Quick export guide · ~5 minutes
How to Export Stripe Balance CSV for Fee Analysis
Not for BI tools or data pipelines
This guide is for Stripe users who want to understand their real processing costs: effective rate, payout differences, refund fee leakage, and international card mix. It is not for developers building data pipelines to Tableau, PostgreSQL, Qlik, Power BI, or JSON warehouses.
Open Stripe Dashboard
Go to dashboard.stripe.com and log in to your account.
Click "Reports" in the left sidebar
Find the Reports section in the left navigation menu. If you don't see it, look under "Balance" or use the search.
Select "Balance" → "Balance transactions"
Choose "Balance transactions" — not the summary. This gives you one row per transaction with full fee detail.
Set your date range
We recommend at least 3 months for meaningful trend analysis. Longer is better — the more data, the more accurate the high-fee charge detection.
Export as CSV
Click "Export" in the top right, select CSV format, and download. The file is usually named balance_transactions_YYYYMMDD.csv.
Key columns in the file
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| balance_transaction_id | Unique balance transaction identifier |
| reporting_category | charge, refund, dispute, payout, fee, adjustment |
| gross | Gross transaction amount in normal currency units |
| fee | Stripe fee amount in normal currency units |
| net | Gross amount minus fees in normal currency units |
| currency | ISO 4217 currency code (usd, eur, gbp) |
| created | Transaction timestamp (created or created_utc) |
| description | Optional payment description or customer info |
Stripe Dashboard Balance exports usually show amounts in normal currency units (for example, 49.00 USD). API-style cent columns are also accepted when you provide amount / fee / net.
Common questions
I do not see "Balance transactions" in Reports
Try navigating to Reports -> Balance and look for an "Export" button in the top right. The UI varies slightly by account type. Some accounts see it under Payments -> All transactions.
What is the difference between Balance and Payout reports?
Balance transactions include individual charges, refunds, and fees. Payout reports are grouped summaries of what Stripe sent to your bank. Use Balance transactions for fee analysis.
How much data should I export?
Export at least one month of data. Three or more months gives better trend data and month-over-month comparison. Stripe Fee Auditor supports files up to 4MB.
Got your CSV? Upload it now.
Drop your Balance CSV and get your real effective rate, monthly breakdown, and top fee drivers, usually in under 30 seconds.
No account · Raw CSV file not stored · Usually under 30 seconds
Prefer a monthly nudge in the browser? Install Chrome helper (secondary — sample report stays the main path).