This article explains how Swap's accounting types determine the way exchange orders, refunds, gift cards, and store credit appear in Shopify's financial reporting.
ℹ️ This article applies to Swap Returns V2.
What is an accounting type?
An accounting type is a store-level setting that determines how Swap structures a new exchange order in Shopify, and how that order affects your financial reporting. Contact Swap support to enable or change your store's accounting type.
The three accounting types
Swap supports three accounting types for exchanges.
New order, discount on — creates a new exchange order and discounts it by the value of the returned item.
New order, discount off — creates a new exchange order at full price, without a discount.
Shopify native exchanges — adds the exchange directly to the original order, instead of creating a new order.
New order, discount on
Swap creates a new order for the exchange and discounts it by the value of the returned item, or by the value of the exchange item if that value is lower. This appears as a Swap discount line item on the new order.
For an even exchange (same price), the discount brings the new order to £0. Below, an £80.00 exchange item is offset by an £80.00 Swap discount, leaving a total and an amount paid of £0.00.
For an upsell exchange, only the additional amount the customer owes remains on the new order. Below, a £1,996.50 exchange item carries a £35.00 Swap discount — the value of the returned item — so the customer pays £1,961.50.
If the exchange item costs less than the returned item, the new order value is £0, and Swap refunds the difference on the original order. The sales report below shows how a pair of orders looks side by side: the original order keeps its £30.00 net sales, while the exchange order's £30.00 gross is fully offset by the Swap discount, leaving £0.00 net.
This keeps the Net Sales column in Shopify's sales report accurate, since the original order's value is preserved and the new order reflects only genuinely new revenue.
New order, discount off
Swap creates a new order for the exchange at its full price, without applying a discount.
For an even exchange, the new order shows the full subtotal. Below, a £100.00 exchange item carries no discount line at all, so both the total and the amount paid are £100.00.
For an upsell exchange, the new order shows the full amount, including the additional amount owed. The two screenshots below show opposite sides of the same exchange. The first is the original order: the return has closed, the order value has dropped to £0.00, and £100.00 remains recorded as paid. The second is the new exchange order, which stands at its full £590.00 with no discount applied.
Because this creates two full-value orders, Shopify can double-count revenue in reports unless you account for it separately.
Shopify native exchanges
Swap adds the exchange directly to the original order using Shopify's native exchange functionality, rather than creating a new order. Shopify reconciles the value difference within the original order, so no external order is created. This is the most straightforward accounting type to reconcile, since everything stays on a single order. The screenshot below shows a single order carrying both the £35.00 exchange item and the closed £30.00 return.
In the screenshot above, look for the Exchange item for return tag under the new item, and the Return closed panel below it — both appear on the same order, confirming everything was reconciled without a separate order being created.
Regardless of accounting type, refunds always apply to the original order.
Refunds
Refunds work the same way across all three accounting types: the original order is refunded, and the refunded item is removed from it. Shopify applies a negative order adjustment for the refund amount. If the full order is refunded, its final value is £0.
Enabling the Returns API
The Returns API is optional for stores using New order, discount on or New order, discount off — contact Swap support to enable or disable it for your store. For stores using Shopify native exchanges, Returns API syncing is included as part of that setup rather than a separate choice.
When enabled, the Returns API syncs return information into Shopify:
Marks the return as in progress
Marks the return as closed
Records the return reason, restock location, and return state
If a return is reconciled outside the original order (for example, through an exchange or gift card), Shopify adds a Refund owed notification to the original order and treats it as refunded in your sales reports, even though no refund has been issued. This can be safely ignored, but it does affect how your sales figures read — see How accounting type affects your reports below. The screenshot below shows the marker on order #4437: a You owe the customer a refund banner at the top, and a Refund owed line of £100.00 in the payment summary, even though no money was returned to the customer.
Gift cards
Swap issues returns credit as a gift card in one of two ways, depending on your store's settings: through Shopify's native Gift Card API, or as a separate gift card order. Contact Swap support if you're unsure which method your store uses. The RMA conversion workflow is the same either way — see How to convert a refund to a gift card or store credit for the steps.
Native Shopify gift cards
Swap issues the gift card directly through Shopify's Gift Card API, adding it to the customer's Shopify account rather than creating a second order. Swap tags the original order to record that a gift card was issued, and the customer receives their gift card email automatically.
Because no second order is created, there is no separate SGC- order to cross-reference against the original order when reviewing your Shopify reports. Automatic gift card fulfilment settings don't apply, as there is no order to fulfil.
