Amazon FBA inventory reconciliation is the monthly work of comparing what you sent to Amazon, what Amazon received, what it lost, damaged, returned or removed, and what it paid you for. It matters more every year because Amazon has shortened its claim windows and pays many cases automatically, which leaves less time for the cases the automation misses. A seller who reconciles once a quarter will find discrepancies after their windows have closed. A seller who reconciles monthly, works the reports in a fixed order and logs every claim with its close date recovers what the policy allows and keeps a filing record Amazon has no reason to question. The cost of skipping a month is concrete. A warehouse loss reported on January 1 falls out of its 60-day window in early March, whether or not anyone looked at it.

Reports to Pull for Amazon FBA Inventory Reconciliation

The FBA inventory reimbursement policy states that if an item you send to Amazon is lost or damaged at a facility or by a carrier operated by or for Amazon, Amazon replaces it or reimburses you. Amazon pays on its own records first. Reconciliation is how you check those records against yours before the windows close. Each report below answers one question, and together they cover the full life of a unit.

Source in Seller Central	Question it answers
Shipment Summary page, Contents tab	Did Amazon receive what my shipping plan said I sent, and is the shipment eligible for investigation
Inventory Ledger report	Which units were adjusted, lost, damaged or found inside the network
Inventory Defect and Reimbursement portal	Which defects are eligible for a claim, which are in progress and which Amazon resolved, with the reason and amount
Reimbursements report	What Amazon already paid, for which units and at what value
Customer refunds and returns data	Which refunded orders have no return recorded after 60 days
Removal Order Detail and Removal Shipment Detail reports	Which removals shipped, with what tracking, and what status
Manage Your Sourcing Cost page	What cost Amazon will use to value a pre-order loss for each SKU

Pull them at the same point each month, for the same date range, and save the files with the month in the name. A reviewer may ask about a discrepancy months later, and a saved export from the time is better evidence than a fresh one pulled after Amazon’s records have moved on.

Why sourcing cost belongs in reconciliation

On the US policy, losses before a customer order are reimbursed at your sourcing cost. If you never entered one, Amazon uses its own estimate, drawn from comparable products sold by Amazon, other sellers and wholesale channels. Sourcing cost is your cost to buy the product, or to produce it if you manufacture it, and it excludes shipping, handling and customs duties. Customer return losses are valued differently, at the refund or replacement amount minus applicable fees. The US cap is $5,000 per unit and the UK cap is £2,000. Checking the sourcing cost page each month, with the current supplier invoice behind every figure, is the cheapest way to protect the value of future reimbursements.

Setting up the routine for the first time

The first reconciliation is the largest, because it has to cover every window that is still open. Start by listing what can still be claimed today. Shipments delivered in the last nine months may still support a shipment claim. Warehouse losses reported in the last 60 days are still in their window. Refunds issued between 60 and 120 days ago can still be claimed if nothing came back. Removals created in the last 75 days, or delivered in the last 60, are still open. Anything older is outside the policy, and chasing it uses time and goodwill you will need for claims that qualify.

Work the open list from the closest deadline outward. Warehouse losses usually come first because their window is shortest. Then do the returns that are close to day 120, then removals, then shipments. Build the claim log as you go, so the backlog becomes the first month of the log instead of a separate project. Once the backlog is cleared, the monthly cycle only has to deal with one month of new events, and the work drops to a few hours for most sellers.

Before filing anything from the backlog, check the Reimbursements report for the whole period. Amazon pays many cases automatically, and a backlog built from your own records will include units Amazon has already paid. Removing those first keeps your first round of claims clean.

Related guide is How to Release Amazon FBA Inventory Flagged as Unsuitable.

Matching Inbound, Removals and Returns

Matching is the core of the routine. For each flow of units, you compare your record with Amazon’s and isolate the difference you can prove. Work them in this order because each one feeds the next.

Inbound shipments

Start with every shipment that closed during the month. Amazon’s shipment claim guidance asks you to confirm the shipment’s contents and units match the shipping plan you created, to check the Contents tab for discrepancies between the plan and what was received, and to check the Reimbursements report before filing. Record units shipped, units received and the difference for each FNSKU. A claim becomes possible once the shipment shows as eligible for investigation in the Status column on the Contents tab.

Before you treat a shortfall as Amazon’s, rule out your own errors. The policy only covers shipments where you sent the exact items and quantities in the plan, so a box content mistake on your side ends the claim. Confirm against your packing records. Then gather the two things a shipment claim needs, proof of ownership showing the purchase date, product names and quantity, and proof of delivery. For freight, that is a delivery document showing box count and weight, stamped by Amazon as received and signed for. For parcels, it is carrier tracking for every box. Amazon allows one claim per shipment, so file once, with everything.

