> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Total Revenue (ex-VAT), Shopify > Total Revenue (ex-VAT) for Shopify stores. Headline revenue with VAT removed, the figure finance reconciles against the ledger. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Card class:** [Non-Hero](/nerve-centre/overview#card-classes-explained) • **Category:** [Ecommerce Platform](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) > Headline revenue with VAT removed. Useful for finance reconciliation. ## At a glance > Headline gross revenue across every Shopify order in the period, with VAT (or sales tax) stripped out. This is the net-of-tax sales figure finance teams reconcile against the management accounts, because tax collected is a liability owed to the tax authority, not the store's revenue. It is gross of refunds, the same as the main Total Revenue card, but ex-tax instead of inclusive. | | | | ----------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | Gross order value across the window with the tax portion removed. In practice the card sums each order's `totalPrice` and subtracts the order's `totalTax`, leaving the ex-tax sales value. | | **VAT / tax treatment** | **This is the whole point of the card.** Whatever VAT or sales tax Shopify recorded on the order is removed. For a UK store with `taxesIncluded = true`, the customer paid a VAT-inclusive total and this card backs the VAT out. For a US store with `taxesIncluded = false`, sales tax already sat separately in `totalTax`, so this card simply omits it. Either way you get the ex-tax sales figure. | | **Shipping** | **Included** (the ex-tax portion of it). Shipping is part of `totalPrice`; any VAT on shipping is removed along with the rest. | | **Discounts** | Already deducted. The card works from the post-discount order total before stripping tax. | | **Refunds** | **NOT deducted.** A refunded order still contributes its ex-VAT value. For the post-refund picture pair with [Refund Value](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/refund-value) and [Refund Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/refund-rate). | | **Cancelled / voided orders** | Included if Shopify indexed them (the same behaviour as the gross Total Revenue card). | | **Currency** | **Multi-currency arithmetic sum WITHOUT FX conversion.** A store taking GBP and EUR orders in the same window gets a single, blended number. Filter by currency for stores transacting in more than one currency. | | **Channels / sources** | **Not filtered.** Online Store, POS, Buy Button, social channels, B2B and marketplace-app orders all contribute. | | **Time window** | `30D vsP` (default 30D vs the prior 30D) | | **Alert trigger** | Configurable. Typically mirrors the gross revenue card, a sustained drop vs the prior period. | | **Roles** | owner, marketing, finance | ## Calculation ``` SUM(totalPrice) - SUM(totalTax) WHERE date BETWEEN [period_start, period_end] ``` ## Worked example A UK homewares store running on Shopify Plus with `taxesIncluded = true` (prices shown to customers include 20% VAT). The 30-day window covers 14 Mar 26 to 12 Apr 26. | Line | Amount | Note | | ------------------------------------------------- | -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Gross revenue (Total Revenue card, VAT-inclusive) | £2,100,000 | What customers were billed across the window | | VAT collected (`totalTax` summed) | £281,000 | The 20% sitting inside those inclusive prices, slightly under one-sixth because zero-rated and reduced-rate lines exist | | **Total Revenue (ex-VAT), this card** | **£1,819,000** | Gross minus tax | Three things to notice: 1. **The VAT removed is not exactly one-sixth of the gross.** A pure 20% inclusive basket would back out £350,000 of VAT from a £2.1M gross. This store only removes £281,000 because part of the catalogue is zero-rated or reduced-rate (children's clothing, books, some food). The card uses the actual `totalTax` Shopify recorded per order, so mixed tax treatment is handled correctly. 2. **This is the figure that ties to the P\&L.** Finance teams report revenue net of VAT because VAT is a liability owed to HMRC, not income. When the founder quotes £2.1M and the accountant quotes £1.82M, this card is why, and it is the accountant's number that lands in the management accounts. 3. **It is still gross of refunds.** A refunded order's ex-VAT value remains in this figure until you net it off. For a true net-of-everything view, subtract refunds (also ex-VAT) using the refund cards. The 30-day prior window was £1,756,000, so ex-VAT revenue is up 3.6% vsP. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair it with Total Revenue (ex-VAT) | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Total Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/total-revenue) | The VAT-inclusive headline. The gap between the two cards is your VAT collected for the period. | | [Total Tax Collected](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/total-tax-collected) | The exact amount this card removed. Total Revenue minus Total Tax Collected should equal this card. | | [Tax Collected Over Time](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/tax-collected-over-time) | The trend version of the deduction, useful when the VAT removed jumps period to period. | | [Refund Value](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/refund-value) | This card is still gross of refunds. Net it off for the true bankable ex-tax