Native gift cards are issued in the customer's checkout currency where possible. If that currency isn't available, Swap issues the gift card in your store's base currency.
To use native gift cards, go to Returns → Settings → Discounts & Credit in your Swap dashboard and toggle Use Shopify native gift cards on in the Gift cards panel. If you don't see this option, contact Swap support.
If your store uses Rise.ai for Shop Later credit, Rise takes priority — native Shopify gift cards apply only when Rise isn't connected, or when Rise returns an error. Returns resolved as Shopify store credit are a separate path and never route to Rise.
Gift card orders
When native gift cards are off, Swap creates a new order for the gift card's value, named SGC-{original order number}. This order is unfulfilled by default, though you can set it to fulfil automatically in your Shopify settings.
Once the customer redeems the gift card, its value appears as a sale in Shopify's sales reporting. Any bonus added to the gift card is included as extra value on this new order.
The sales report below shows a gift card return as three rows: the original order #4431 at £588.33, a reversal of the same amount, and the SGC-#4431 order carrying £629.51 in gift card sales — the return value plus the bonus.
Store credit
When a customer returns an item for store credit, Swap issues the refund against the original order. Any bonus added to the credit is applied directly to the customer's account, separate from the order.
The first screenshot below shows the original order: two closed returns refunded £10.00 each, the second labelled Refunded to store credit, leaving a net payment of £10.00 against £30.00 originally paid. The second screenshot shows the same activity in the sales report, where £20.00 of returns reduces net sales from £30.00 to £10.00.
Store credit and any bonus amount appear in Shopify's Store credit transactions report — this is the only report that shows bonus amounts, since bonuses don't appear against the order itself.
The first screenshot below shows the £10.00 Order refund credit issued by Swap. The second shows the same report with the Store credit ID column added, where the bonus appears as a separate £1.10 Adjustment row, taking the total credited to £11.10.
Return of Exchanges
For stores using New order, discount on, an exchange item that's later returned resolves to a £0-value order, which doesn't reflect what the customer is actually owed. Swap's Return of Exchanges feature calculates the correct return value and automatically refunds the original order for that amount — including any additional payment collected on the exchange, such as an upsell amount taken via Stripe — so customers receive an accurate refund even after an exchange.
Because this refund is applied to the original order rather than the £0-value exchange order, it appears correctly in Shopify's sales and refund reports against the order that actually held the balance. See Returning an Exchange (Returns V2) for the full mechanics of how these refunds are processed.
The first screenshot below shows both orders together. The order that held the balance carries a £15.00 refund whose reason names the Swap exchange order's RMA, leaving a £20.00 net payment, while the exchange order shows only a Refund owed marker. The second screenshot shows the sales report for the same pair: £20.00 of net sales against the order that held the balance, and £0.00 against the exchange order.
How accounting type affects your reports
Because Swap creates additional orders to reconcile exchanges, gift cards, and store credit, some default Shopify reports need adjusting to reflect your figures accurately.
Total sales over time: if the Returns API is enabled and a return is reconciled outside the original order, Shopify assumes it was refunded and reduces net sales accordingly, even without a real refund. Removing the "Day" dimension, or grouping by month instead, corrects this. The screenshots below work through one example. The exchange order #4438 that Swap created for order #4437 is discounted to £0.00 and records Swap Exchange Order #4437 under its additional details. In the sales report, that pair produces a £100.00 sales reversal against #4437 and £0.00 net sales on #4438, so net sales read £0.00 across both orders even though no money was returned. A second report view shows why net sales are the figure to trust: gross sales total £60.00 across an original and an exchange order, while net sales total £30.00. A further example shows a £35.00 Refund owed on order #4421, alongside its exchange order #4422, which keeps its own £1,961.50 value.
Net payments by order: this report reflects actual money movement only and ignores £0 refunds, so it isn't affected by exchange or gift card orders. Use this report when you need an accurate net sales figure without adjusting other reports. The report below counts only real transactions — £1,961.50 on #4422 and £35.00 on #4421, with nothing refunded and nothing subtracted for the £0-value exchange activity.
If you're not using the Returns API, £0-value exchange orders can still appear as returned in some reports, based on Shopify's own restocking assumptions. Net payments by order avoids this by counting only real transactions.
In the first screenshot below, Total sales over time shows order 58942 with a £111.67 return alongside its exchange order SW-58942, whose £80.00 gross is fully discounted to £0.00 net. The second screenshot shows Net payments by order, which lists only orders where money actually moved — £84.00 in gross payments, £0.00 refunded, £84.00 net.