Removals

Next, match every removal order to what arrived at your address. Use the Removal Order Detail report for dates and status and the Removal Shipment Detail report for tracking. Open removal boxes on camera and photograph labels, packing slips, box damage and the units themselves. Removal claims for lost units open 15 days after the last confirmed movement and close 75 days after the removal shipment was created. Claims for damage or grading close 60 days after delivery. Units removed because of a program policy violation are excluded.

Customer returns

Last, age your refunds. Amazon grades a unit returned within 60 days of the refund. A sellable unit goes back into inventory with no reimbursement. An unsellable unit gets a responsibility decision, and if Amazon is responsible it reimburses you. If the customer was refunded but did not return the item within 60 days, Amazon states it will in most cases charge the customer and reimburse you. The claim window for customer returns opens 60 days after the refund and closes at 120 days. Each month, list refunds that are between 60 and 120 days old with no return or reimbursement recorded, and file those.

Two limits keep this list honest. Amazon bases grading on the item’s physical condition at the fulfillment center, and the buyer’s chosen return reason does not decide it. Amazon also will not waive or modify a customer damage fee at a seller’s request. Leave those decisions off your claim list.

How a monthly FBA reconciliation compares your records with Amazon’s for each flow of units. Open each tab to see what to match and when a claim opens.

Related guide is Amazon Funds After a Permanent Deactivation.

If this is already affecting your Amazon account, our Amazon inventory reconciliation team can review the notice and prepare the response with you.

Lost and Damaged Unit Checks

Warehouse losses are where the Inventory Defect and Reimbursement portal earns its place in the routine. Amazon reports units lost or damaged by a fulfillment center after receipt in the portal and the Inventory Ledger report, and the portal splits them into three tabs.

Eligible for claim. Every lost or damaged defect you can file for now. Filter by FNSKU or defect type. File from the information shown, such as the transaction ID, FNSKU and quantity.
In progress. Defects Amazon is already investigating. Do not file on these. A second request on a unit already under review adds nothing, and the policy lists a large number of requests in a short time as behavior that can bring monitoring.
Resolved. Defects Amazon has resolved, with the resolution reason and any reimbursement amount. If you disagree with a resolution, Amazon states you can file using the information on that tab.

Damaged units are claimed by transaction item ID and lost units by FNSKU. Amazon may ask for the date or fulfillment center where the loss happened. The window is short, 60 days from the day the unit was reported lost or damaged. That window is the main reason we recommend a monthly cycle at minimum. A quarterly review would let most warehouse losses expire before anyone sees them.

Checks that catch what the portal misses

Found units. A unit marked lost and later found may cancel a reimbursement. The policy allows Amazon to reverse a reimbursement credit when the unit is found and returned to your inventory. Track losses and finds together by FNSKU so you know the net position.
Value of each payment. Compare each reimbursement in the Reimbursements report with your sourcing cost for that SKU. A short payment on a customer return can be disputed within 60 days after the reimbursement is issued. A short payment on a pre-order loss is disputed through Get help with proof of cost.
Repeat decisions. Amazon may decline a sourcing cost or valuation request if you received a decision on the same item within the last 30 days and supplied no new information. Log each decision date so nobody refiles inside that period.

Deciding what to file

Every discrepancy the routine finds ends in one of four decisions. Making the decision explicitly, and recording it, is what keeps the routine from turning into bulk filing.

File. The unit meets the policy conditions, the window is open, Amazon has not already paid and you have the evidence the claim type requires. File it once, with everything attached.
Wait. The window has not opened yet. A customer return claim before day 60, or a removal claim before 15 days from the last movement, is premature. Put the opening date in the log and file then.
Fix your own records. The difference traces to your side, such as a box content error, a miscount at your warehouse or a refund you issued directly. These are outside the policy. Correct your books and fix the process that caused them.
Write off. The window has closed or the evidence does not exist. Record the loss, note the cause and change the control that let it expire. Filing it anyway adds to the pattern Amazon watches for.

The share of discrepancies that end in “fix your own records” is a useful health measure. If it is high, the problem is upstream in prep, packing or receiving, and more claims will not solve it.

Amazon FBA reconciliation prevention control checklist

Every inbound shipment has a stored proof of delivery and a supplier invoice before it ships.
Box contents are checked against the shipping plan before the carrier collects.
Every active SKU has a sourcing cost entered, backed by a current invoice, excluding shipping and duties.
The Eligible for claim tab is worked every month and nothing older than 30 days is left unfiled.
Refunds aged 60 to 120 days with no return are filed each month.
Removal boxes are opened on camera and checked within a week of delivery.
The Reimbursements report is checked before any claim is filed.
Every claim, decision and window close date is entered in the claim log the day it happens.
Any outside reimbursement service submits its filing list for approval before anything goes in.

