How to Open a Reimbursement Case With Amazon
To open a reimbursement case with Amazon, find the discrepancy first (a lost or damaged unit in your Inventory Adjustments or Ledger data), confirm Amazon has not already paid it, then go to Help > Get Support in Seller Central and file one case with your FNSKU, Transaction Item ID and proof of ownership attached. Most denials come from timing and missing paperwork, not from Amazon disagreeing that the unit was lost. This guide walks through the full process, the deadlines, the evidence, what to do after a denial, and how to record the money so your books stay right.
TL;DR
- Check Reports > Payments > Reimbursements first. Amazon often pays warehouse damage on its own, and duplicate claims can draw account scrutiny.
- Watch the clock. Since October 15, 2025, lost or damaged items must be claimed within 60 days of the event, and customer return claims fall in a 45 to 105 day window after the refund.
- File one clean case: FNSKU, Transaction Item ID, supplier invoice, proof of delivery and a ledger screenshot.
- If denied, appeal inside the same thread, cite the policy and reference the earlier case number rather than opening new ones.
- Reimbursements are not revenue. Map them to their own accounts in QuickBooks or Xero.
Table of Contents
- When you should open a case (and when you shouldn’t)
- Step 1: Find the discrepancy in your reports
- Step 2: Confirm Amazon hasn’t already paid
- Step 3: Check the deadline
- Step 4: Gather your evidence
- Step 5: Open the case in Seller Central
- Step 6: Group claims sensibly
- What to do if Amazon denies the case
- Keep your books straight: what to do with the money
- Our perspective: why we built around monitoring, not commissions
- Let us check what Amazon owes you
- A weekly routine that keeps claims inside the window
- Common mistakes that get cases denied
- FAQ
- Sources
When you should open a case (and when you shouldn’t)
A case is the right tool when your records show Amazon owes you money and Amazon has not paid it. In practice that means one of these situations:
- Warehouse lost: inventory went missing inside a fulfillment center.
- Warehouse damaged: a unit was damaged while Amazon handled it.
- Inbound shipment discrepancy: you sent more units than Amazon received and checked in.
- Customer return not received: Amazon refunded the buyer but the unit never came back to your inventory.
- Removal order shortfall: units you asked Amazon to return or dispose of did not arrive.
Amazon’s seller forum lists warehouse lost and warehouse damaged among the covered scenarios, and our own guide to Amazon reimbursement claims for FBA sellers covers the wider list.
A case is the wrong tool in two situations. The first is when Amazon has already reimbursed the unit. The second is when you are too early. Seller community guidance says filing too early is the most common reason for denial, because Amazon’s systems need time to reconcile a closed shipment or a refunded return before a discrepancy is real.
Step 1: Find the discrepancy in your reports
Never open a case from a hunch. Start from data.
Lost or damaged warehouse inventory
In Seller Central, go to Reports > Fulfillment > Inventory Adjustments. Per the seller forum walkthrough, the reason codes that matter are:
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| M | Misplaced or lost inventory |
| 6, 7, E, H, K, U | Damaged in the warehouse |
The same thread explains the data you will need to copy out for each line: the FNSKU and the Transaction Item ID. A reference table of Inventory Ledger codes is useful when you see an unfamiliar letter. Note that code 6, for example, is carrier damage that is followed by a matching increase code, so read adjustments in pairs before you conclude something is missing.
Inbound shipments
Compare the units you shipped with the units Amazon received, shipment by shipment. If a shipment is closed and the numbers still do not match, that is a candidate. Our guide to Amazon inventory reconciliation shows how to line up shipments, ledger events and your purchase orders so gaps stand out.
Customer returns
Use the FBA Customer Returns report and the Reimbursements report side by side. You are looking for orders where the buyer was refunded, the unit was never returned or was returned unsellable by Amazon’s handling, and no reimbursement followed. For the timing rules see our page on 60 day Amazon returns.
Step 2: Confirm Amazon hasn’t already paid
This step saves more headaches than any other. Go to Reports > Payments > Reimbursements and search for the FNSKU, order ID or shipment ID. Amazon’s systems frequently auto-reimburse warehouse damage, and a manual claim on top of a paid one wastes a support agent’s time and, according to the same community guidance, can trigger account monitoring.
Also check partial payments. Sometimes Amazon reimburses a unit but at a value you disagree with. That is a different case type (a reimbursement amount dispute), and you should say so clearly when you file.
