Ecommerce
Refund
Also called chargeback companion.
Refund is a reversal posted against a recorded transaction. It takes revenue back after the sale has been counted.
How it is measured
Record a refund event with the original order ID and the amount, and decide in which period it counts: the day it was paid out or the month of the original sale. Partial refunds need their own amount.
In Tarsier a refund is a custom event whose data holds the order ID and amount. Sending the same order ID as the purchase lets you tie the two together later.
Worked example
A furniture store books 52,000 in March. In April it refunds 4,100, nearly all of it from March orders, after a batch of damaged sofa legs. If April simply absorbs the loss, March looks 8 percent better than it was and April looks worse.
The finance lead reports net revenue by original order month, and March shows 47,900.
How it differs
A refund reverses a transaction. Revenue can be gross or net of refunds, and average order value shifts when you net them. A chargeback is a refund the customer's bank forces, and it often arrives weeks later with a fee.
Common errors
Reporting gross only. Booking the refund in the wrong month. Forgetting partial refunds. Failing to link to the order. Ignoring chargebacks.
In practice
Choose gross or net, say which on every chart, and keep a refund log so product problems show up as a pattern.