Why aren't the number of transactions always equal to sales plus returns in GT Reporting?

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This article applies to reports in the GT Reporting (Beta) module.

Question

Why aren't the Number of Transactions always equal to the Number of Sales plus the Number of Returns in GT Reporting?

In this example, Kelsey R has 10 transactions, but only 8 sales and 1 return.

Answer

Invoices where the total is $0.00 count as a transaction, but not as a sale or a return. Examples are voids and product exchanges of equal value.

Value definitions (find this on the Learn More tab of most Beta reports)

# Transactions

The number of transactions, which includes both sales, returns and exchanges.

# Sales

The number of sales, which includes invoices where the total is greater than 0.

# Returns

The number of returns, which includes invoices where the total is less than 0.

In this example, Kelsey R processed 10 transactions total, but one transaction didn't count as a sale or a return.

# Transactions

10 total transactions, which includes both sales, returns and exchanges.

# Sales

8 sales invoices, where the invoice total is greater than 0.

# Returns

1 return invoice, where the invoice total is less than 0.

Non-sale and Non-return

1 invoice where the total is equal to 0, which could be either a void or a product exchange of equal value.