Turn a KDP royalty report into a Xero or QuickBooks journal

1. Your KDP royalty report

The royalty or payments report from KDP Reports, as CSV. Columns are matched by several aliases (Royalty Date or Month, Title, ASIN/ISBN, Marketplace, Format or Transaction Type, Units Sold, Royalty, Printing Cost, Tax Withheld, Currency, Total), not verified against a real export, so rename a column if the page says it is missing. Only a date, a format or type, and a royalty are required; the rest add detail and checks.

Read, check and build journals Load an example Load an example with errors Reset accounts Clear

Choose a file or paste the text, then click Read, check and build journals.

Result

Gross by marketplace and format

Total check

Journals

Download

Xero journal CSV QuickBooks Online CSV QuickBooks Desktop IIF Plain CSV

The accounts must already exist in your software under these names or codes. Xero's journal file has no currency column, so the currency is in each journal's narration; import each currency to a Xero account in that currency if you hold one. Post the journals, then check the KDP receivable account against what Amazon has paid. Download findings as CSV

The model, and what it leaves out

• Rows: each row is one line of the report with a date or month, a format or transaction type, a royalty amount and optionally a marketplace, units, printing cost, tax withheld, currency and a total. Amounts are read to cents; $1,234.56, 1.234,56 and (12.00) all work. Months written 2026-09 or September 2026 count as that month.
• Categories: eBook, paperback, hardcover and KENP page-read royalties to their own income accounts, each line carrying its marketplace; printing cost and tax withheld to two expense accounts. A format or type no rule recognises goes to an uncategorised account and is listed.
• Printing cost: by default the royalty column is taken as before printing cost and the Printing Cost column is deducted from it. If your royalty column is already after printing cost, switch the setting and the page adds the printing cost back onto income and books it as an expense. Which way your file is built is your call; check one row against KDP. A row whose own type is printing cost or tax withheld is always booked as a cost, whatever its sign.
• Tax withheld: booked as an expense account of its own so the amount owed by Amazon is net. Whether it is recoverable, a credit or deductible is a tax question this page does not answer.
• Currency: one journal per currency per month, labelled with the currency. No exchange rate is applied or invented. With no Currency column the page uses the currency you set and warns.
• Completeness checks: a per-row Total column must equal royalty less printing cost less tax withheld; a Total row must equal the sum of the rows (checked for a single-currency file only). A difference names the row or total and the amount, and the journals are marked not to post until it is fixed. With neither, the page says completeness cannot be proved.
• Month split: rows are grouped by date. A journal is dated the month end, or the last report date for the final month. Each balances to the KDP receivable account, so it holds exactly that month's net royalties.
• Not checked: that the report agrees with KDP or your books, the real column names, tax treatment anywhere, currency conversion, when Amazon actually pays, and that the accounts exist in your software.

Common questions

How do I turn a KDP royalty report into a journal entry?

Download your royalty or payments report as a CSV from KDP Reports, paste it here and press Read, check and build journals. The page books each row gross to an account for its format (eBook, paperback, hardcover, KENP page reads) with the marketplace in the memo, books printing cost and any tax withheld as expenses, and writes one balanced journal per currency per month against an Amazon KDP receivable account.

Why book gross royalties and printing cost instead of the bank deposit?

A paperback or hardcover royalty is what is left after Amazon's printing cost, and the deposit arrives long after the sales month. Booking only the deposit as income understates revenue, hides printing cost, and puts income in the month it was paid rather than the month it was reported. This page books income and cost on their own lines, in the month the report gives.

My royalty column is already after printing cost. Can it still show the cost?

Yes, if the file has a Printing Cost column. Choose that the royalty column is already net of printing cost and the page adds the printing cost back onto income and books it as an expense, so income is gross and the amount owed by Amazon is unchanged. Check the result against your KDP figures, because which way your file is built is something you tell the page, not something it can read.

What about royalties in pounds, euros and other currencies?

Each currency gets its own journal, labelled with that currency, and nothing is converted: no exchange rate is applied or invented. If the file has no Currency column the page journals everything in the currency you set and warns that it assumed it. Convert in your accounting software if you need a base-currency figure.

How does the page know a row is missing or wrong?

If the file has a per-row Total column, each row's royalty less printing cost less tax withheld must equal it. If the file has a Total row, the rows must add up to it. A difference is an error that names the row or the total and the amount. With neither, the page says completeness cannot be proved.

How are KENP page reads handled?

Rows whose format or type mentions KENP, pages read or Kindle Unlimited are booked to their own KENP royalties account, separate from eBook sales, so you can see what page reads earned.

What does the page do with rows it does not recognise?

It never drops them. A row whose format or type is not one the page knows is journalled to an uncategorised account so the journal still equals the report's total, and it is listed so you can review it.

Which accounting software can I import to?

Xero (manual journal CSV), QuickBooks Online (journal entry CSV), QuickBooks Desktop (IIF general journal) and a plain CSV for anything else. You can rename the accounts for each category before downloading so they match your chart of accounts.

Is it safe to paste a KDP report into a web page?

The page runs in your browser, the file is read locally and nothing is uploaded. The report names your titles and sales; delete columns you would rather not have on screen, because the page only needs the date, format, royalty and the optional cost, tax, currency and total columns.

What does this not check?

Whether the report matches your KDP account or your books, tax treatment anywhere (US withholding, VAT, self-employment tax), currency conversion, and that the accounts exist in your accounting software. It is bookkeeping help, not tax or accounting advice.