Step 3: Check the deadline
Amazon changed its eligibility windows effective October 15, 2025. According to the announcement in the seller forums:
| Claim type | Window |
|---|---|
| Lost or damaged inventory | Within 60 days of the reported event |
| Customer return | 45 to 105 days after the refund |
| Removal order | 15 to 135 days after the order was created |
Two things follow from this. First, the old habit of auditing once a year no longer works: a discrepancy found six months late is probably expired. Second, some claims have a floor as well as a ceiling. A return claim filed on day 30 is early; one filed on day 110 is late. Our reimbursement time limits page helps you compute the exact dates for each claim type.
Policy details change, so confirm the current windows on Amazon’s own policy page before you rely on any date, including the ones here.
Step 4: Gather your evidence
Missing documentation is the primary reason claims are denied. Attach everything to the first submission, not in a trickle of follow-ups. Put together:
- Proof of ownership: itemized supplier invoices showing the product, quantity and cost. Amazon needs to see you paid for what you say was lost.
- Proof of delivery: a tracking number for small parcel, or a stamped manifest or bill of lading for LTL and FTL freight.
- The discrepancy itself: a screenshot or export from your Inventory Ledger or Adjustments report with the relevant rows highlighted.
- Identifiers: FNSKU, ASIN, shipment ID and the Transaction Item ID.
Name the files clearly (for example, invoice-ABC123-2026-09.pdf) so the agent can find what you refer to. A one-page PDF that combines the ledger rows and a short timeline often gets read faster than six loose attachments.
Step 5: Open the case in Seller Central
The path for warehouse lost or damaged inventory, per the seller forum guide, is Help > Get Support. Menus in Seller Central move around, so if you cannot find a label, use the search box in the help panel and look for the Fulfillment by Amazon reimbursement option. You can review your submitted cases later in the Case Log.
Then:
- Choose the Fulfillment by Amazon category and the reimbursement or missing inventory issue type.
- Enter the FNSKU and Transaction Item ID for each affected line.
- Write a short, factual description (template below).
- Attach the evidence.
- Submit and note the case ID in your tracking sheet.
A case description that works
Units of [FNSKU] were recorded as lost in the fulfillment center on [date] (Transaction Item ID [ID], reason code M). No reimbursement appears in Reports > Payments > Reimbursements. The claim is within the 60 day window. Attached: supplier invoice, proof of delivery and the Inventory Adjustments rows. Please reimburse [quantity] units under the FBA lost inventory policy.
Keep it to what an agent needs: what, when, which identifiers, which policy, what you attached. Do not argue, speculate or vent.
Step 6: Group claims sensibly
One case per issue works best, but one issue can cover several units. If twelve units of the same SKU vanished in the same shipment, that is one case with twelve units, not twelve cases. Avoid the opposite mistake too: do not bundle unrelated SKUs and shipment problems in one wall of text. Agents handle cases queue by queue, and a muddled case invites a partial answer.
Our guide to Amazon lost inventory and the explainer on damaged inventory reimbursement go deeper on which units qualify.
What to do if Amazon denies the case
A denial is often the opening move, not the verdict. Sellers report that claims submitted through automated channels are sometimes denied within seconds, and the community advice is persistence: cite the specific policy, supply complete documentation and push for a manual review by a person.
A workable appeal routine:
- Read the denial reason. Was it timing, missing proof, or a claim that the unit was found? Each needs a different answer.
- Reply in the same case or reference the earlier case number in a new one. The forum guidance stresses that referencing previous case numbers keeps the thread continuous.
- Compile one complete evidence pack with invoices, proof of delivery and the specific ledger discrepancy. Avoid several fragmented cases.
- Quote the policy. Link or name the FBA lost and damaged inventory policy and say which clause applies.
- Log dates. Note when you appealed so you can follow up politely after a few business days.
If an appeal is rejected twice on facts you can document, escalate through Seller Support rather than opening a fourth parallel case.
Keep your books straight: what to do with the money
Claiming the cash is half the job. The other half is recording it. Bookkeepers warn that the deposit from Amazon is net of fees, advertising, refunds and other deductions, and that booking it as revenue is a common mistake. A reimbursement is not a sale. It is an offset to inventory cost or to a fee, and it should sit in its own account so your margins are not inflated. A recent piece on preparing ecommerce books makes the same point: reimbursements for lost or damaged inventory are not revenue.
The volume of line items makes this tedious by hand. One agency notes that Amazon settlements contain more than 15 distinct fee line items, each of which belongs in a different account. If you use QuickBooks Online, our walkthrough on reconciling QuickBooks Online for Amazon sellers shows the approach, and accountant ready inventory reconciliation covers the month-end side.
