top‑ups so you never lose track of obligations. With granular ledger lines, exportable data, and adaptive risk management, Dappr gives you both immediate clarity and long‑term control over your revenue.