Why Track Refunds?
Without refund tracking, your GA4 reports show gross revenue—every purchase, even ones you later refunded. This makes your revenue data misleading and inflates your reported numbers.
Most GA4 setups on Shopify—including Google’s own Google & YouTube sales channel—don’t track refunds. This means any store processing returns has inaccurate revenue data in GA4 by default.
With refund tracking enabled:
GA4 automatically calculates net revenue (purchases minus refunds)
Your ecommerce reports reflect actual retained revenue
You can analyze refund patterns and rates
Revenue attribution becomes more accurate for marketing decisions
Enabling Refund Tracking
Open the Pasilobus Google Analytics app
Find the Refund Tracking section
Click Enable
Refunds will now be sent to GA4 automatically
To disable, click Disable in the same section.
What Gets Sent to GA4
When you process a refund in Shopify, a refund event is sent to GA4 with:
Original order ID (links the refund to the original purchase)
Refund amount
Currency
Refunded items and quantities (for partial refunds)
For partial refunds, only the refunded portion is sent. Full refunds include the complete order value.
Viewing Refunds in GA4
Once enabled, refund data appears in:
Monetization > Ecommerce purchases: Revenue adjusted for refunds
Explore reports: Build custom reports including refund events
GA4 automatically subtracts refund amounts from your revenue totals, giving you a true picture of retained revenue.
Limitations
Refund tracking works for orders placed after you installed the app, since the app needs to have recorded the original purchase
Refunds processed more than 60 days after the original order will not be sent to Google Analytics
Orders placed by customers using strict ad blockers may not have full tracking data available for refund matching