# What is the difference between AI agent QA and refund reconciliation? URL: https://recoupaudit.com/ai-agent-qa-vs-refund-reconciliation/ Updated: 2026-10-17 Recoup / Guides / QA vs reconciliation # What is the difference between AI agent QA and refund reconciliation? Updated 17 Oct 2026 · 6 min read AI agent QA grades the conversation: was the answer correct, on policy and polite. Refund reconciliation checks the ledger: did each refund, credit or discount the agent promised appear in Shopify or Stripe, once, for the right amount. Shopify refund visibility apps sit in between: they report refunds that happened, but they do not read what was promised. A ticket can pass QA and still fail reconciliation. We make Recoup, which does refund reconciliation, so read this with that in mind. When we researched this on 17 Oct 2026 we found no other tool that matches AI agent tickets against Shopify and Stripe refunds. That is the reason Recoup exists, and also a reason to be careful: the category is new, and so is Recoup. We are onboarding the first brands by hand. ## Four kinds of check, defined Definition ### AI agent QA Checking the conversations an AI support agent has against your knowledge base, policies and quality rules: correct facts, right tone, no invented policy, escalation when needed. The evidence is the transcript. Definition ### Refund visibility Reporting the refunds that already exist in a store, for example by staff member, channel, product or discount. The evidence is the order system. It does not read what support promised. Definition ### Refund pre-approval Scoring a refund request before anyone approves it, to decide whether it should be paid. It works before the money moves, not after. Definition ### Refund reconciliation Reading support replies for promises of money, then matching each promise to the refunds, credits and discounts recorded in Shopify and Stripe, and classifying it as matched, missing, duplicated, wrong amount or outside policy. ## What each tool checks, and what it cannot see | | Category | Examples and public price | What it checks | What it cannot see | Source / Checked on | AI agent QA | Oversai: $500/mo platform fee billed annually, plus credit packages $499 to $2,999/mo. Observability $0.03 per interaction. | AI agent answers against your knowledge base, in real time, across Gorgias, Zendesk, Intercom, Kustomer, Sierra, Decagon, Ada and Fin | Shopify and Stripe records. Its page does not mention them. | oversai.com, 17 Oct 2026 | AI agent QA | Zendesk QA, Solidroad, Enterpret, Typewise. Prices not captured. | Conversations scored against QA and audit rubrics | No matching against the order or payment ledger found on their sites | zendesk.com, solidroad.com, enterpret.com, typewise.app, 17 Oct 2026 | Help desk action log | Intercom auditing tab. Free with the Shopify app. | Shopify refunds, gift cards and replacement orders made by teammates in the inbox, each with a reason | Fin's promises, and anything that happened outside Intercom | Intercom changelog, 17 Jun 2026, read 17 Oct 2026 | Shopify refund visibility | RefundAudit $7.99/mo. LeakScout from $5/mo. LeakSentry free, Pro $29/mo. | Refunds by staff member and channel (RefundAudit). Refund leakage by SKU and discount (LeakScout). Revenue leak signals including coupon abuse and refund fraud risk (LeakSentry). | What the support agent promised in the ticket. Their listings describe Shopify data only. | RefundAudit, LeakScout, LeakSentry listings, 17 Oct 2026 | Refund pre-approval | ApproveShield: $29, $79 or $199 per month | AI scoring of refund requests before approval | Whether a promised refund was later issued, since it works before the money moves | ApproveShield listing, 17 Oct 2026 | Refund reconciliation | Recoup: free in-browser audit, free 90-day done-for-you audit. Monitor $500/mo up to 2,000 orders, Monitor Plus $1,500/mo up to 10,000 orders. | Money promises in agent replies, matched to Shopify orders and refunds and Stripe refunds. Flags promised but not issued, issued twice, wrong amount, outside policy and repeat claimants. | Tone and accuracy of answers that do not involve money. In the in-browser audit, store credit, gift cards and new discount codes are not in the exports, so they are checked against policy only. | Recoup audit and pricing, 17 Oct 2026 Competitor details from each vendor's own site or Shopify App Store listing, read 17 Oct 2026. Products change: check each vendor before you buy. ## One ticket, three checks The clearest way to see the gap is to run the same ticket through each kind of tool. | | What happened | AI agent QA | Refund visibility app | Refund reconciliation | Agent wrote "I've refunded the $18.00 shipping." No refund was created. | Pass The reply is polite and on policy. | Nothing to show No refund exists to report. | Promised, not issued | Agent cancelled with a full $64.00 refund. A teammate refunded $64.00 again. | Pass The conversation was fine. | Two refunds shown Not which one the customer was promised. | Issued twice | Agent invented a 60-day return window. No money was promised. | Fail Wrong policy. | Nothing to show | Not in scope No money promise. Illustration. These rows show how each kind of check behaves. They are not from a real store. ## Which one do you need? - Your agent only answers questions. QA is the main check. A money audit has little to find. - Your agent can cancel, refund, credit, discount or replace. Add refund reconciliation. QA reads the words and cannot see the ledger. - You want to know who refunds what in Shopify. A visibility app answers that cheaply. It will not tell you about refunds that were promised and never made. - You want to stop bad refunds before they happen. Pre-approval scoring does that. Reconciliation then checks what got through. For a side-by-side with one QA tool, see Recoup vs Oversai. For the agents that can move money and how to check each, see AI support agents that issue refunds. Terms are defined in the glossary. ## FAQ What is the difference between AI agent QA and refund reconciliation? QA grades what the agent said in the conversation. Refund reconciliation checks whether the money it promised was recorded correctly in Shopify and Stripe. A conversation can pass one and fail the other. Is refund reconciliation the same as a Shopify refund report? No. A refund report lists refunds that happened. Reconciliation starts from what the support agent promised and checks each promise against those refunds, so it also finds refunds that never happened and refunds that were made twice. Can a QA tool catch a missing refund? Only if it reads the order and payment records. Oversai's page did not mention Shopify or Stripe checks when we read it on 17 Oct 2026. Ask your QA vendor whether it compares promises with refund records. Do I need both? If your agent only answers questions, QA may be enough. If it can refund, cancel, credit or discount, add a money check. The two read different evidence, so they rarely overlap. Who is behind Recoup? Recoup is built by AGUNA Wellness Ltd (RC 9590421). It is new, and we are onboarding the first brands by hand. Questions go to support@recoupaudit.com. ## Check the money side Your QA tool reads the words. Recoup reads the ledger. Run the audit on your own exports, with files kept in your browser, or let us run the first 90 days for you, free. Run the audit in your browser →Get the free 90-day audit →