figure. | | [AOV (ex-VAT)](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/aov-ex-vat) | The per-order version of the same ex-tax basis. | | [Revenue Over Time](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/revenue-over-time) | The daily shape behind the headline; helps spot which days drove the move. | ## Reconciling against Shopify Admin **Where to look in Shopify Admin:** [Reports → Sales over time](https://admin.shopify.com/analytics/reports/sales_over_time). Set the same window. Shopify's **Net sales** column is *not* the right comparison (it deducts discounts and returns but its tax handling depends on your settings). The cleaner reconciliation is **Total sales minus Taxes**, both of which appear as columns in the sales finance reports. That combination should land within a few pounds of this card. Other Shopify Admin views and why they differ: * **Reports → Total sales over time**: VAT-inclusive for inclusive-tax stores, so it will read higher than this card by the VAT amount. * **Reports → Taxes**: shows the tax this card removed. Total sales minus this report is the closest manual reconstruction of the card. * **Finance → Summary**: the finance summary breaks out gross sales, taxes, and net. Use the gross-minus-tax line. **Why our number may legitimately differ from Shopify:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | -------------------- | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Time zone** | Boundary days | Shopify reports run on shop time zone; Vortex IQ runs on UTC by default. Orders near midnight on the boundary days fall on different sides. | | **Refund treatment** | Ours higher | This card is gross of refunds; Shopify's Net sales deducts returns. A refund-heavy period widens the gap. | | **Multi-currency** | Ours blended | Shopify reports in shop currency at FX; this card sums order currency without FX. | | **Mixed tax rates** | Should still match | Both this card and Shopify use the per-order tax actually recorded, so zero-rated and reduced-rate lines are handled the same way. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Card | Expected relationship | What causes legitimate divergence | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`stripe.stripe_total_revenue`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/stripe/total-charge-volume) | Stripe charge volume includes tax; this card excludes it | Stripe captures the full inclusive amount the customer paid. To compare, add the VAT back, or compare Stripe against the gross Total Revenue card instead. | | [`google_analytics.ga_revenue_trend`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/google-analytics/revenue-trend) | GA4 revenue config-dependent | GA4 purchase revenue may be sent inclusive or exclusive of tax depending on your tag setup; align the tax basis before comparing. | ***
Same-metric documentation cross-reference (for agencies running multiple platforms) The same ex-tax revenue definition lives on other commerce platforms. This is **not a reconciliation**, your Shopify store doesn't have a parallel store on BigCommerce or Adobe Commerce. These cross-links exist so agencies running multi-platform client books can navigate between identical metrics. * [`bigcommerce.total_revenue_ex_tax`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/total-revenue-ex-vat) * [`adobe_commerce.total_revenue_ex_tax`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/total-revenue-ex-vat)
## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Why is this lower than my Total Revenue card?** Because VAT (or sales tax) has been removed. The difference between Total Revenue and Total Revenue (ex-VAT) is exactly the tax Shopify recorded for the period. Tax is money you collect on behalf of the tax authority, not income, which is why finance reports the ex-VAT figure. **My US store doesn't charge VAT. Is this card useful?** Yes. For a US store with `taxesIncluded = false`, sales tax already sits separately from the product price, so this card simply reports sales excluding that tax. It is the same ex-tax sales figure your accountant uses, just labelled VAT for the UK / EU majority of stores. **Why isn't the VAT removed exactly 20% (or one-sixth) of gross?** Because not every line carries the standard rate. Zero-rated and reduced-rate items (children's clothing, books, some food, exports) carry less VAT or none. The card removes the actual `totalTax` recorded per order, so a mixed catalogue removes less than a flat 20% would imply. **Does it deduct refunds?** No. Like the gross Total Revenue card, this figure is before refunds. Pair with the refund cards for the net-of-everything view. **My multi-currency store shows a blended number, why?** The card sums order values without FX conversion, so a store taking GBP and EUR produces a single mixed figure. Filter by currency (by `presentmentCurrency`) for a clean per-currency ex-VAT total. **Which number should I quote to investors or the board?** Use ex-VAT for anything that feeds the P\&L, valuation multiples, or like-for-like comparison with other businesses, because revenue multiples are quoted on net-of-tax revenue. Use the gross figure only when you specifically mean cash collected including tax. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Total Revenue (ex-VAT)* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Shopify 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](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.