Syncing and data freshness
Chartsy keeps its own copy of the records it reads from your provider. That copy is what makes charts fast and history complete, and it is also the reason a number can occasionally lag what you see in Stripe by a moment. Here is how the process works and what to expect at each stage.
The two phases
- Backfill
- Runs once, when you first connect a data source. Chartsy reads every supported model from the beginning of the account - not just from today - which is why your very first dashboard has real trend lines instead of a single point. Large accounts with years of history take longer than small ones, and metrics fill in progressively as the backfill proceeds rather than appearing all at once at the end.
- Ongoing sync
- Runs continuously afterwards. Chartsy registers webhooks with your provider, so new subscriptions, payments, failures and refunds arrive as they happen rather than waiting for a nightly job. This is the only reason Chartsy asks for any write permission at all.
How fresh the numbers are
In steady state, near real time: a change in your provider is reflected within moments. Two things can still introduce a gap worth knowing about.
- Provider-side settlement. Some figures are not final at the instant a payment is taken - a charge can be captured, disputed, or refunded afterwards. Chartsy reflects each change when it happens rather than freezing the first value it saw.
- Period boundaries. A subscription that renews at midnight in one timezone lands in a different day's bucket than you might expect if you are reading the chart in another. This accounts for most "off by one day" surprises.
Refunds are applied when they happen
A refund reduces net revenue in the period the refund occurred, rather than reaching back and rewriting the original sale. Historical charts therefore stay stable rather than quietly changing after you have looked at them.
When a number disagrees with your provider
Small differences are usually definitional rather than a sync problem. The usual causes, in rough order of likelihood:
- Different metric. Your provider's dashboard often shows gross volume collected, while MRR is normalised recurring revenue with one-off charges excluded. See Metrics.
- Different date range or timezone on the two screens.
- Statuses counted differently - particularly trials and past-due subscriptions. See Customers, subscriptions and statuses.
- Multiple sources. If more than one account is connected, a combined view will exceed any single provider's dashboard by design.
If the gap is large or a figure has stopped moving entirely, work through Troubleshooting common issues.
Disconnecting
Revoking access in your provider stops the sync at once; the data already copied stays until you ask for it to be removed. To delete it, email support@chartsy.app. Nothing in your provider account is touched in either case.
