Your KDP reports say you sold 40 copies this week. Your Amazon Ads console says the ads sold 25. Neither is wrong. They count different things, on different dates, and only one of them knows about your advertising. Once you know how each one counts, the difference becomes useful.
What KDP Reports shows
KDP Reports, at kdpreports.amazon.com, covers everything your books earn, whatever led to the sale:
- Dashboard and Orders — units sold and ordered, by day, book and marketplace.
- KENP Read — Kindle Unlimited pages read.
- Promotions and Pre-order — free-book days, Countdown Deals and pre-orders.
- Royalties Estimator, Month-to-Date and Prior Months’ Royalties — what you have earned.
- Payments — what has been paid, about 60 days after the end of each month (about 90 days for Expanded Distribution).
There is no ad spend in KDP Reports at all. For that, you need the Amazon Ads console.
Five reasons the numbers do not match
- Ads only count ad sales. In KDP’s words, your ads account “will only show numbers for the sales attributed to your ads, whereas your KDP account will show all numbers related to your books, whatever led to their purchase.”
- The 14-day window. Ads credit a sale to a click from up to 14 days earlier. A reader who clicks, leaves, and buys three weeks later counts in KDP but not in Ads.
- Different dates for paperbacks. KDP records a paperback sale when the book ships; Amazon Ads records it on the day it was ordered. A busy weekend can land on different days in each report.
- Reporting delay. Ads order data can take up to 12 hours to update, and orders cancelled within 72 hours, or with failed payments, are removed afterwards.
- Sales value versus royalties. Ads “sales” are the value of the books sold at list price. KDP royalties are what you actually earn after the royalty rate, delivery fees and printing. $100 of ad sales is not $100 of income.
Putting them together
Each report answers a different question, and the useful numbers come from combining them:
| Question | Where the answer comes from |
|---|---|
| Are my ads profitable on the sales they caused? | ACOS from Amazon Ads, against your break-even |
| How much of my business are ads? | TACOS: ad spend (Ads) ÷ total sales (KDP) |
| Are ads lifting sales they do not get credit for? | Total KDP units rising faster than ad-attributed units |
| What did I actually earn? | KDP royalties and KENP, minus ad spend |
ad spend (Amazon Ads) ÷ total sales (KDP) × 100
Use the same dates and marketplace for both, and value KDP units at list price so both sides are in sales.
A worked week
One eBook at $4.99, one week:
| Amazon Ads | KDP Reports | |
|---|---|---|
| Units | 25 | 40 |
| Sales at list price | $124.75 | $199.60 |
| Ad spend | $60.00 | — |
| ACOS · TACOS | 48% ACOS | 30% TACOS |
The ads were credited with 25 sales at a 48% ACOS, comfortably under a break-even near 68%. The other 15 sales came from organic search, readers who bought outside the 14-day window, and word of mouth. Some of those were probably helped by the ads, but no report can say how many. Watching TACOS fall over months is the best evidence that they are.
GuideACOS vs ROAS vs TACOS: What Each One MeasuresACOS judges the ads; TACOS judges their weight in the whole book.Common questions
Why don’t my KDP reports match my Amazon Ads sales?
Amazon Ads counts only sales attributed to an ad click within 14 days, while KDP counts every sale. Paperbacks are dated by order in Ads but by shipment in KDP, ads data can lag up to 12 hours, and Ads shows sales at list price rather than royalties.
Where do I find KDP reports?
At kdpreports.amazon.com, or from Reports in the KDP menu. The dashboard shows orders, Kindle Unlimited pages read and estimated royalties by day, book and marketplace.
Do KDP reports show ad spend?
No. KDP Reports covers sales, pages read and royalties. Ad spend, clicks and ad-attributed sales are in the Amazon Ads console.
Are Amazon Ads sales the same as royalties?
No. Ads sales are the value of books sold at list price. Your royalty is what KDP pays you after the royalty rate, delivery fees and printing costs.
When does KDP pay royalties?
About 60 days after the end of the month in which the sales happened, or about 90 days for Expanded Distribution sales.
- KDP Reports counts every sale; Amazon Ads counts only sales credited to an ad within 14 days.
- Paperbacks are dated by order in Ads and by shipment in KDP.
- Ads “sales” are list-price value, not royalties.
- Combine them: TACOS = ad spend (Ads) ÷ total sales (KDP), same dates and marketplace.
- A falling TACOS over months is the best evidence that ads lift sales they do not get credit for.