TidyBook a payout
like a bookkeeper.
Enter the lines from a marketplace payout and get a balanced journal entry — sales, refunds, every fee group, sales tax and reserves — with a two-step clearing account method, editable account names, and a copy-paste or CSV version for QuickBooks Online and Xero.
Your payout lines
One payout, one currency. Enter positive amounts — the builder decides debit and credit.
The two-step method posts the settlement to a clearing account first, then clears it when the deposit lands — the way payout bookkeeping is meant to work.
Account names — match them to your chart of accounts
Use the exact names from your accounting file so the entry imports cleanly. The tool never checks these names against QuickBooks or Xero.
The entry
Estimates from the amounts you enter, not accounting advice. Sales tax handling in particular varies by region — confirm the treatment with your bookkeeper.
The method reviewers
expect to see.
Read more in The Tidy Ledger
or try the other free tools.
The two-step method
Entry one, on the settlement date, records everything the payout contains and pushes the net to a clearing (suspense) account. Entry two, when the money lands, moves that net from clearing to the bank. If the bank received a different amount than the settlement promised, the difference sits visibly in the clearing account instead of hiding inside your income.
What this entry deliberately leaves out
- COGS — inventory relief belongs with the sales that triggered it, in its own entry against your inventory account.
- Tax on refunds — if a meaningful slice of refunds was tax, move that slice from refunds to the sales tax payable line.
- Month boundaries — a payout covering the end of a month should be split with the payout period splitter before you post it.
- Fees charged outside the payout, like a monthly Pro subscription or storage billed to a card — book those from the invoice.
What is a marketplace clearing account?+
A temporary holding account (sometimes called suspense) between the marketplace settlement and your bank. The settlement posts there first; the deposit clears it out. When both sides are posted, the account should return to zero — anything left over is a named question to chase, not a mystery in your income.
Why doesn't my entry balance without the clearing account?+
Usually because the bank received a different amount than the settlement lines produce: a reserve movement, a fee charged after the statement was cut, or a split payout. The builder shows the difference instead of forcing the entry to balance.
Where does COGS fit?+
Separately. When you ship or sell inventory, credit the inventory asset and debit cost of goods sold, using your cost per unit. Settlement reports never contain your costs, so this builder leaves COGS to its own entry.
Can I import this into QuickBooks Online or Xero?+
Yes — download the CSV and use your accounting file's journal entry import, or copy the entry and paste it. Account names are editable, so set them to match your chart of accounts first; the importer matches on names.
Imagine this,
posted automatically.
TidyPayouts books every payout like this — split, mapped, matched to the bank — without the spreadsheet.
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