Convert Stripe & Shopify API JSON to CSV for Financial Reporting
If you work in Finance or Operations for an e-commerce company, you know the struggle.
You need to reconcile payments or analyze customer orders. You ask Engineering for the data. They send you a file named orders_export_2024.json.
You open it in Excel, and it's a disaster. Columns are missing, data is trapped in [List] cells, and timestamps are in UNIX format.
Why API Data is Hard to Read
APIs from Stripe, Shopify, and PayPal are designed for developers, not analysts. They are deeply nested:
- Stripe: A "Charge" object contains a "Source" object, which contains a "Card" object.
- Shopify: An "Order" contains a list of "Line Items", each with "Tax Lines" and "Discount Allocations".
Standard converters flatten this blindly, creating a spreadsheet with 500 columns that is impossible to read.
The "Relational" Approach
To get meaningful financial reports, you need to treat this JSON not as a flat sheet, but as a Relational Database.
1. The "Line Item" Problem
A single Shopify order might have 5 items. If you flatten it to one row, you get item_1_price, item_2_price, etc. You can't pivot that.
JsonExport solves this with its Nested View.
It detects lists (like line_items) and creates a sub-structure. This allows you to export a "Parent" sheet (Orders) and a "Child" sheet (Line Items) that you can join in Excel or Power BI.
2. Handling Timestamps
Stripe sends dates as 167890000 (Unix timestamps). Excel hates these.
Our workbench automatically detects these fields and offers to convert them to human-readable Dates (2024-03-15) before you simple export.
Step-by-Step Guide
- Export API Data: Get your
.jsonresponse from Postman or your dev team. - Paste into Workbench: Use JsonExport.
- Review the Grid: Check the "Nested" toggle to see the hierarchy.
- Export: Click "Download Excel".
Conclusion
Stop manually copy-pasting from JSON viewers. Use a tool that understands the structure of API data.