Claim Windows and Deadlines

The windows set the calendar for the whole routine. Each claim type starts its clock at a different event, so a single monthly session has to work several different date ranges at once. The table reflects the US policy pages at the time of writing. Amazon changes these windows, and the UK and EU stores publish their own pages, so confirm the page for your store at the start of each quarter.

Claim type	Clock starts	Window
Shipment to Amazon	Verified delivery to the fulfillment center	Up to nine months after delivery, once eligible for investigation
Fulfillment center operations	Unit reported lost or damaged	60 days
Customer return	Customer refund or replacement	Opens at 60 days, closes at 120 days
Removal, lost	Last confirmed movement, and shipment creation	Opens 15 days after last movement, closes 75 days after creation
Removal, damaged or grading	Delivery to you	60 days
Customer return valuation dispute	Reimbursement issued	60 days

Claims submitted outside these windows are not eligible. Filing too early is also a problem. Amazon’s policy names insufficiently researched or premature requests, and large numbers of requests in a short time, as activity that may bring delayed support, monitoring, investigation and account action. A routine that files the right claims at the right time protects you from both the missed window and the premature filing.

A monthly calendar that fits the windows

Week one. Inbound. Close out last month’s shipments, reconcile shipped against received and file eligible shipment claims with full evidence.
Week two. Warehouse. Work the Eligible for claim tab and the Inventory Ledger. File everything eligible, since the 60-day window is the shortest you manage.
Week three. Returns and removals. File refunds aged 60 to 120 days with no return, and removal claims inside their windows.
Week four. Payments and controls. Check the Reimbursements report against sourcing costs, file valuation disputes, update sourcing costs for new SKUs and review the claim log for anything due to expire next month.

Weekly review routine with owner and evidence for each step

Inbound check. The owner is the inventory or logistics lead. Evidence is the shipping plan, packing records, Amazon-stamped delivery document or parcel tracking, and Contents tab export.
Warehouse defect check. The owner is the account manager. Evidence is the Eligible for claim and Resolved tab exports and the Inventory Ledger export for the period.
Returns aging check. The owner is the account manager. Evidence is the refund list aged 60 to 120 days with return status, and the Reimbursements report export.
Removal receiving check. The owner is the warehouse or 3PL contact. Evidence is removal reports, unboxing photographs, and label and LPN images.
Payment and cost check. The owner is finance. Evidence is the Reimbursements report, sourcing cost page export and supplier invoices.
Log review. The owner is the person accountable for Amazon account health. Evidence is the claim log with every open window and every decision date.

A four week routine that works every Amazon FBA claim window in one month without filing early or late. Step through each week to see what to file.

Reconciliation Log Format

The claim log is the preventive control our method relies on. In reimbursement work, the preventive measure is monthly reconciliation with filing inside the eligibility window and a log of every claim. The log is what makes that measurable. It also becomes evidence. If Amazon ever questions your filing behavior, a log showing documented, single, on-time claims is the record that answers the question.

The columns we use

Column	What goes in it
Month reviewed	The reconciliation period
Claim type	Shipment, warehouse, return, removal or valuation
Identifier	Shipment ID, transaction item ID, FNSKU, order ID or removal order ID
Units and value	Units claimed, unit value and its source, total
Evidence attached	Delivery proof, invoice, photographs, report exports
Window close date	The last day this claim is eligible
Date filed and case ID	When it went in and the reference Amazon gave
Outcome	Paid in full, paid in part, rejected or withdrawn, with the amount
Next action and date	Valuation dispute deadline, 30-day reconsideration date or closed

Keep it simple enough that it is filled in every time. A spreadsheet with these columns works for most sellers. The discipline matters more than the tool.

Reviewing the month

Close each cycle with a short review that reads the log as a whole. Four numbers tell you whether the routine is working, the value claimed, the value recovered, the value written off because a window closed and the share of claims rejected. A rising write-off figure means the calendar is slipping. A rising rejection rate means evidence is going in incomplete, or claims are going in under the wrong type. Both point to a specific step in the routine to tighten.

Look for repeats by cause as well. If the same fulfillment center, the same carrier lane or the same SKU keeps showing up, the fix may sit outside reconciliation entirely, such as different packaging, a different inbound method, or a decision to keep a fragile or high-value item out of FBA. Record each decision in the log so the next review can see whether it worked.

