How to Account for Stripe Revenue in ERPNext

Setup

To get started, we need some master data and accounts:

1. Create a "Stripe Settlement" Account in ERPNext, with the Account Type set to "Payable."
2. Create a Supplier named "Stripe Payments Ltd.," open the tab "Accounting," and set the payable Account to the "Stripe Settlement" account you just created.

Opening

If you're starting with a non-zero balance in your Stripe account, you can create an opening Journal Entry to record it against some Income or Expense account.

Record an incoming invoice from Stripe

When you receive a VAT invoice for Stripe fees, create a Purchase Invoice in ERPNext as usual. Ensure that the Credit To account is set correctly ("Stripe Settlement"). You can set an appropriate Expense Account for the line items, such as "Ancillary Costs of Monetary Transactions."

Record an incoming invoice from yourself (via Stripe)

In case you buy your own services from Stripe for test purposes, you'll receive a Stripe invoice "from yourself." Record it just as described above, as if it was issued by your supplier "Stripe Payments Ltd." This ensures that your input tax and expense are recorded correctly. It will later be balanced by the VAT liabilities and revenue. The payment for this invoice can be recorded as usual, via a Payment Entry.

Record a Stripe payout to your bank account

When you receive a payout from Stripe, book it as a Journal Entry in ERPNext. The Debit side should be the "Bank" account, and the Credit side should be the "Stripe Settlement" account. In case Stripe drafts a negative balance from your bank account, the above entry can be reversed.

Record Stripe revenue and VAT (outgoing invoices)

At least once a month, you should record your revenue and VAT liabilities generated via Stripe. You can find a list of your invoices at https://dashboard.stripe.com/invoices. To be efficient, we just create a single record for all of a months invoices. Create a new Journal Entry with the accounts "Revenue," "VAT on Sales," and "Stripe Settlement." The revenue should be the sum of the net amounts of all invoices in the period, and the VAT should be the sum of the VAT amounts of all invoices in the period, both on the Credit side. The "Stripe Settlement" is debited with the total amount of net revenue and VAT.

Wrap up

After completing this procedure for a month, the "Stripe Settlement" account should have a balance of (close to) zero.

Note: I'm not an accountant, so please double-check with your accountant before implementing this procedure. I'm not affiliated with or endorsed by Stripe or ERPNext.