Balance (Available vs Pending)

Your balance is the money a payment processor is holding for you, and it's split into two states: pending and available. Knowing the difference is the key to understanding your real, spendable cash position versus the revenue you've simply earned on paper.

Pending vs. available

• Pending balance — funds from recent payments that haven't finished settlement yet. When a customer pays, the charge (minus fees) lands here first.
• Available balance — funds that have settled and are ready to use. Only available funds can be sent as a payout, issued as a refund, or moved as a transfer.

Money flows from pending to available automatically once each transaction settles, typically a couple of business days after capture, depending on your account and country.

Why the split exists

The pending window covers the time it takes for funds to clear the card networks and for the processor to manage risk — for example, the chance of a refund or chargeback shortly after a payment. This is why a busy sales day doesn't instantly translate into withdrawable cash.

Reading your balance

Your available balance can even go negative — for instance, if refunds or disputes exceed recent settled volume. Each movement into and out of your balance is logged as a balance transaction, which itemizes the gross amount, the fee, and the net that hit your balance. Summing the settled net across a period gives your net volume.