Short Answer
Some of your data updates in real time, and some takes days to finalize. This is because TikTok settles financial details (fees, taxes, exact shipping costs) only after an order is delivered and a settlement period has passed. Dashboardly shows estimated values for recent orders and automatically updates them once TikTok provides the final numbers.
Why This Happens
When a Recent Card Is Still Preparing
Dashboardly prepares the most recent financial days in the background. If a small part of a selected range is still being refreshed, the Dashboard and Profit & Loss pages reuse the completed days and recover only the outstanding days. This keeps a partial refresh from forcing the entire range through a slow recalculation. When a recently validated Product result is still compatible with the current calculation rules, Dashboardly can keep showing it with an updating status while the exact affected dates refresh in the background. Connected eligible shops are also prepared proactively, including before their first report view, so opening a page does not start the heavy calculation.
If no compatible validated result exists yet, such as during a first sync or a calculation-version change, the page may briefly show a preparing state while the background refresh finishes. It does not replace unknown values with misleading zeros. Refresh the page after the preparation notice clears. Older or larger gaps stay protected until the background process has complete source data; this preserves the accuracy of settled figures while the refresh is in progress.
Real-Time vs. Settled Data
Dashboardly receives order data through two channels:
- Webhooks (real-time) -- When a new order is placed, shipped, or refunded on TikTok, Dashboardly receives a notification within minutes. This gives you up-to-date order counts, revenue, and product information.
- Settlement statements (delayed) -- TikTok calculates the exact fees, taxes, shipping costs, and platform charges for each order only when it creates a settlement statement. This typically happens 7 to 14 days after an order is delivered.
Three Levels of Data Accuracy
Dashboardly uses a tiered system for data quality:
| Level | When | What You See |
|---|---|---|
| Recent orders (newest) | Within hours of order placement | Revenue is accurate. Fees and taxes are estimated based on your shop's historical average fee rate. |
| Pre-settlement orders | After TikTok processes the order but before settlement | Revenue is accurate. Fees are based on unsettled transaction data -- better than estimates but not final. |
| Settled orders (most accurate) | After TikTok includes the order in a settlement statement | All numbers are final: exact fees, taxes, shipping costs, and platform charges. |
What Gets Estimated
For recent orders that have not yet been settled:
- Platform fees -- Estimated using your shop's historical average fee rate. For most shops, this estimate is within 1-2% of the final value.
- Tax amounts -- Estimated until settlement confirms the exact tax.
- Shipping costs -- The net shipping cost may differ slightly once TikTok finalizes the settlement.
Revenue (product sales) is always accurate because it comes directly from the order data, not from settlement.
How Estimates Work
Dashboardly calculates the temporary fee baseline from your shop's finalized statement history only. Provisional or already-estimated transactions are not allowed to train the estimate. When there is enough history, Dashboardly uses the typical finalized fee rate while reducing the effect of unusually high or low orders; newer shops use a broader finalized average or the documented default until enough statements are available. Recent shipping estimates use the shop's finalized shipping history in the same way, while preserving the fact that some settled orders genuinely have no seller shipping charge.
These are temporary estimates for open periods, not locked accounting values. They can move as TikTok finalizes an order or as the shop builds enough finalized history for a better baseline. Once TikTok provides the final transaction, Dashboardly replaces the estimate with that transaction's exact fee and shipping values. A completed Statement-date report therefore remains the correct view for payout reconciliation; Order date + Accrual basis remains the current operational view and clearly includes not-yet-final values.
Recurring financial syncs also recheck historical orders that already have a TikTok transaction. If the transaction was saved but an earlier data-quality flag update was interrupted, the next successful sync repairs the order's estimated/final state automatically without changing the imported transaction amounts.
What You Can Do
Check if data is estimated
- Recent dates (within the last 1-2 weeks) are more likely to contain estimated values.
- Older dates should have fully settled, accurate data.
- If you need exact numbers for a specific period, wait until all orders in that period have been settled by TikTok.
Trigger a manual sync
If you suspect data is outdated:
- Go to Settings > Accounts.
- Click the Sync button next to the relevant shop.
- Wait for the import to complete (check progress in Settings > Import History).
This pulls the latest data from TikTok, including any newly available settlement statements.
Use the P&L page for final numbers
The Profit & Loss page provides the most detailed and accurate view of your financials. For bookkeeping or tax purposes, use the P&L for date ranges where all orders have been settled (typically anything older than 2-3 weeks).
Common Scenarios
"Today's fees show $0 but I had orders"
This is expected. Orders placed today have not been settled yet. Dashboardly estimates fees for recent orders, but if your shop is very new and has no fee history to base estimates on, fees may show as $0 until the first settlement arrives.
"Last week's profit changed"
TikTok likely released a new settlement statement that included orders from last week. Dashboardly updated the estimated fees with the final amounts. Small changes like this are normal and mean your data is becoming more accurate.
"My numbers are accurate for last month but not this month"
Last month's orders have been settled by TikTok, so all values are final. This month's orders are still in the estimation phase. This is expected behavior.
When to Contact Support
- If data has not updated after a manual sync and you see the import completed successfully.
- If orders from more than 3 weeks ago still appear to have incorrect fee values.
- If no new data has appeared for several days despite your shop being active on TikTok.