Eight o'clock, the last client has gone
The owner stands at the desk with the card machine report, the cash drawer, a list of the day's sessions and a notebook of deposits. One artist's client paid part by card and part cash. Another client's deposit was taken three weeks ago by bank transfer. A gift card covered most of a small piece. One artist took payment on her own card reader. The owner adds it all up twice, gets two different answers and settles on the second.
At the end of the week, each artist's share is worked out from those daily notes. One artist queries her total, and the owner cannot easily show how it was reached.
It is the least favourite part of the owner's week, and it happens after a full day on the floor, which is exactly when mistakes creep in.
Payments come from everywhere, and the terms differ per artist
| Payment | Where it is recorded | What makes it hard |
|---|---|---|
| Card at the desk | Card reader report | Not linked to artist or session |
| Cash | Cash drawer | Counted, not attributed |
| Deposit taken earlier | Bank or payment link | Must be credited on the session day |
| Gift card | Notebook or gift card record | Value moves from an earlier sale |
| Artist's own reader | Artist's account | Studio share must be collected |
On top of that, each artist may have different terms: a percentage split, a chair rent or a mix. The calculation is simple once the data is right. Getting the data right is the hard part.
Late nights and awkward questions
The owner spends time every evening on arithmetic. Mistakes happen, in either direction. Artists querying their share erodes trust, especially when there is no clear breakdown. Cash discrepancies are hard to trace. And the studio's own takings are not clear until someone sits down with a pile of notes at the end of the month.
How we build a daily cash-up with artist shares
- Card payments are read from your card reader or payment provider, such as Square, SumUp or Stripe, through their reports or APIs.
- Each payment is matched to a session and artist, using the booking record, with anything unmatched listed for the desk to assign.
- Deposits taken earlier and gift card redemptions are credited to the session on the day it happens.
- Cash is entered as a count at close, and the system shows the expected cash from sessions so any difference is visible straight away.
- Payments artists take on their own readers are recorded, so the studio's share is calculated too.
- Each artist's share is calculated daily and weekly using the terms you set, with a breakdown per session they can see.
The terms are whatever you and your artists agree. We apply them; we do not suggest them, and how they sit with tax or employment status is a matter for your accountant.
A cash-up that takes minutes
At close, the desk confirms the cash count and assigns any unmatched payment. The day balances or shows exactly where it does not. Artists see their running share and the sessions behind it. At the end of the week, payouts are ready without a calculator session, and questions are answered by pointing to a line.
The monthly figures your accountant needs come out of the same records, rather than being rebuilt from notebooks.
Guest artists fit in without special arithmetic. Their sessions and payments follow the terms agreed for their guest spot, and their share appears on the same weekly statement as the residents, clearly separated.
Is your cash-up done on a receipt?
- Cashing up takes more than a few minutes every night.
- Card payments are not linked to artists.
- Deposits and gift cards are credited by hand.
- Artists query their weekly share.
- Cash differences are hard to explain.