The business models that need the log most

High-volume FBA sellers. Small discrepancies across many shipments go unreconciled until the windows pass. The log turns hundreds of small items into a list with dates.
Sellers relying fully on automatic reimbursement. The automation pays many cases and misses others. Logging what was paid automatically shows what was not.
Sellers of high-cost or seasonal items. Estimated values can fall well below cost. Logging the value paid against your sourcing cost shows where to dispute and where to update costs.
Sellers using outside reimbursement services. Bulk filers can submit duplicate or unsupported claims under your name, which is the behavior the policy names as grounds for account action. Require every filing to appear in your log before it is submitted, and withdraw anything you cannot support.

First issue compared with a pattern

A missed or rejected claim carries no penalty by itself. It costs you the money and nothing more. A pattern of duplicate or unverifiable claims is different, because the policy allows monitoring, investigation and account action for it, and an account action under the reimbursement policy needs its own appeal. Our guide to writing an Amazon Plan of Action covers that appeal. The log is also your corrective evidence in that situation, because it shows which claims were withdrawn, which were documented and what control now prevents a repeat.

Regional differences

The routine works the same way on every store, while the numbers differ. The UK version of the policy caps a single unit at £2,000 against $5,000 in the US, and it keeps the same 60-day limit for disputing the value of a customer return reimbursement through the Get help and resources page or Seller Assistant. When a payment dispute with Amazon cannot be resolved through the claim process, EU business users have a free internal complaint system and named mediators under Articles 11 and 12 of the Platform-to-Business Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2019/1150. UK business users have the same rights under the retained version of that regulation. US sellers deal with Amazon under the Business Solutions Agreement, where Section 20, Dispute Resolution, sends disputes to binding arbitration and lets either party elect a qualifying small claims court instead.

EU sellers have a second layer when a reimbursement problem turns into account action. The Digital Services Act, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, has applied to online platforms since 17 February 2024 under Article 93. Article 17 requires a clear and specific statement of reasons when a platform suspends or restricts monetary payments, or suspends or terminates an account, on the ground that the activity breaks its terms. Article 20 then gives the seller at least six months after that decision to lodge a complaint through the platform’s internal system, electronically and free of charge. A clean claim log is the exhibit that complaint needs, since it shows each claim was single, documented and filed inside its window. The rules above describe the framework for sellers in general and are no substitute for advice from a lawyer on a specific dispute.

Where this routine fits

Reconciliation is prevention. When a claim has already been denied, start with our parent guide on how to win a denied Amazon FBA reimbursement claim, and if a dispute was rejected, our guide on what to do when an Amazon FBA reimbursement dispute is rejected. Where payouts are held as well, our guides on the DD+7 account-level reserve and funds held on a deactivated account explain the balance side.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I check FBA lost inventory?

Compare inbound receipts, inventory adjustments and reimbursements each month. Use the shipment Contents tab for inbound shortfalls, the Inventory Defect and Reimbursement portal and Inventory Ledger for warehouse losses, and the Reimbursements report to see what Amazon already paid.

What reports help reconcile FBA?

The Inventory Ledger report, the Reimbursements report and your returns and refunds data do most of the work. Add the shipment Contents tab, the Inventory Defect and Reimbursement portal tabs, the two removal reports and the Manage Your Sourcing Cost page for a complete picture.

Are claim windows short?

Yes, Amazon has shortened claim windows, so check them before each review. On the US store, warehouse losses must be claimed within 60 days of being reported, and customer return claims run from 60 to 120 days after the refund. Shipment claims run up to nine months after delivery.

Does Amazon pay automatically?

Many cases are reimbursed automatically, but check for gaps. Anything the automation misses must be claimed by you inside its window, and claiming a unit that was already paid is declined. The Reimbursements report shows what was paid.

How often should I reconcile?

Monthly at minimum. The shortest window you manage is 60 days for warehouse losses, so a quarterly review lets many claims expire. High-volume sellers often run the inbound and warehouse checks weekly.

Get Help With Amazon FBA Inventory Reconciliation

Many sellers can run this routine in-house. We help most when a backlog spans dozens of shipments, when an outside service has filed claims you now need to audit, or when the account has been actioned for claim volume. In those cases the reconciliation and any appeal need to be rebuilt together.

See our Amazon inventory reconciliation service and our Amazon suspension and reinstatement service, submit your case for a review, or book a consultation to set the routine up.

Sellers facing problems on more than one marketplace can start from our marketplace account protection hub, which groups every platform we handle.

Amazon FBA Inventory Reconciliation Routine for Reimbursements