Royalty day with five spreadsheets
You sell your own designs and those of several guest artists. Each artist has their own deal: a percentage of the sale price, a percentage of profit, or a fixed amount per item. At the end of each quarter, you export orders from Etsy, Amazon and your shop, filter for each artist's designs by title, remove refunds, convert currencies and work out what each is owed.
It takes days. One artist asks why a design that was popular on TikTok shows so few sales. Another points out that refunds were deducted twice. You are fairly sure the numbers are close, but you cannot prove it.
Royalties depend on data scattered across channels
Working out a royalty needs the sale, the design, the channel, the cost and any refund. Each lives somewhere different.
- Designs appear in listings with different titles on each channel.
- Artists have different terms: gross, net or fixed amount.
- Refunds and reprints happen in a later period than the sale.
- Currency conversions differ by channel and payout date.
- Artists want detail, and a total alone does not build trust.
Without a link between each order line and the artist, royalty day is a matching exercise.
What imprecise royalties cost
Underpaying an artist, even by accident, damages a relationship that your shop depends on. Overpaying costs you money. Days spent on calculations every quarter limit how many artists you can work with. And without clear statements, artists may take their designs elsewhere, to a platform that shows them exactly what sold.
A disagreement is much harder to settle when neither side can see the order lines.
There is also the question of timing. Artists usually want to be paid on a predictable schedule, and a process that takes days of spreadsheet work tends to slip, especially after a busy season when the numbers are largest. Late statements are one of the most common reasons artists become uneasy about a partnership, even when every figure turns out to be right.
The royalty ledger we build
- Each artist's designs are linked to their listings on every channel through the catalogue, with the artist's terms stored on their record.
- Order lines from each channel are pulled in and tagged with the design and artist.
- The royalty for each line is calculated by that artist's terms, using the sale price, your cost from the partner's records or the fixed amount.
- Refunds and reprints adjust the royalty in the period they happen, shown as separate lines rather than silently netted.
- Each period, a statement per artist lists every sale, adjustment and the total, in their currency where needed.
- Totals are passed to your accounting software, such as Xero or QuickBooks, as bills or a payment list, for you to approve and pay.
| Artist terms | Calculated from | Shown on statement |
|---|---|---|
| Share of sale price | Price paid, excluding tax as you define | Each sale with its share |
| Share of profit | Price minus partner cost and fees | Sale, costs and share |
| Fixed amount per item | Count of items sold | Items and amount |
| Refund or reprint | Original line | Adjustment in the period |
The terms themselves, and how tax is treated on royalties, are for you and your accountant. The ledger applies what you have agreed consistently and shows the working.
Royalty day without the matching
At the end of the period, statements are generated for each artist. You check the totals, approve and send them. Each artist can see every sale and adjustment. When an artist asks about a specific design, the answer is in the order lines. Payments go through your accounting software as usual.
Adding a new artist means adding their record and terms, not extending the spreadsheet.
Signs your royalty process is fragile
- Royalties are worked out in spreadsheets from channel exports.
- Artists' designs are identified by listing titles.
- Refunds are handled differently each period.
- Artists receive a total without the detail.
- Working out royalties takes days each period.