Our perspective: why we built around monitoring, not commissions
We talk to sellers who lose money to FBA in two quiet ways. The first is missed claims: the 60 day window means a discrepancy nobody noticed this month is worth nothing next quarter. The second is sloppy bookkeeping: money arrives, gets lumped into revenue, and nobody can say later what the recovery was worth.
That is why we monitor inbound shipments and FBA ledger events continuously rather than as an annual audit, and why we post settlements to QuickBooks and Xero in summarized, penny-accurate form for every channel. We also believe the money you recover is yours. We charge flat monthly pricing and never take a commission on recovered funds, so our incentives do not change with the size of your claim. Read more on how that works in Amazon FBA reimbursements without commission.
Our honest advice is to do your first few cases by hand. You will learn what the ledger codes mean and what agents expect. Then decide what is worth your time.
, Tim
Let us check what Amazon owes you
If you would rather not comb through ledgers, our free FBA reimbursement audit looks at your account for lost, damaged and under-reimbursed inventory so you can see what is claimable before you commit to anything. Ongoing monitoring and accounting sync are on the pricing page: Free at $0 per month, Starter at $19 per month, Growth at $49 per month and Scale at $99 per month, with tiers based on order volume.
A weekly routine that keeps claims inside the window
Because the windows are short, a small weekly habit beats a big quarterly clean-up.
- Monday: export. Download the Inventory Adjustments and Reimbursements reports for the past two weeks.
- Match. For each M or damage code, search for a corresponding reimbursement. Anything unmatched goes onto your claim sheet with its event date.
- Compute deadlines. Add 60 days to the event date for warehouse losses. For returns, record both the day the window opens (45 days after the refund) and closes (105 days).
- Gather evidence. Pull the invoice and proof of delivery while the shipment is fresh in your mind.
- File and log. Open the case, record the case ID and set a reminder to check status.
- Month end. Record each reimbursement in your accounting software in its own account and reconcile it to the settlement.
A simple spreadsheet with columns for SKU, FNSKU, event date, deadline, case ID, status and amount recovered is enough to start. For a fuller picture of what to track, see our 2026 seller audit guide.
Common mistakes that get cases denied
- Filing too soon. The unit may still be in transit between facilities. Wait for the proper window.
- Filing too late. A missed deadline is rarely recoverable.
- Vague evidence. An invoice that does not show the SKU or quantity proves little. Highlight the line.
- Duplicate cases. Opening a new case for every reply splits the history and slows resolution.
- Claiming what Amazon already paid. Always search the Reimbursements report first.
- Skipping the books. Unrecorded reimbursements leave your inventory count and cost of goods sold out of step with reality.
If you want a short definition of the term for a teammate or accountant, our glossary entry on FBA reimbursement is a quick reference.
FAQ
Where do I open a reimbursement case in Seller Central?
For lost or damaged warehouse inventory, use Help > Get Support and choose the Fulfillment by Amazon reimbursement option, then supply the FNSKU and Transaction Item ID. You can follow the case afterward in the Case Log. Menu labels change from time to time, so use the help search if a label has moved.
How long do I have to open a case?
Since October 15, 2025, lost or damaged items need a claim within 60 days of the event, customer return claims fall 45 to 105 days after the refund, and removal order claims fall 15 to 135 days after the order was created, according to Amazon’s seller forum announcement. Check Amazon’s current policy page before relying on these dates.
What documents does Amazon want?
Supplier invoices that prove ownership, proof of delivery such as a tracking number or stamped manifest, and a screenshot of the discrepancy in your Inventory Ledger. Attach all of it to the first submission instead of adding pieces later.
My claim was denied instantly. Is it over?
Not necessarily. Sellers report that quick denials often come from automated screening, and the usual advice is to reply with the specific policy and full documentation so a human reviews it. Keep the appeal in the same thread and cite the earlier case number.
Should I record a reimbursement as income?
No. Reimbursements are adjustments to inventory cost or fees, not sales revenue, and each settlement line should map to its own ledger account. Ask your accountant how to treat them for your entity and tax situation.
Sources
- Update to FBA inventory reimbursement claim windows (Amazon Seller Forums)
- FBA Lost Your Inventory? Steps to File a Reimbursement Claim (Amazon Seller Forums)
- Safe-T claims Immediately/Automatically Denied (Amazon Seller Forums)
- Inventory Ledger Details (Reason Automation)
- How To Claim Amazon FBA Reimbursement Quickly And Easily (Megaficus)
- Amazon Seller Accounting: Fees, Settlements, COGS & Tax (Taxomate)
- How to Prepare Ecommerce Books for a Sale or Raise (Empire of News)
- 5 Signs You’ve Outgrown QuickBooks eCommerce (Zolify)