Why is your royalty payout different from your earnings statement?
Published · Updated · Clef
A royalty earnings statement and a bank deposit can describe different amounts. Before treating the difference as missing income, compare the reporting period, withdrawal amount, payment fees, and currencies. Build a short trail from the statement to the withdrawal confirmation and then to the deposit, keeping each original document.
Are you comparing earnings, a withdrawal, or a deposit?
First identify what each total measures. A detailed earnings report describes reported royalties. An account balance may include money from several reports. A withdrawal records an instruction to pay money out. The bank entry records what reached that account. Write those labels beside the numbers before comparing them. For foundational split records between co-writers and master owners, refer to Velveteen’s master splits vs publishing splits guide.
DistroKid distinguishes account earnings, withdrawal history, and the balance available to withdraw in its Bank area. Its support guidance directs users to See Excruciating Detail for an earnings breakdown. The withdrawal history is a separate view. Use the record for the specific payment rather than assuming an all-time earnings total represents one deposit.
Which documents should you gather for one payment?
Save the original statement export, the withdrawal confirmation or dated withdrawal entry, and the bank transaction. Add a note containing the account or artist, statement period, requested withdrawal date, payment reference, amount, and currency. Keep the original files alongside that note so somebody else can repeat the comparison. After verifying statement line items, match the net bank deposit against your accounting using our bank statement match review.
If several statements contributed to the amount withdrawn, list them separately and identify the balance left behind. If a withdrawal was split into payments, list the receiving transactions separately. These are possibilities to check against the actual records, not assumptions that explain every discrepancy.
How can fees and currency affect the comparison?
DistroKid states that its payment processor subtracts a withdrawal fee when money is withdrawn. Its fee guidance also describes an additional foreign-exchange fee in certain payment-currency and country combinations. Check the chosen method and the actual payment record; do not copy a fee from an old screenshot or apply an invented standard deduction.
Keep the source-currency withdrawal and receiving-currency deposit in separate columns. A USD amount and a CAD amount cannot be compared by subtracting the displayed numbers. Record the conversion shown on the payment confirmation, any separately identified charges, and the amount actually received. A bookkeeping conversion and the payment provider’s conversion may serve different purposes; ask your accountant how to record an unresolved difference.
What does a complete comparison look like?
Constructed example: an account has USD 250 available, but the musician requests a USD 200 withdrawal. An illustrative USD 5 payment fee leaves USD 195 to convert. At an invented conversion rate of CAD 1.35 per USD, with no other charges in this example, the deposit is CAD 263.25. USD 50 remains in the distributor account.
The working note therefore has four checks: USD 250 less the USD 200 requested equals USD 50 retained; USD 200 less the USD 5 fee equals USD 195 sent for conversion; USD 195 multiplied by 1.35 equals CAD 263.25; the receiving bank entry agrees with that final amount. The figures and conversion rate are illustrative, not current DistroKid pricing or exchange-rate advice.
If the real confirmation contains a different amount or another deduction, add that actual evidence to the note. Do not silently change the statement total until the deposit looks right. The explanation should account for the movement between documents without rewriting the original records.
What can you check in Clef’s statement preview?
Clef’s statement importer has a preview stage before Commit Statement to Books. The preview displays gross earnings, fees, withholding, and net amounts in the statement currency, with converted amounts when applicable. Check those fields against the uploaded file before committing it. A field named withholding is a reported component, not a conclusion about your own tax position.
For its DistroKid parser, Clef treats the statement currency as USD. When an optional reported payout is supplied, a difference greater than USD 0.05 from the parsed net amount fails validation. That comparison is a check on the statement figures; it does not establish that a differently denominated bank deposit has been reconciled.
What should you do when the difference is still unexplained?
Write down the exact unresolved step: the earnings report to the withdrawal, the withdrawal to the payment confirmation, or the confirmation to the bank entry. Include the relevant dates and reference rather than sending only two totals. This gives the distributor, payment provider, bank, or accountant a specific question to investigate.
Keep the discrepancy visible until the evidence explains it. A small residual is still a difference to understand, while a large difference may be a scope problem rather than a fee. Treat the reconciliation note as a record of what you checked, including what remains unknown.
What else should I know?
Should I match payments using only the calendar month?
Use the payment reference and the documents that connect to it. A shared month is a useful starting filter, but it does not establish that a particular statement and deposit belong together.
What if I can only find the deposit description?
Keep the bank entry and ask the distributor or payment provider for the corresponding payment confirmation. Mark the missing document in your working note rather than guessing the fee or conversion.
Can I use the example’s fee for my own payout?
No. The worked example uses invented amounts to show the comparison. Use the fee and conversion details attached to your actual payment and check the provider’s current guidance.
Does a successful import prove the payment reached my bank?
A statement import and a bank-payment check answer separate questions. Keep the withdrawal and receiving-bank evidence even after you have reviewed and committed the statement.