Why my numbers differ from Amazon

Check these in order. In practice one of the first three explains it.

1. The date range

KDP and the Ads console default to their own periods, in their own time zone. Compare the same range on both sides before concluding anything.

2. The currency

KDP's multi-currency total uses a coarse approximation. TrueRoyalties converts each transaction at the rate of its own date, which is more precise — so a gap of around 1 % on a multi-country catalog is normal and expected.

To match KDP to the cent, view your dashboard in the currency KDP pays you in.

3. Gross versus net royalties

The Royalties card is gross, like KDP. Withholding tax is applied only to net profit. If you compare net profit to KDP's royalties, they will never agree — by design.

4. Units versus purchases (ads)

This is the classic one. The Amazon Ads console's headline Purchases tile counts orders; TrueRoyalties counts units — copies. One order can contain several copies, so our number is normally 1 to 3 % higher.

The comparable console column is Units sold, not Purchases.

Units is the deliberate choice: computing organic sales requires units on both sides of the subtraction.

5. VAT on ad spend

The Ads console shows spend before tax. TrueRoyalties shows what you are invoiced, VAT included, using the rates in Settings → Taxes. Different by design.

6. Freshness

KDP's estimator refreshes every 24 to 48 hours, and Amazon revises the last few days of ad data. Comparing two dashboards that refreshed at different moments will always show small gaps.

7. Print orders ship later

Amazon records a paperback or hardcover sale when it ships, not when it is ordered. At the edge of a date range, ad-attributed print units can appear on one side and not the other.

Still off?

If the gap survives all seven — same range, same currency, gross versus gross — contact us with the page, the range and the two figures. Amazon itself only treats a gap above 5 % as worth investigating.