A complete guide: Order Value (GA4)

The Order Value setting puts you in control of the single number TagFly sends to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) as the value of each purchase. Rather than being locked into one definition of revenue, you decide what counts — the clean product amount, the full amount the customer paid, or a custom figure you build yourself, such as the value after discounts or with specific fees added. That number drives your revenue reports in GA4 and, when GA4 conversions feed Google Ads, the conversion value that ROAS and Smart Bidding rely on. This guide explains each option, how to preview it with the sample order, and how to avoid the most common pitfall — accidentally double-counting tax when your Shopify prices are tax-inclusive.

What you will learn

• What the Order Value setting controls
• How to read the sample order preview
• The three options: Product value only, Amount the customer paid, and Custom formula
• How to build and validate a custom formula
• The tax-inclusive pricing
• Best practices
• Frequently asked questions

What does the Order Value setting control?

Every time a customer completes checkout, TagFly sends a Purchase event to GA4. That event carries a value — the monetary amount GA4 treats as the order's worth. The Order Value setting is where you decide exactly how that amount is calculated.
This matters because the same order can be described by several different numbers: the product subtotal, the amount after a discount, the amount including tax and shipping, and so on. Whichever you choose becomes your revenue in GA4, and if you import GA4 conversions into Google Ads, it also becomes the conversion value that automated bidding optimizes toward. Choosing an amount that doesn't match how you think about revenue is the usual reason GA4 numbers "look wrong" or ROAS drifts from expectations. That's the point of this setting: it gives you three ways to define the value — two ready-made presets for the most common cases, and a fully custom formula for everything else.
The setting applies to the GA4 property you are currently configuring, so confirm you're on the right property before changing it.

How to read the sample order preview

To make each option concrete, the page uses one sample order and shows what GA4 would receive under each choice:

• Product subtotal (price × qty): $100
• Discount: $20
• Tax: $8
• Shipping: $5
• Order total: $93 (subtotal − discount + shipping + tax)

Under every option you'll see a live "GA4 receives $X" line calculated from this sample. Use it to sanity-check your choice before saving — the number shown is exactly how the math would behave on a real order of the same shape.

The three options: Product value only, Amount the customer paid, and Custom formula

Option 1 — Product value only (recommended by GA4)

Sends the product subtotal only — price × quantity of the items, before discounts and shipping. For the sample order, GA4 receives $100.
This is GA4's recommended choice because it keeps the event value focused on product revenue and comparable across channels. Discounts, shipping, and taxes vary from order to order and platform to platform, so leaving them out gives you a cleaner, more consistent basis for revenue reporting and ROAS.
Choose this when you want GA4 revenue to reflect the value of the products sold rather than the exact cash collected.

Option 2 — Amount the customer paid

Sends the Shopify order total — what the customer actually paid, including discounts, taxes, and shipping. For the sample order that's price × qty $100 − discount $20 + shipping $5 + tax $8, so GA4 receives $93.
Choose this when you want GA4 revenue to mirror the cash that actually hit your account, so it lines up with Shopify's own order totals and your finance reporting. The trade-off is that shipping and tax differences make this number less comparable across channels and regions.

Option 3 — Custom formula (build your own)

This is the heart of the feature: build the exact amount you want from the order's component parts. Start from any component and add or subtract the others — take the product value after discounts, add shipping or other fees, remove tax, or any combination. Whenever the two presets don't match your definition of revenue, this is where you make it precise.

How to build and validate a custom formula

Step 1 — Add variables**:** Insert any of these building blocks into your formula:

• {subtotal} — product subtotal, price × qty ($100 in the sample)
• {discount} — order discount ($20)
• {tax} — tax ($8)
• {shipping} — shipping ($5)
• {total} — order total, subtotal − discount + shipping + tax ($93)

Step 2 — Write your formula. Combine the variables with math operators to produce the amount you want.

The tax-inclusive pricing

This is the single most important thing to get right, and it depends on one Shopify setting: "Include sales tax in product price and shipping rate."

• If that setting is OFF (prices exclude tax), tax is added on top at checkout. {subtotal} is already tax-exclusive, so Product value only sends a clean, tax-free product amount.
• If that setting is ON (prices include tax), the tax is baked into your product prices. That means {subtotal} — and therefore Product value only — already contains the tax. Adding {tax} on top of it in a custom formula counts the tax twice.

This is exactly what the builder warns about. If your prices include tax and you write {subtotal} + {tax}, the preview shows $100 + $8 = $108 and TagFly flags: "Prices already include tax, so {tax} double-counts it in GA4." To send a tax-exclusive amount when prices are tax-inclusive, subtract instead: {subtotal} - {tax} = $92.

Best practice

• Pick one definition and use it everywhere. Whatever you decide revenue means — product value, or the full amount paid — apply the same logic across GA4, Google Ads, Meta, and any other pixel. Consistent values make ROAS comparable across channels; mismatched ones make it impossible to compare.
• Match the value to your own definition of revenue. If you're not sure where to start, Product value only is a safe default — it's GA4's recommendation and the most channel-comparable. Move to Amount the customer paid, or a custom formula, when you have a specific definition in mind (for example, revenue after discounts, or with certain fees included).
• Exclude tax and shipping if you optimize ad bidding on revenue. Tax and shipping inflate conversion value without reflecting product margin, which can skew automated bidding.
• Know your tax setting before writing a formula, and re-check the formula whenever that setting changes.
• Verify after you save. Place a test order (or use GA4 DebugView / the Realtime report) and confirm the Purchase value matches what you expect. You can also cross-check with Pixel Health to confirm events are firing end to end.

Frequently asked questions

1. Which option should I choose? For most stores, Product value only — it's GA4's recommendation and keeps revenue comparable across channels. Choose Amount the customer paid if you specifically want GA4 to match Shopify's order totals, and a Custom formula if you need to add or remove a specific component such as tax.
2. Why doesn't GA4 revenue match my Shopify revenue? Because they may be measuring different things. If Order Value is set to Product value only, GA4 shows product revenue before discounts, tax, and shipping, while Shopify reports the full total. This is expected. If you need the two to line up, use Amount the customer paid or customize your report.
3. Why am I seeing a "double-counts tax" warning on my formula? Your Shopify prices include tax, so {subtotal} already contains it. Adding {tax} on top counts the tax twice. Remove {tax} from the formula, or subtract it ({subtotal} - {tax}) if you want a tax-exclusive amount.
4. What's the difference between {subtotal} and {total}? {subtotal} is product value only (price × qty), before discounts, tax, and shipping. {total} is the full order total — subtotal − discount + shipping + tax — the same amount as the "Amount the customer paid" option.
5. Will changing Order Value affect data I've already collected? No. It only changes the value sent on purchases going forward. Events already recorded in GA4 are not recalculated, so expect a step change in your revenue trend from the point you save the new setting.
6. Does this setting apply to all my GA4 properties? It applies to the GA4 property you're currently configuring. If you track more than one property, review the Order Value setting on each one so they stay consistent.
7. Do I need to touch this if I just want standard revenue tracking? No. Leaving Order Value on the recommended Product value only works well for the vast majority of stores. The other options are there for when you have a specific reason to change how revenue is calculated.

Need help?

If you're unsure which Order Value option fits your store, or you want a second pair of eyes on a custom formula, reach out to the TagFly support team via the in-app chat — we're happy to walk through it with you.

Updated on: 02/07/2026