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Card class: Non-HeroCategory: Payment Gateway
Sum of pending balance across currencies from /v1/reporting/balances, held by PayPal pending risk review or rolling reserve.

At a glance

Pending Balance is a settlement & payouts metric tracked from PayPal data. It surfaces operational signal at the settlement & payouts layer so merchants can spot regressions, opportunities, and structural patterns in their store performance. The card pairs with sibling metrics in the Settlement & Payouts category to build a complete diagnostic picture; cross-reference the related cards listed below for context.
What it countsPending Balance as exposed by the PayPal integration. The metric is computed from the latest available data and refreshed on the standard data refresh.
Sample typeBackend API data from PayPal, refreshed on the standard data refresh.
Why it mattersThe metric appears in the Settlement & Payouts category and complements the sibling cards listed below. Track movement over time to identify regressions or opportunities.
Reading the valueCompare the current period to the prior period to identify direction. Cross-reference siblings for the full diagnostic picture.
Currencycurrency
Time windowRT
Alert trigger—
Sentiment keypp_pending_balance
Rolesowner, finance

Calculation

Calculated automatically from your PayPal data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.

Worked example

A representative reading of Pending Balance for a typical merchant on PayPal. The card reports the current period value alongside a comparison against the previous period. Direction matters: rising values may be healthy or concerning depending on the underlying metric. Cross-reference the siblings below to triangulate cause when the value moves outside expected range. For deeper investigation, use Vortex Mind to trace upstream causes; for natural-language exploration, ask Ask Viq.

Sibling cards merchants should reference together

CardWhy merchants reach for it
pp_avg_settlement_timeSettlement & Payouts sibling: Avg Settlement Time (days).
pp_oldest_pending_payoutSettlement & Payouts sibling: Oldest Pending Payout (days).
pp_payout_success_rateSettlement & Payouts sibling: Payout Batch Success Rate.
pay_avg_settlement_daysSettlement sibling: Avg Settlement Time (days).
pay_avg_transactionVolume sibling: Average Transaction.

Reconciling against the vendor’s own dashboard

Where to look in PayPal’s own dashboard: The PayPal dashboard surfaces this metric (or its components) under the relevant report section. Confirm period boundaries and filter settings match the Vortex IQ profile to reconcile cleanly. Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:
ReasonDirectionWhat to do
Period boundary. Vortex IQ uses 30-day rolling by default; vendor dashboards may use calendar periods.VariableMatch the period range.
Time zone. Vendor uses account time zone; Vortex IQ aligns to merchant reporting time zone.MarginalConfirm time zone match.
Filter scope. Profile-level filters (channel, B2B, test orders) may narrow the Vortex IQ view.VariableMatch filter settings.
Cross-connector reconciliation: complement with sibling cards in the same category for the full diagnostic picture. For divergence investigations, use Vortex Mind.

Known limitations / merchant FAQs

Q: How often does Pending Balance update? The card refreshes on the standard data refresh (typically every 30-60 minutes for live integrations). For real-time signals, force a manual refresh from the dashboard. Q: Why does my PayPal dashboard show a different number? The most common reasons are period-boundary differences (Vortex IQ uses 30-day rolling vs vendor’s calendar months), time-zone alignment, and filter scope (profile-level vs vendor’s all-account view). Match these settings before assuming a real divergence. Q: How does Pending Balance relate to other settlement & payouts metrics? Track this card alongside the siblings listed above to build a complete picture. Single-metric reads can mislead; the diagnostic value is in the cross-reference. Q: Can I customise the alert threshold? Yes, sensitivity thresholds are configurable per profile in the Sensitivity tab. Adjust to match your business baseline rather than relying on the generic default.

Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre

Pending Balance is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across PayPal and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. Start for free or book a demo to see this metric running on your own data.